Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the release of Tek Nath Rizal, a leader of political and human rights movement in Bhutan, who was released on 18 December 1999 after 10 years of imprisonment expressed hope that his release would bring some change in Bhutan.

Rizal, 52, was granted general amnesty by the High Court as per the direction of King Jigme Singye Wangchuk on their National Day on 17 November . This is also the Silver Jubilee year of King Wangchuk's accession to the throne. He was released with 200 other prisoners.Rizal was imprisoned in Chamgang Central Jail, about eight kilometres east of Thimpu, since 1991. Chamgang Central Jail was constructed by the Druk government to keep political prisoners only after the democratic movement erupted in Bhutan.

AHRC had issued an appeal in August 1997 requesting the release then of Rongthong Kunley Dorji, the founder of the Druk National Congress (DNC) and Tek Nath Rizal.

Background Information

Some 87,000, mostly Nepalese speaking, refugees from Bhutan are currently in refugee camps in eastern Nepal and 15,000 others are dispersed in the neighbouring areas of Nepal and India, totalling about 1/6 of the 600,000 people populating Bhutan. They were forced to leave the country in the early 1990's after a policy of 'national integration' effectively rendered them stateless.

The Bhutanese policy of enforcing Drukpa traditions and culture, led to a campaign of suppression of Nepalese cultural expression in Bhutan beginning from 1990, revocation of citizenship and intimidation, arrests and sometimes torture of ethnic Nepalese, resulting in a large scale exodus to Nepal. Over the last six years talks between Nepal and Bhutan have failed to resolve their situation, even though many of the refugees carry valid citizenship and property documents.

In 1989, Tek Nath Rizal formed the People's Forum for Human Rights, Bhutan (PFHRB) while in exile in Nepal. Rizal is a former member of the National Assembly, and in 1985 was the chairperson of the Royal Advisory Council from south Bhutan. In November 1989, Rizal was abducted from Jhapa, Nepal to Bhutan and in November 1993 sentenced to life imprisonment. But he was granted a conditional pardon by the King Singye Wingchuk three days later: he will be released when the Government of Nepal and Bhutan resolve the issue of Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal. In January 1994, Rizal is transferred from Thimphu Central prison to Chemgang prison.

Rizal was arrested in Birtamod Jhapa on 16 November 1989 by the Nepali police. The then Panchayat government extradited him at the behest of the Bhutanese government. He was flown to Bhutan the very next day by the Druk Air flight.

Rizal was accused of drafting seditious literature by the Bhutanese Court which announced life imprisonment to him. Rizal, who was the first Lhotshampa to hold a high government office in Bhutan, was declared a ngolop (traitor).