Human rights further deteriorate in Nepal:

Nepal is plunging deeper into a massive human rights crisis following last week’s seizure of power by King Gyanendra and the Royal Nepalese Army, Human Rights Watch said today. With all power concentrated in the hands of the King, he is now responsible for what happens to the people detained after the takeover. In handing the army unbridled power, he will also be responsible for the predictable human rights abuses the army commits under the state of emergency. With ongoing arrests reported around the country, Human Rights Watch said that there is a risk that some of those being arrested will be “disappeared” by the security forces and never seen again, as happened during Nepal’s last state of emergency in 2001. On February 1, the King and the Royal Nepalese Army seized effective control of all levers of power in Nepal and embarked on a campaign of arbitrary arrests, censorship, and general repression. The King has imposed a state of emergency throughout Nepal and has suspended fundamental constitutional rights, including freedom of assembly and expression, the right to information and privacy, the right to property and the prohibition against arbitrary detention. Because the constitution does not allow the King’s actions to be challenged in court, Nepal’s population is effectively at the mercy of the security forces, which have a history of widespread and serious violations of human rights. “With all power concentrated in the hands of the King, he is now responsible for what happens to the people detained after the takeover,” said Brad Adams, Asia Director for Human Rights Watch. “In handing the army unbridled power, he will also be responsible for the predictable human rights abuses the army commits under the state of emergency.” Although information from areas outside Kathmandu remains limited due to the cutting of telephone and internet services, Human Rights Watch said that at least 150 political leaders and student activists have been arbitrarily detained or placed under house arrest since the February 1 royal takeover.