Nepal: “There are prisons inside prisons”

A call for help from human rights defenders

Nepal has been marked by many human rights violations, especially since the civil war¹. Although the conflict ended, human rights abuses remain. The prison system counts 15,400 cells but holds 25,400 persons. The sanitary situation is deemed “inhumane”. Civil society actors are alarmed and try to make their voices heard.
Om Prakash Sen Thakuri is the executive director of Advocacy Forum Nepal, an organisation providing legal, medical and psychological support to prisoners and victims of crime. Advocacy Forum documents cases of human rights abuse and publishes reports on ill-treatment in detention. Prison Insider asked him three questions.

The armed conflict took place between 1996 and 2006. Violence escalated in 2001 when the royal family was killed by the prince. A period of political, economic and social instability ensued. ↩

Prisoners are trapped in sexual exploitation and forced labour, surrounded by gang violence.

Renaud, a French man who has been incarcerated in Nepal, testifies about the hierarchical system of chaukidars and naike.

Read his story

Prison Insider. Can you describe to us the reality of Nepalese prisons?

Om Prakash Sen Thakuri. The security situation in prisons is extremely worrying. They are run by chaukidars (“watchmen” in Nepali) who are responsible for maintaining order. Chaukidars are supported by naike and bhai naike (“leaders” in Nepali). Each naike is in charge of 25 to 30 prisoners and each bhai naike of about 10 of them. These acting unofficial prison guards are the only ones allowed to leave the prison to buy medicine or food, which they then sell at a high price to the prisoners. Some reports also point out that chaukidars run gambling rings. Prisoners may face torture if they rebel or do not pay their debt, and are sometimes forced to ask their family for money. A portion of the profit generated by chaukidars and naike is donated to the guards so that they turn a blind eye to the human rights in detention. Prisoners are trapped in sexual exploitation and forced labour, surrounded by gang violence. All this creates prisons inside prisons.

No human rights defenders or lawyers are allowed to visit prisons. Only the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Attorney General’s office can enter the premises, but they rarely do so.

There are occasional suspicious death cases in prisons. One prison in particular, Morang detention centre, is infamously notorious due to 18 prisoners losing their life in undetermined circumstances between July 2020 and November 2021. All family members were told that the cause of death was natural. No procedure was put in place to investigate the deaths, neither by the prison administration nor the police. This case shone a light on the ill-treatment and lack of transparency in prisons.

While the prison is planned for 250 prisoners, it currently holds 900 people.

PI. Other than security issues, what are the main challenges faced by the prison system?

OPST. Advocacy Forum decided to conduct its own investigation of Morang detention centre, following the 2021 series of deaths. Because we were not allowed to visit the building, we had to compile evidence from prisoners’ family members and journalists to paint a picture of the situation. Our investigation concluded to dreadful findings, especially regarding the sanitary condition. We found evidence of a skin disease, red herpes, being widely spread among the prisoners. The disease leads to itching and tingling. It is due to the extremely poor quality of the water and its contagion is accelerated by the overcrowding. While the prison is planned for 250 prisoners, it currently holds 900 people. About 200 of them are currently infected with red herpes. This contagious disease requires separate living, but it is not possible to keep patients in separate cells. The situation is truly alarming.

Unfortunately, Morang prison is not an exception. All 75 prisons of the country have extremely old buildings¹ and are overcrowded.

Prisoners are facing problems such as malnutrition, difficult access to water and to healthcare. Doctors rarely visit the inmates, and only the most serious cases are allowed to be taken to the hospital. Many family members have reported that there is no good sanitation nor ventilation system. Prisoners are sometimes forced to wait a very long time to get a space to sleep or use sanitary facilities.

A vast majority of the prisons were built during the Rana era (1846-1951). ↩

Upgrading prison infrastructures to improve detention conditions is the responsibility of the government.

PI. What measures do you think should be taken to improve the situation?

OPST. The government does not pay attention to the prison sector, yet it must urgently needs to be reformed. There needsmust be to be new laws, more modern infrastructures enabling better water supplies, facilities for medical check-ups, legal support and psychological counselling. Upgrading prison infrastructures to improve detention conditions is the responsibility of the government. More transparency from the prison administration is also necessary, by allowing regular visits and the publication of reports to the authorities.

The few humanitarian organisations working on prison issues have been trying to raise awareness for a long time. Unfortunately, the government is not listening. The prison administration does not feel they are responsible and argue that they are already doing their best. It’s an endless vicious cycle. Prisoners are forgotten and have no possibility to file for lawsuits to seek redress.

The Supreme Court’s and the NHRC’s recommendations are not implemented. The NHRC provided more than 1,000 suggestions to the government but only 10% of them were enacted. The government needs to be held accountable for its lack of action in the hope of, one day, reforming the prison system.

Interviewed by Camille Laassiri, Marion Devesa and Clothilde Reix

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