Urgent Action: Nepali Women Arrested for Coming Out Wed, 19 Apr 2000 04:38:35 -0400 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit resend Tue, 18 Apr 2000 14:52:34 -0400 Urgent Action: Nepali Youths Arrested THE MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Crosswicks House Post Office Box 1974 Bloomfield, New Jersey USA 07003 Telephone: 201-237-3406 E-Mail: Crosswix@hotmail.com WWW: http://www.angelfire.com/nj/hirschfeldcentre/index.html April 13, 2000 Dear friends, forum members and colleagues: Two young women have been arrested, under color of law, in a village in eastern Nepal for having made public their committed relationship with one another. The actions of the Nepali officials involved represent a grave breach not only of Nepal's domestic law relating to privacy and civil rights, but of Nepali obligations as well under international law as it pertains to human rights and fundamental freedoms. The purpose of this message is to encourage individuals and organizations with an interest in the promoting the observance of civil, human, childrens' and women's rights to communicate with the appropriate representatives of the Government of Nepal, among others, to make known the urgent moral and legal necessity for these young women to be left to conduct their intimate lives without interference from state authorities, consonant with the law. For background on the matter, I have reproduced below items (1) published in the Kathmandu Post last week and (2) broadcast by the BBC South Asia Service. A number of individuals have been in contact with the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES) of Nepal, among others, regarding this issue. They have been trying to get police confirmation of the arrest etc without success thus far, but I am informed that they will disburse information as it becomes available. This issue appears to have had very little attention paid to it since the reports, inasmuch as Nepal's chief concern at present is the national "armed bandh" being staged by the insurgent United Peoples' Front (UPF) of Nepal and which threatens to erupt into an open civil conflict momentarily. Thank you for your support in this very critical matter. Your circulating this message as widely as possible will be deeply appreciated. Sincerely, Bill Courson THE HIRSCHFELD CENTRE ========================================================== I. PRESS EXTRACTS ========================================================== 1.) FROM THE KATHMANDU POST Girls Marry, Separated - By a Post Reporter BRITANAGAR, March 29 - Two girls created uproar when they tied the nuptial knot here on Sunday. Parents of both Indira Rai, 17 and Maya Tamang, 18 who got married, were shocked by the strange union. They said they could not understand why their daughters took the unconventional step. Police arrested both of them the very next day as the word of their marriage spread around. Assistant Sub-Inspector Basudev Bhatta of Phathari said they arrested the two as it would have negative impact on society. Bhatta said there is no legal provision in the law which allows the same sex marriage. "We will separate them and hand over to their respective families," said Bhatta. "Such kind of activities will promote radical behaviour in society." Both the girls were grade-9 students in Pathari High School. They say they were happy with each other and no one could break their marriage or their love. This is the second time such an incident has been reported in Nepal. A few years back, two girls from Pokhara had also entered into wedlock and created furore. [END] 2.) FROM THE B.B.C. SOUTH ASIA SERVICE Arrest for girls in love Police in eastern Nepal have arrested two teenage girls who announced they had fallen in love with each other. A police official said the girls - aged 16 and 17 - had been taken into custody after news of their decision to live together caused uproar in the town of Biratnagar. He said the girls would be separated and handed back to their respective families because their behaviour was illegal and against Hindu culture and religion. The official said there was "no provision in the country's law which allows for marriage between the same sex." He said allowing them to remain together would encourage what he called similar bizarre behaviour in the community. The girls were reported to have told police in a statement that they were "happy with each other." "No one can break our nuptial chords nor make us cease to love each other," the statement said. The parents of the girls were reported to have said they were bewildered by the action. ================================================================== II. NEPAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS & OTHERS TO WHOM COMMUNICATIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED ================================================================== The Hon. Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala Prime Minister Government Offices Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal The Hon. Mr. Chakra Prasad Bastola Minister of Foreign Affairs Shitwal Niwas, Kathmandu, Nepal mofa@mos.com.np The Hon. Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta Minister of Information & Communication Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal moic@usa.net The Hon. Mahantha Thakur Minister of Law & Justice molaw@wlink.com.np The Hon. Govinda Raj Joshi Minister of Home Affairs Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal moha@mos.com.np H.E., Mr. Narendra Bikram Shah, Ambassador Mr. Hira Bahadur Thapa, Counsellor Permanent Mission of Nepal to the U.N. 820 Second Avenue, Suite 17B New York, NY 10017 nplun@undp.org H.E., Mr. Damodar Prasad Gautam, Ambassador Royal Embassy of Nepal to the United States 2131 Leroy Place NW Washington, DC 20008 nepali@erols.com Mr. Basudev Bhatta Assistant Sub-Inspector - Phathari Biratnagar Police Office Biratnagar, Nepal These foreign emissaries resident in Nepal might also be contacted: The Hon. Ralph Frank, Ambassador Embassy of the United States to Nepal Panipokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal Embassy of the United Kingdom to Nepal P.O. Box 106 Lainchour, Kathmandu, Nepal britemb@wlink.com.np Embassy of Denmark to the Kingdom of Nepal P.O. Box 6332 Kathmandu, Nepal danemb@wlink.com.np Embassy of Finland to the Kingdom of Nepal GPO Box 2126 Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal finembka@mos.com.np Mission of the European Union to the Kingdom of Nepal P.O.Box 6754 4/7 Baluwater, Kathmandu, Nepal eudelnp@mos.com.np ================================================================== III. IMPORTANT NOTE ON COMMUNICATIONS WITH NEPALI GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ================================================================== I am advised by knowledgable persons that, for those who are thinking about sending letters ot the foregoing officials, a word of caution is appropriate. I am informed that we are dealing here with government officials in a small country with a strong sense of national/ethnic identity and a degree of resistance to being told how (or how not) to manage their internal affairs. This, among other things, is a result of century-spanning colonial suzerainty, paternalism, and racism, and makes such resistance easily understandable. Hence, the type of letters that persons in the US (and the west generally) are accustomed to sending out (for instance, to Paramount Pictures protesting Dr. Laura Schlessinger's media exposure, or to their own governments) are not appropriate in this instance. Phrasing such as "We/I are/am enraged/outraged/furious" and promising political, legal or economic penalties for Nepal's conduct will be counter- productive. Polite, respectful, well written and well-reasoned letters, wthout stentorian or threatening overtones and drawing on references to the pervasiveness of same-sex relationships in culture, tradition, etc. as well as the emerging global norm of non-discriminiation and tolerance, will much more likely effectuate the desired result. Quite possibly the officials involved in the arrests are not stridently homophobic so much as ignorant, alarmed and attempting to act in an ethical and legal fashion, even if those attempts are misguided and misinformed. It might be borne in mind by persons resident in/writing from the USA that this is a particularly sensitive moment in Nepali/US relations. The US government has proposed for appointment as that country's ambassador to Nepal and individual who, stationed as a junior foreign service officer in Nepal in the 1980's with his spouse adopted a Nepalese baby, only to reoudiate the adoption and return the child to institutional custody in Nepal owing to his wife's family objecting that the baby was too darkly complected. Needless to point out, this sort of gratuitous and ingrained racism is viewed by most Nepalis (and most civilized humans) with revulsion. Consequently, persons writing from the US may want to do so with particular circumspection. William Courson, FLLA Excutive Director The Magnus Hirschfeld Centre for Human Rights Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytsxp-04.19.00-04:38:35-16663