Army refutes report

In a reply to the Supreme Court, Nepalese Army (NA) has expressed ignorance about the arrest and detention of a suspected Maoist, said to have been arrested on August 21, 2003. The army's reply is contradictory to reports of national and international rights organizations.

On May 29 this year, chief of the Bhairabnath Battalion Rajendra Jung Khatri told the court in writing that the battalion had never arrested nor detained Chetnath Dhungana alias C N Dhungana. Khatri also expressed ignorance on the whereabouts of Dhungana.

However, separate reports prepared by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) said Dhungana was arrested and detained by the battalion in 2003.

According to the NHRC report submitted to the court, Dhungana was last seen in the battalion on December 20, 2003. "On that day he was taken away in a truck to an unknown destination," said the NHRC report.

Similarly, according to the OHCHR report released recently, Dhungana's name figures in the list of 49 suspected Maoists made to disappear from the battalion in 2003. All the 49 are feared killed.

In its reply to the court, the army has questioned the authenticity of the NHRC report. "The report is not based on facts. So the habeas corpus petition of Dhungana be quashed," NA told the court.