DATE 28 February 1996 REGARDING Bhutanese demonstrations-update 28 February 1996 Please distribute this report: Sources in India report that a group of 150 Bhutanese peace marchers held in prisons in Siliguri Jail since January 17 have been released unconditionally. The human rights organization OMCT is reporting the marchers were released on Tuesday, February 27 after an Indian court ruled their detention was illegal. According to the OMCT report, the marchers now may "continue their peaceful march to Thimpu, Bhutan, where they will appeal to the King of Bhutan to solve the Bhutanese refugee problem through a process of national reconciliation." Meanwhile, the former Home Minister of Nepal has encouraged the refugees in Nepal to return to Bhutan. 343 Bhutanese refugee Peace Marchers (including 69 women) crossed into India at 3.40 pm local time on Monday, February 26. They were warned by Siliguri DSP Crime Division, Achyut Pal, that IPC 144 was in force by order from Delhi and that they would be arrested. the Marchers went ahead and were arrested, being taken to Ranijunj border police post. As this warning came before the release of the 150 marchers in detention, it is unknown as yet whether IPC 144 still applies. Some reports say the Indian Government renewed the order for IPC 144 for a third time since 16th January, and that the renewal extends until 2nd March. How this renewal pertains to the reent release is unclear. The total of Bhutanese refugee peace marchers now in India is 766. 616 of these are believed to be still under arrest. Before the marchers departed the Nepal side ofthe border yesterday, they were addressed by the former Nepali Home Minister, Mr. Kharga Prasad Sharma Oli (who led the Nepali delegation in the last bilateral talks with the Government of Bhutan on the resolution of the Bhutanses refugee problem). In supporting the peaceful move of the refugees he said that the matter was an issue of Human Rights, and that the regfugees have the right to return to their own country. He opined thats a friend of both Nepal and Bhutan, India should play a positive role in solving the problem. Oli said hat the right of return to one's homeland is a fundamental Human Right and India should not stop the refugees from going to their country. 'It is the Bhutanese citizens who have become refugees and hence it is a problem between the Government and its citizens. Bhutan should talk with the refugees to solve the problem', he said. He added that Nepal as a poor country gave what it could to the refugees in a period of difficulty and now they should strive to return to their country. He wished them success. Tulsi Bhattarai, an Indian MLA, encouraged the Marchers, saying, 'You should have conviction to be martyrs for the sake of your rights'. "Meanwhile the Indefinite Fast is into its Eighth Day. 74 Bhutanese refugees detained in Jalpaiguri jail have gone 156 hours without food. They are reported to be fragile. "The Court Hearing for the (second wave) 273 Peace Marchers is set for today February 28th. Because the first group was released after their similar hearing, it is assumed this groups also will be released. "The four female Peace Marchers from the second wave who were taken to Siliguri Hospital have been discharged and returned to jail. "Two female Peace Marchers, Jas Maya Gurung ofthe first wave, and Hema Kharga of the second wave were taken to hospital on Sunday 25th Feb. It is an irony of history that IPC 144 was first drawn up in British India following the First World War in a futile attempt to put an end to the growing movement for Indian independence from British domination. Well informed sources say that March 14th is the likely date for the next round of Nepal - Bhutan bilateral talks on the refugees. It is assumed that the unatural haste with which these talks are being put together reveals several things: 1) the growing discontent with Bhutan's Human Rights record and the current state of the refugess, esp. in European countries is causing concern to both Bhutan and to India. 2) that both Bhutan and India are going for a quick fix, before the Human Rights issue becomes a major European and International problem. 3) that pressure (through the recent agreements, and concessions, made by India to Nepal, amongst other things) has been brought to bear on Nepal for immediate resumption of talks. 4) that the next round of talks will be talking numbers, who takes how many, etc. to have a solution in place before the European & other HR groups can more effectively lobby, etc. and the HRs front. 5) if this is what happens it will cause great unrest in the camps, where the great majority of people wish to return to Bhutan. Sources also indicate a senior UNHCR visit could take place very soon both to Nepal and to Bhutan. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is in Kathmandu at the moment. Mr. Jose Ayala Lasso met the Assistant Minister or Home Affairs, Mr. Deepak Prakash Banskota, on Sunday. Mr. Banskota had met the Peace Marchers then on the Border Bridge about a week before the Nepali Prime Minister travelled to India on his Official Visit. Mr. Banskota also met the Field Directors of Agencies working with the Bhutanese refugees. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights and the Assistant Minister for Home Affairs discussed the situation of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, the and other matters of mutual concern. Mr Lasso was in Kathmandu for the inauguratioon of the Fourth Asia-Pacific Workshop on Regional Human Rights which began yesterday. promotion of human rights SPECIFICS 1. 150 peace marchers left Damak on 14-Jan, arrested 17-Jan. Now 120males held in Jalpaiguri Jail and 30 females in Siliguri Special Jail. 2. 300 peace marchers started sit in at Mechi Bridge on 23-Jan. Dueto illness 27 withdrew and 273 forced entry and subsequent arrest onthe 14-Feb. These are now being held Siliguri Special Jail (same as the femalesf the orriginal group). Note that the location of the273 stated here differs from that reprted on 21-Feb by myself. 3. There are currently in exess of 350 marchers sat on the Mechi Bridge. It is anticipated that further marchers will join them andthat numbers may swell to around 600. Therefore total numbersre 150 initially + 273 arrested on 14-Feb +greater than 350 sat on the bridge currently (could grow to c600)Total = 773 (could grow to c1043) - (Total 423 in India). All the marchers have lived in refugee camps inside Nepal since being expelled from their home of Bhutan. Over the last six years international talks have failed to resolve their situation, even though many of them carry citizenship and property documents. The marchers have had difficulty progressing into Bhutan, and have been detained inside India, many since the middle of January. The groups have resolved not to return to Nepal. The invocation of IPC Section 144, an Indian regulation prohibiting the earlier marches, was to expire yesterday. The expectation is that this will be renewed and the 3rd group prevented from entering, as was the case with the previous group. Of the second group group of 300 marchers, 27 were taken ill and withdrawn from the march. The remaining 273 crossed the border on the 14th Feb, and were arrested under Section 144 and taken to the same jails as the 150 were being held in. Currently there are 423 refugees in jail in India, the men being held in Jalpaiguri Jail while the women are in Siliguri Jail. Reports indicate 6 or 7 people have fallen ill in Jalpaiguri jail and 4 or 5 in Siliguri. The peace marchers have all along insisted on acting non-violently. The first group of 150 have been in detention since their arrest on 17th January at Panitanki on the Indo-Nepal border. Peace marchers among the initial groups detained in India are reported to have begun staging hunger fasts. There are now approximately 423 Bhutanese in detention inside India. The refugees, totalling about 1/6 of the 600,000 people populating Bhutan, were forced to leave the country in the early 1990's after a "One Nation/ One People" policy effectively rendered them stateless. The international community has been thus far ineffective in resolving their plight. Bhutan has the largest percentage of its people living as refugees in the world.