PBI can be called upon by human right defenders when an international presence if felt to make their work more safe and give them a wider space to in which to be effective. JKL contacted PBI when the levels of threaths became too much. Below are the background to why he came to us in the first place.
Interview with Jai Kishor Labh
Jai Kishor Labh is a father, community leader and human rights defender in Janakpur, Nepal. His eldest son and four other students were abducted and killed in October 2003. Since then he has been working to investigate and bring to justice the accused in the case. He has been accompanied by PBI.
PBI: Could you please explain your case?
JKL: I have filed a case of disappearance and extrajudicial killing for my son, who was arrested from the Janakpur area on October 8, 2003. Two years later, the Nepal Army sent a letter saying my son and the four students arrested with him were killed in Janakpur on the very date of the arrest. Under order from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Nepal Police formed an investigation committee headed by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) who sent a report of the investigation to the NHRC stating the police arrested my son and four other students and took them to a Nepal Army barracks. After that, the police said they were not able to conduct their investigation further as there is no record of my son and the four other students being admitted to the army barracks. I filed a First Incident Report (FIR) in the District Police Office (DPO) in Dhanusha in which the Superintendent of Police of the DPO registered the case in the general diary but not the legal diary. He then identified the suspected burial site but thereafter did nothing. And so, I filed a mandamus in the Supreme Court, demanding that the DPO register the case in a legal diary and investigate the incident according to the law of the land. But still nothing has been done. I think they are only prolonging the case. They are not in the mood to investigate the case, just to prolong it. So I am doing my best to move it forward. Many national and international organizations and individuals are also working to apply pressure on the police to investigate the case. It is a matter of great regret that even the government’s Chief Home Minister says they are dedicated to investigating the cases of serious human rights violations but are doing nothing.
PBI: How is your family dealing with the fact that it is taking many years to bring justice for your son?
JKL: My family is very sad about not getting justice according to the law and they are being harassed and losing hope for justice. But I am still hopeful. So I am dealing with the case, even if it is taking a very long time. I hope that at some time justice will come. I am a diabetic and have a bad heart and therefore think I may die before justice is delivered. And so I would like to call on the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and all the stakeholders, that they take human rights violations seriously and make it a priority to investigate cases like my son’s disappearance and deliver justice. Otherwise, it will indicate to society that if a lawyer and human rights defender cannot get justice, then how can normal everyday people get justice? Peace in Nepal cannot be established without justice. Justice should be delivered to victims and victims’ families for a sustainable peace, but I think that may take a long time. In the meantime, my family and other victims’ families are being harassed and losing hope for getting justice. This is not good for democracy and sustainable peace, so all human rights activists should do more for the delivery of justice for victims’ families.
PBI: What keeps you going? Why have you not given up hope?
JKL: I am only hopeful because of the so-called true love of law – if there is a rule of law, the law will make sure that cases like my son’s disappearance are investigated and the perpetrators punished. The law that exists here says that if anyone violates human rights, he or she should be punished. It has been clearly written in the law so I am hopeful that a time will come when justice will prevail.
PBI: What keeps you going personally?
JKL: It is the national and international organizations and individuals who are helping me that keep me going. Because of them, I think I am protected and can go on pushing for investigation into my son’s death and justice in his case.
PBI: Any last remarks?
JKL: I would like to say that Nepal is a country that has already ratified many treaties and international conventions on human rights. According to the Nepal Treaty Act, all international instruments that have been signed and ratified by Nepal should be applied to Nepalese law. In addition, many leaders and political parties in Nepal have also said they are dedicated to the advancement of human rights, peace and justice in the country. These same leaders and political parties have also said that Nepal is a country where the rule of law will prevail. I would like to ask these national leaders to listen to this governance and make a new Nepal that will protect and promote human rights. It is only through justice that there can be peace. If justice is not prevailing in Nepal, there can be no peace, and without peace there are no human rights.
