4 July 2005

Krishna Pahadi was finally released on the 4th of July by the Nepalese authorities after five months of arbitrary detention. He had been arrested on the 9th of February 2005 as part of the crackdown on human rights defenders and others following King Gyanendra’s declaration a state of emergency on the 1st of February.

Krishna Pahadi is one of Nepal's leading human rights defenders and the founder chairperson of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES). Members of the security forces arrested Krishna Pahadi outside the organization's headquarters in Kathmandu and he was held in the armed police compound Naxal in Kathmandu. He was served with a 90-day detention order under the Public Security Act (PSA), which was extended for another 90 days after it expired on 9 May 2005.

Speaking following his release Krishna Pahadi said “I would like to thank the international community from the bottom of my heart, it is thanks to the work of Front Line, Amnesty International that I have been released today.”

HURPES is a non-governmental organisation, which exposes human rights violations by both Maoist and government parties. Krishna Pahadi attended the Front Line Platform in Dublin in 2002. He is one of the few human rights defenders who remained in police detention following the events that took place following the 1st February 2005, when the King of Nepal dismissed the Government and declared a nationwide state of emergency, severing all internal and external communications links.

Human rights defenders have inevitably been a prime target of the military repression initiated by the King. As with political leaders, many human rights defenders have been arrested and subsequently released without charge. A small number of human rights defenders have not been released, however, and there is concern that the conditions of their detention may result in a deterioration of their health and well-being.

Front Line Press Release 4 July 2005