“The Army Act provides for arbitration of murder cases involving civilians under the jurisdiction of a civilian court,” the human rights defenders said in a statement on Friday. [break]
The human rights defenders include Subodh Pyakurel, Kanak Mani Dixit, Dharmendra Jha, Mandira Sharma, Charan Prasain, Sushil Pyakurel, Govinda Bandi, Renu Rajbhandari, Subash Darnal, Birendra Thapaliya, among others.
Basnet is currently in the detention of the military police since his repatriation from the UN peacekeeping mission in Chad over human rights violation charges.
The statement said existing law in Nepal gives authority to the Nepal police to arrest such suspects. However, the Nepal Army escorted Major Basnet to the Army Headquarter and subsequently refused to hand the latter over to court. “This has aroused suspicion over the state´s commitment to ending impunity and ensuring accountability,” the statement added.
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