, the founding chairman of the Human Rights and Peace
Society and a former Chairman of Amnesty International Nepal, is one of
Nepal’s most prominent human rights activists. Earlier this year, he spent nearly five months as a Prisoner of Conscience for helping to organize a demonstration to protest King Gyanendra’s seizure of power on 1 February
2005 and the suspension of fundamental rights. He believes that human rights defenders have no choice but to protest the king's actions. "Under the king's direct rule there is no future for those who are for fundamental human rights and freedom,” he told the Reuters news agency just days before his arrest.
“The government would like to make Nepal a big jail." Krishna Pahadi was among more than 3,000 political prisoners detained during the first months of the king’s takeover.
During his long detention—from 9 February until 4 July 2005 -- he received thousands of letters and postcards from Amnesty International members and supporters around the world. “I wrote many letters for prisoners of conscience
[in the past],” he said. “But now I realize how important it is."
Krishna Pahadi also was visited in custody by AI Secretary General Irene Khan and the directors of AI Denmark,
AI Japan, and AI Ireland.
Immediately following his release, he was back at work organizing rallies and demonstrations as a leader of the
Citizens Movement for Democracy and Peace. He has devoted the past 20 years to the struggle for human rights and peace in Nepal—first through his involvement with AI Nepal, then as a founding member of the
Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON), and later as founding chair of the Peace Society. He has been arrested more than 25 times while working peacefully for human rights, and has undertaken four hunger strikes.
A noted public speaker, Krishna Pahadi also has written more than a dozen dramas on subjects related to human rights and peace that have been performed all over Nepal.
Because of his high profile and wide influence, Krishna Pahadi has been under constant surveillance since his release. Over the past month, he has been the subject of a smear campaign, with government officials and state-controlled media publicly branding him a “traitor” and a threat to Nepal’s national security.
Background information
Human Rights Defenders have been on the frontlines of the nine-year conflict between the Communist Party of
Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) and the government, helping to protect the rights of ordinary people who have borne the brunt of the violence. However, their human rights investigations and reporting have often made them unpopular with both sides to the conflict. As a result of their work, they have been threatened, tortured, abducted, detained, "disappeared" or even killed. Human Rights Defenders working in remote districts away from the scrutiny of the national press and the international community are at particular risk.
Since King Gyandendra of Nepal seized power on 1 February 2005, his government has initiated a sweeping crackdown on dissent that includes Human Rights Defenders among the main targets. During the first three months of his takeover the king imposed a State of Emergency, under which a number of fundamental rights— including the right to privacy and freedom of expression, press, assembly, movement and association—were suspended. At least 45 Human Rights Defenders were among the more than 3,000 political prisoners detained during this period. Many other Human Rights Defenders were subjected to threats, intimidation, and restrictions on their freedom of movement.
Although the State of Emergency was lifted on 29 April 2005, basic civil and political rights remain restricted, and activists who challenge these restrictions are vulnerable to abuses.
Human Rights Defenders—including journalists, student leaders, and peace activists—are routinely assaulted by police and even arrested for their participation in political demonstrations. In recent months the government has drafted new measures intended to curb the activities of non-governmental organizations, issued an ordinance to tighten control over the media, and made a series of hostile statements against critics of the regime.