Human Rights organizations urge EU to press for release of Bhutan political prisoners – JURIST
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the European Union to demand that Bhutanese authorities release dozens of political prisoners held for decades on Tuesday. The detainees have allegedly been deprived of multiple fundamental rights and held in inhumane conditions.
According to Amnesty, most of the detainees have been detained in connection with the expulsion of about 90,000 Nepalese-speaking Bhutanese citizens in the 1990s. Those who remained or returned later to Bhutan to speak out against the measure in public often faced incommunicado detention. These measures amounted to enforced disappearances and were grounded in linguistic discrimination, according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD).
Six UN special rapporteurs had earlier issued a communication raising concerns that the prisoners were denied due process and fair trials and were allegedly subjected to torture, both to extract confessions and as punishment. It points to at least 19 cases of individuals whose rights have allegedly been violated. It states that they were convicted under “vague” laws and tortured to extract confessions and as punishment. In parallel, Human Rights Watch documented 37 cases of political prisoners in 2023; today, there are at least 32 serving terms between 32 years and life without parole. According to the UNWGAD, they are not allowed any visitors or contact with their families.
Under international human rights law, the right to liberty and the right to a fair trial, enshrined in Article 9 and Article 4 ICCPR, respectively, form a protection from arbitrary deprivation of liberty for individuals. A deprivation of liberty by the state, therefore, has to be based on reasonably foreseeable domestic law. Acts of inhuman and degrading treatment can amount to torture, as clarified in the UN Convention against torture, if they are committed with a specific purpose- such as extracting a confession. Likewise, it is illegal under the convention against torture to expel migrants to countries where they are at risk of being subject to torture under the principle of Non-refoulement. The US recently allegedly violated this principle, as President Trump ordered the return of recognized Bhutanese refugees to their country of origin, where there is a real and imminent risk of torture.
Bhutan pursues an overall policy to improve trade relationships with Australia, Thailand, and the EU, two of which allow for tariff-free access of Bhutanese goods into the EU market. EU Members of Parliament had already demanded the release on April 14 in a letter to the Bhutan prime minister as a crucial sign for better economic cooperation. Bhutan is a democratic constitutional monarchy and has made significant improvements in its human rights record, however, the ongoing detention and mistreatment of political prisoners is held against its policy of promoting “gross national happiness”.
Later this month, the EU is set to have a dialogue on political matters and the current human rights situation in Bhutan.
