Amnesty International in Bhutan

Amnesty International sent a team to Bhutan in mid-January 1992. It was well-received, kept in the Kunga Chholing royal guest house, and provided with official escorts who accompanied it everywhere. The three-member team, led by Secretary-General Jan Martin, met with King Jigme and ministers, and visited Samchi District, although evictions were then highest in Chirang. "It seemed that Chirang was not available to us at this time," Martin told Kuensel..Prior to the Amnesty trip, on 17 December, the King had granted amnesty to a number of prisoners, including Ratan Gazmere, Bhakti P. Sharma and Bishwanath Chhetri. Following the trip, on 4 February, he released 313 prisoners, including Jogen Gazmere and Sushil Pokhrel..Amnesty released a press notice on 10 February welcoming the latest releases, but expressing concern about reports of human rights violations, prolonged detentions without trial, torture, death in custody, and the practice of keeping prisoners in shackles. Government opponents were "also reputed to have arbitrarily and deliberately killed civilians. Amnesty called for "the unconditional release of Tek Nath Rizal, who is starting a third year in detention without trial." It also asked about 200 and 300 detainees still being held without charge or trial..The Thimphu Government immediately spread the word that Amnesty had issued a "favourable report", although it was only a press release that had been released and it could hardly have been called favourable. The Foreign Minister Dawa Tshering told the Times of India that the Amnesty team had informed him that "not all the accusations were…valid". Correspondents who visited Bhutan with [the German Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in April were also told that "The Amnesty report was good for us." One official told the Calcutta Telegraph on 1 July, "Amnesty gave a very favourable report and found the charges very highly exaggerated." In mid-August, Amnesty's London office is said to have sent a protest note to the New Delhi Sunday Observer for reporting that Amnesty's evaluation was favourable to Thimphu..Even though the Foreign Minister has maintained that the Amnesty team "had been allowed to investigate the charges without any hindrance", the Government had gone about organising the Amnesty trip to its satisfaction..According to refugee sources, including Bhakti Prasad Sharma and Ratan Gazmere, who too have arrived in the camps after first trying to stick it out in Thimphu, Amnesty was allowed to visit only Samchi districts (where most of the evictions had already been carried out.) The refugees show photographs which they claim show branches and leaves used to cover up foundations of evictee houses — so that the Amnesty team would not see them. Hundreds of soldiers were asked to hide in the forest during the visit, while others were asked to put on civilian clothes or taken to video parlours.