Civic space in Bhutan is rated as ‘obstructed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. There continue to be concerns about media independence, access to information and the chilling effect of defamation laws on journalists and critics. Further, there are political prisoners from the 1990s who are serving life sentences.
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Human rights groups call for release of political prisoners
In recent months, human rights groups have continued to call on the Bhutan government to release the political prisoners it has detained for decades.
In March 2024, South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a regional network of human rights defenders, spoke up about this during the 16th World Social Forum (WSF) held in Nepal, where a session was organised on ‘Bhutan’s Prisoners of Conscience’. They said these political prisoners have been held for their peaceful expression or political beliefs or identity and that, under Bhutanese law, only King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck can commute a sentence.
#Bhutan authorities have released Ram Bahadur Rai, one of over 30 political prisoners, after three decades in prison. Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar & his govt should release all remaining political prisoners, many convicted without due process or fair trialhttps://t.co/btOkEJzELa
— meenakshi ganguly (@meeganguly) July 8, 2024
This was also echoed by Human Rights Watch (HRW). In 2023, the group documented 37 inmates classified by Bhutan’s government as “political prisoners,” who were first detained between 1990 and 2008. Following the release of three people who completed their sentences in the past year, it is believed that at least 34 remain, many imprisoned for life without parole. Most of these prisoners were convicted under the draconian and vaguely worded 1992 National Security Act (NSA).
In July 2024, HRW highlighted the case of Ram Bahadur Rai, 66, a man who served 30 years in a Bhutanese prison for distributing political pamphlets. He was among around 90,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people who were forced to flee the country around 1990 due to violence and persecution under the government at the time.
He told HRW that in 1994 he had returned to Bhutan and was involved in distributing pamphlets on behalf of a banned organisation called the Bhutan People’s Party in the border town of Gelephu when he was arrested. He said he was then accused in a “fabricated” case of participating in political violence.
Rai said that before and during his trial he had no defence lawyer and was tortured and sentenced to 31 years and 10 months in prison.
He was released on 5th July 2024, and immediately expelled from the country. He said that political detainees like him are surviving on meagre rations and are reduced to using rice sacks for clothing and bedding. Prisoners are obliged to buy their own medication if they fall sick and can wait up to eight months if they need to see a doctor, meaning they frequently receive no treatment. Food rations have been reduced to half their previous level and prisoners are supplied with poor quality blankets every three years and a mattress every 18 months.
Human Rights Watch called on the Bhutanese government to immediately free its remaining political prisoners, who are kept in appalling conditions and are serving lengthy sentences following unfair trials and torture.
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Media self-censorship and restrictions persist
In a submission from HRW to the UN Human Rights Council for its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in April 2024, it said that independent information about human rights in Bhutan is limited, partly due to self-censorship of the media resulting from government policies. For example, the government intervenes in the media sector through the Bhutan Media Foundation, an institution under royal patronage.
Defamation and libel remain criminal offences, although Bhutan supported a recommendation to prevent their misuse in the previous UPR cycle. Journalists and ordinary citizens have described to Human Rights Watch a prevailing atmosphere in which they feel unable to publicly discuss issues deemed “controversial” by the authorities, including on social media.
Bhutan’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released in May 2024, fell from 90th place to 147th out of 180 countries. RSF noted that journalists report difficulties getting access to state-held and governmental information, which ultimately deprives the population of information of public interest. Self-censorship is one of the main problems: many journalists avoid covering sensitive issues for fear of appearing to challenge the social order. Those who publish investigative reports can be the subject of online harassment campaigns.
Yangyel Lhaden, Kuensel’s reporter said in May 2024: “When it comes to self-censorship, I feel, in Bhutan, it is high when it comes to the reporter side, to the interviewer side and even with our sources. Everybody is in fear that even if we use names, everyone will know. Secondly, it is highly talked about that access to information is very low in our nation.”
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Civil society operates under constraints
According to HRW, civil society organisations operate under significant constraints. In 2023, the government’s Civil Society Organisations Authority shut down a body known as the Bhutan Civil Society Network, which had been established by civil society organisations to coordinate their work. In particular, CSOs and NGOs seeking to address concerns of the Nepali speaking community are unable to exist in Bhutan.