On July 5, the INSEC Koshi Province Office, located in Biratnagar, took legal action by filing a writ petition in the High Court of Biratnagar. The petition aims to address the urgent need for the protection of the fundamental human rights of prisoners held in Morang prison and to advocate for the improvement of prison conditions.
The writ petition has been lodged against various governmental bodies, including the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singhdarbar Kathmandu, the Prison Management Department, the District Administration Office Morang, the Morang Prison Office, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law in the Koshi Province.
Issues raised by INSEC include the absence of post-mortem examinations in cases of suspicious prisoner deaths, non-disclosure of investigation reports on prisoner fatalities, overcrowding with three times the intended capacity, and the denial of basic rights to prisoners. Somraj Thapa, the coordinator of INSEC in the Koshi Province and an advocate, stressed these violations as the key motivating factors behind the writ petition filed on July 5, with the aim of securing an injunction to initiate prison reform.
The writ emphasizes the constitutional provision in Article 16(1) of the Constitution, as well as Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, to which Nepal is a signatory. These provisions emphasize the government’s duty to ensure the right to live with dignity for all individuals, including detainees and prisoners.
Furthermore, the writ highlights the non-adherence to Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, which specifically addresses the humane treatment of prison inmates—an aspect seemingly overlooked in the context of Morang prison.
According to INSEC, the government is being challenged through this writ because the prison, designed to accommodate 300 individuals, currently holds over 1,000 prisoners. This overcrowding has led to the deprivation of basic rights, the suffering endured under the control of inmate leaders, and the denial of consumer rights due to the presence of a black market within the prison. As of July 2, the prison’s population stood at 1,600, including two dependent children, two girls, 112 women, and 954 men.
Somraj Thapa, the coordinator of the Koshi Province, expressed that the writ petition has been filed in accordance with Article 144(1) and (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, Section 8 of the Administration of Justice Act of 2016, and Rule 41 of the High Court Rules of 2016. The aim is to obtain an injunction order from the honorable court against the concerned parties.
The writ petition brings attention to the deaths of 26 inmates within the prison, with 11 deaths occurring in the fiscal year 2020-2021, 10 deaths in the fiscal year 2021-2022, and 5 deaths in the fiscal year 2022-2023. The petition notes that despite these fatalities occurring under state control and protection, the details surrounding these deaths have not been disclosed.
The High Court of Biratnagar has summoned INSEC to appear in court on July 6 for the scheduled hearing.