The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has urged Bhutan to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which has submitted its final report after visiting the country in January 2019 to assess situation regarding the deprivation of liberty.
The Working Group has submitted its final report to the UN Human Rights Council for consideration in the 42nd session scheduled to be held from 9 to 27 September 2019.
In its report, the Working Group has identified systemic problems within the criminal justice system of Bhutan and these problems included (a) Under the Civil and Criminal Procedure Code, certain criminal offences are considered to be non-bailable, which reverses the presumption of innocence; (b) In absence of dedicated pretrial detention facilities for adults, they are held in police stations without proper infrastructure and services and pretrial detainees were often held together with sentenced individuals awaiting their placement in prisons; (c) Some juveniles are held in police stations together with adults; (d) The criminal justice system in Bhutan does not address the needs of female detainees; (e) Most detainees lacked legal representation; (f) A widespread practice of deprivation of liberty due to debt; and (h) Remission of sentences does not take into account the period of time in which a person was detained in a police station, among others.
The Working Group has recommended to the Government of Bhutan to adopt legislative amendments and specific practices that offer greater protection against arbitrary detention. It asked Bhutan to (a) introduce amendments in the Penal Code in order to define the terms “arrest” and “detention” and broaden the scope of the offence of illegal arrest to include any physical apprehension that results in the deprivation of liberty; and (b) ensure that the Penal Code amendment bill is enacted to decriminalize consensual same-sex relations between adults.
The Working Group also urged Bhutan to reform the criminal justice system, by taking the following measures: (a) Remove non-bailable offences from the Civil and Criminal Procedure Code and any other criminal legislation; (b) Ensure that dedicated and appropriate detention facilities are available to accommodate female detainees; (c) Develop standard operating procedures or other policies requiring the Royal Bhutan Police to ensure that all persons in its custody are informed of their right to legal representation and are able to exercise that right effectively in practice; (d) Review the remaining cases of persons detained under national security legislation to reassess whether there were any procedural irregularities during the proceedings that occurred in the absence of legal counsel and the Working Group stands ready to provide technical assistance to that end and (e) Ensure legal representation to all detainees, while priority should be for persons facing criminal charges that may result in life imprisonment and for juveniles charged with serious criminal offences.
The Working Group further asked Bhutan to bring reform in the current system of pretrial detention, including by: (i) Ensuring that pretrial detention takes place in appropriate facilities suitable for the length of such detention; (ii) Placing children in pretrial detention only as a measure of last resort, in full compliance with article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; (iii) Ensuring that women in pretrial detention are always held separately from men; (iv) Ensuring that pretrial detention facilities make it possible to respect the non-convicted status of individuals and the presumption of innocence of such detainees, including the separation of persons in pretrial detention from convicted persons; (v) Allowing pretrial detainees to enjoy meaningful out-of-cell time, which includes spending a reasonable part of the day outside their cells in addition to at least one hour of exercise in the open air, and a choice of purposeful activities; (vi) Providing all detainees with mattresses and bedding appropriate for the prevailing weather conditions; and (vii) Guaranteeing that children in pretrial detention have access to education and adequate opportunities to participate in sports, physical exercise and age-appropriate leisure-time activities.
The Working Group also encouraged Bhutan to become a party to major human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and to accede without further delay to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
