On 23 March last year, the Kathmandu Post ran a front-page story titled 'Red Pole reduces crime, misconduct'. According to the story, an Area Reformation Committee was tying those convicted of crime to a red pole in a public place, humiliating them in front of the community, and getting them to renounce their behaviour.
This story reflects the erosion of the justice system during the current conflict. I spent six months travelling in Southern Nepal with a team of four other researchers, interviewing formal and informal justice providers. It was overwhelmingly clear that the justice system of Nepal had come to a halt.
Referring to the 'red pole' method, the chairman of a municipal committee declared that 'such punishment has really proved to be effective compared to the ones practised by the police and other authorities.'
Humiliation as a strategy has replaced international legal standards of justice. This has been made easier since most rural police posts have withdrawn to the city, leaving almost no state presence.
If a murder is committed in a village, and people are brave enough to report it, the police will ask the villagers to bring the body to the city themselves, along with any supporting evidence. The police, poorly armed and risking Maoist attacks, are afraid of being abducted or killed. The media, preoccupied with reporting the emergencies of the conflict, have also drastically reduced coverage of civil crimes. Crimes, therefore, now take place unchecked.
Because involved parties remove evidence from a crime scene to bring it to the police, the evidence becomes impossible to verify. The public prosecutors, despite having the authority to request more evidence, are also hampered by fear of the police, and concerns for their own safety. The police then act according to the evidence brought before them, often torturing suspects during interrogation without adequate background investigation.
Because there have been no elections, there are no elected officials in the village to sign documents. Elected officials had usually adjudicated petty disputes. Even when the case reaches a Court, the Court officials may not be able to follow up because of death threats from Maoists.
Informal justice providers, including community heads, are also afraid to perform their traditional functions. Politically active individuals have fled rural areas after repeated Maoist threats. Even disputes that have already made it to Court have been halted.
Justice providers, including both police and Court officials, struggle under