Meanwhile, 54 Tibetans arrested on Thursday from several places, including the area near the Visa Section Office of the Chinese Embassy were handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The two, who have been held in preventive detention under the Public Security Act 1989, are Kalsang Wangdup, 22, and 27 year old Tashi Dawa. Wangdup is the chairman and Dawa a member of New Age Network, a Kathmandu-based group of young Tibetans agitating for ´Free Tibet´.[break]
Chief District Officer (CDO) of Kathmandu Bhola Shiwakoti said that the decision to keep them under preventive detention was taken as per the section 5 and section 3.1 of the Act as they had been planning to stage a week-long demonstration. Shiwakoti gave his orders acting on a complaint lodged by the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu.
The warrant paper issued against the two Tibetan leaders -- who, according to intelligence reports, mostly live in India and come to Nepal on occasions to instigate anti-China demonstrations -- reads that their activities jeopardized peace and security as well as friendly and diplomatic relations between Nepal and China.
This is second time that the government has invoked the Act against the Tibetan exiles. Earlier in July 2008, the Apex Court had found the 90-day preventive detention of the three Tibetans illegal and ordered for their release. The Tibetans had then staged protests in the capital against the Chinese government´s crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet on the eve of the Beijing Olympics.
Human Rights advocate Govinda Bandi, who had earlier pleaded on behalf of the Tibetans held under preventive detention, claimed that the authorities have misused power despite the Apex Court´s precedent in a similar case.
"The provision of preventive detention can be invoked only when such activities threaten sovereignty and integrity of Nepal," he argued.
However, CDO Shiwakoti contended that the decision was based on adequate alarming documents which were extracted from the two NAN leaders.
Police on Thursday had decided to detain only 32 Tibetans of the over 100 arrested in the capital and to file cases against them. However, 24 underage Tibetans refused to walk free until all those arrested were not released.
"There were too many detainees. Hence we decided to send them to Immigration Department which dispatched them to the UNHCR," a security officer said.
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