Geneva: Bhutanese human rights activists have called upon the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) to immediately release political prisoners in Bhutan.
Founder and global coordinator of Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan (GCRPPB), Ram Karki, alongside GCRPPB’s Europe coordinator Gopal Gurung, called for justice and accountability in Bhutan.
Delivering a 2-minute oral statement at the plenary of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 24 March 2025, during the adoption of the outcome of the 4th Universal Periodic Review of Bhutan, rights activists denounced Bhutan’s ongoing denial of political prisoners and human rights violations,
The statement was delivered on behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), amplifying the call for justice and accountability.
Karki emphasized that Bhutan continues to deny the very existence of political prisoners despite credible reports of arbitrary detention, inhumane prison conditions, and severe mental and physical abuse. Many prisoners suffer from chronic illnesses and remain isolated from their families, who are denied any contact or information about their loved ones.
“Despite repeated denials of the existence of political prisoners, the Working Group recently determined that the continued imprisonment of three individuals constitutes arbitrary detention. The Working Group concluded that their detention is without legal basis, for exercising fundamental freedoms, in denial of their rights to a fair trial and due process, and is based on discriminatory grounds. This reflects the reality of all political prisoners in Bhutan,” Mr Karki said.
In response to Mr. Karki’s statement, the Bhutanese Ambassador denied any ethnic discrimination or the existence of political prisoners in Bhutan. He claimed that the prisoners mentioned were sentenced for “serious crimes” under Bhutanese law and dismissed the concerns raised by Karki as the work of “vested interest people” serving no meaningful purpose.
The statement further exposed Bhutan’s systemic discrimination against ethnic Nepali-speaking Bhutanese — including a ban on their language in schools, land seizures, erasure of cultural symbols, and revocation of citizenship, rendering many stateless.
Bhutan rejected all 68 recommendations connected to human rights violations during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), including calls from countries like the United States, Switzerland, Canada, and Germany to release political prisoners and address ethnic discrimination.
“Bhutan’s denial of political prisoners is an insult to justice,” Karki said. “These individuals are imprisoned for standing up for their basic rights — Bhutan must stop pretending they don’t exist and release them immediately.”
Forum Asia has called upon RGOB to :
• Release all political prisoners, rehabilitate them with proper compensation, and end its denial of their existence.
• Allow international human rights monitors access to prisons and detention centers.
• Repatriate those willing Bhutanese refugees with dignity and restore revoked citizenship.
• End all systematic discrimination against ethnic Nepali-speaking Bhutanese.
• Establish an independent national human rights commission under the Paris Principles.
• Resume Nepali-language education and issue tourist visas to resettled former Bhutanese refugees to visit their families.
Forum Asia has also called upon :
• The international community to hold Bhutan accountable for its human rights violations.
• UNHCR to push for renewed aid and protection for Bhutanese refugees.
• Bhutan’s government to acknowledge and address the reality of its political prisoners.
During their visit to Geneva, the GCRPPB delegation also met with high officials from the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), international NGOs, and the International Red Cross. The team apprised them of the ongoing human rights issues in Bhutan, particularly the plight of political prisoners and the unresolved refugee crisis, a press statement issued by the GCRPPB said.
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