London – Human Rights Watch, a New York based human rights organisation, has called upon the Bhutanese government to immediately free political prisoners still languishing in its jails in in appalling conditions serving lengthy sentences following unfair trails and torture.

“Bhutan’s government cultivates an enlightened international image by propounding the theory of ‘gross national happiness,’ but the blatantly abusive treatment of these prisoners tells a different story,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “While the Bhutanese government attempts to strengthen its ties with international partners, foreign governments and multilateral organizations should push for the release of political prisoners.”

Human Rights Watch’s statement follows release of Ram Bahadur Rai, 66, who was released after completing his sentence on July 5, 2024. By violating international laws, the Bhutan government immediately expelled Mr Rai from the Himalayan kingdom. At least 34 prisoners convicted of political offenses are still believed to be in Bhutanese prisons. The tiny Himalayan kingdom has been a multi-party democracy since 2008, but it continues to hold people imprisoned earlier who were regarded as opponents of the former autocratic system.

Talking to Human Rights Watch, Mr Rai, man who served 30 years in a Bhutanese prison for distributing political pamphlets, said that political detainees like him are surviving on meager rations and are reduced to using rice sacks for clothing and bedding.

Rai, who has now arrived at the Beldangi Refugee Camp in eastern Nepal, said that he told Human Rights Watch that in 1994 he had returned to Bhutan and was involved in distributing pamphlets on behalf of a banned organization called the Bhutan People’s Party in the border town of Gelephu when he was arrested. He said he was then accused in a “fabricated” case of participating in political violence.

Rai said that before and during his trial, at which he had no defense lawyer, he was tortured so severely that he was hospitalized, only to be returned to jail and further tortured. By the time he was convicted and sentenced to 31 years and 10 months in prison, he said the torture had left him unable to write his own application for an appeal. The appeal was rejected.

Ram Bahadur Rai was among around 90,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people who were forced to flee the country around 1990 due to violence and persecution under the government at that time.

In 2023, Human Rights Watch documented 37 inmates classified by Bhutan’s government as “political prisoners,” who were first detained between 1990 and 2008. Following the release of three people who completed their sentences in the past year, it is believed that at least 34 remain, many imprisoned for life without parole. Under Bhutanese law, only King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck can commute a life sentence.