In an action that could have negative consequences for the army's domestic and international image, a local army officer in western Nepal has responded to allegations of the rapes of two girls by making them retract their statement.

Local witnesses say that Captain Ramesh Swar of the Chisapani army camp went to the Bhatti Tole, Nepalganj home of Tabsum and Tarnum Maniyar on 23 December, four days after Amnesty International released its report, Nepal: A Deepening Human Rights Crisis. The teenaged cousins had reported to Amnesty that they were held three days at Chisapani last April, and raped repeatedly by Swar and another man referred to as "Saheb".

This week, Swar is said to have threatened the girls' families, pressuring them to retract the rape claim. In a strong statement from London on Monday, Amnesty asked the prime minister and Chief of Army Staff for "immediate action to stop the intimidation of these girls and prevent further human rights violations in the area".

In a briefing to the media on Wednesday, army spokesman Col Dipak Gurung refuted the charge, and showed a video in which Tabsum denied that she had been raped (See picture.) Speaking in Hindi, the girl said on camera: "Nothing happened, we were treated well."

Responding to other allegations of civilian casualties in army operations, Col Gurung said a preliminary investigation of the incident at Kahule in Nuwakot on 27 November in which five young boys were killed had determined that they may have been innocent. If this is confirmed, he added, the boys' families would be compensated.

But on the incident in Kalikot on 24 February this year, Gurung said an army helicopter in hot pursuit of the attackers of the Mangalsen garrison had come under fire and in the ensuing gun battle 34 people were killed.
"The Royal Nepalese Army does not shoot blindly at civilians. These allegations are fabricated and intended to tarnish the image of the security forces. But if we find violations of human rights have occurred, then we will deal with them within the purview of military and prevalent laws," Gurung said.

In Nepalganj itself, despite the Amnesty appeal, Swar returned to the Maniyar home twice on Tuesday, along with Major Ajit Thapa and a team of local journalists. The girls were reportedly warned not to talk about the incident, or leave town. Tabsum, 18, is said to be in distress and suffering psychological trauma.

On Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission asked the Defense Ministry to ensure the two girls' safety. NHRC's Sushil Pyakurel said: "It can only help the RNA enhance its credibility to investigate the charges in the Amnesty report." A joint meeting of human rights organisations is planned, and the women's wings of major political parties are preparing to speak out.