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GCRPPB raises disappearance case of Lok Nath Acharya with Bhutan

Rights defender Acharya was reportedly apprehended by plainclothes officers in India on 16 October 2014, forcibly transferred to Bhutan, and reportedly held in Rabuna Army Jail.

Kathmandu: The Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan (GCRPPB) has expressed deep concern and serious objection to the Royal Government of Bhutan’s official response dated 2 July 2025, which denies any knowledge of or involvement in the enforced disappearance of Lok Nath Acharya, a Bhutanese human rights defender who has been missing since October 2014.

This response follows a detailed UN joint communication AL BTN 1/2025, issued on 22 April 2025 by four United Nations Special Procedure mandate holders: Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Matthew Gillett, Vice-Chair on Communications of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Gabriella Citroni, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

The communication raised credible reports that Acharya was apprehended by plainclothes officers in India on 16 October 2014, forcibly transferred to Bhutan, and reportedly held in Rabuna Army Jail in Wangdue Phodrang District. Since then, his fate and whereabouts remain unknown, and his family has had no contact or official updates for more than a decade.

In its official response dated 2 July 2025, Bhutan categorically denied that Acharya was arrested, detained, or returned to Bhutan, and claims that no Bhutanese authorities have knowledge of the case. Bhutan further asserts that it has no jurisdiction to conduct law enforcement actions in a foreign country.

Lok Nath Acharya, an exiled member of Bhutan’s Lhotshampa minority, was forcibly evicted in the early 1990s and went on to become a peaceful advocate for refugee rights through the exile based Human Rights Organization of Bhutan (HUROB). His peaceful activism should have been protected—not punished.

GCRPPB has called on the Government of Bhutan to cooperate fully with UN human rights mechanisms and facilitate a renewed, independent inquiry into Acharya’s case,  disclose any and all information that may assist in clarifying his fate and whereabouts, allow access to relevant detention facilities by impartial observers, reaffirm Bhutan’s commitment to protecting the rights of human rights defenders and refugees and engage constructively with the families of the disappeared to bring them truth and closure.

The pursuit of truth and transparency is essential to upholding human rights and restoring trust, GCRPPB said. “This case represents not only a deeply personal tragedy for Mr. Acharya’s family, but also a test of Bhutan’s willingness to address serious international concerns with integrity.”