By Rabi Raj Thapa
Nepal continue to struggle in its efforts to counter organized crime today. Lexicons of criminal terminology like corruption, syndicates, racketeering and setting in crime and corruption have become too common in today’s day-to-day business. Today, many common Nepalis are too frustrated and irritated by the overwhelming flood of news and interviews about Chakre Milan, the prison riot and violence within Kailali prison. Let us hope such incidents are not orchestrated to cover and overshadow government cases of scandals like the Visit-Visa and Cooling-off Period.
Nepal needs to be careful. If things go like this, Nepal can become South Asian Colombia and Mexico, where cartels and goons rule the country, its cities and prisons. Today, criminals and the underworld are getting more news and views, media coverage that glamorizes them, inspiring more young hearts to follow their way of life. Street goons and prison inmate leaders have now become more adaptive and resilient, affluent and powerful every day and night.
There are more serious and alarming tendencies developing among the common people in Nepal. They have now become too cool, indifferent and apathetic, followed by flight rather than fight against societal crime and injustice. Aspiring Nepal youths have now begun to adopt survival tactics of abandoning the country rather than fight against corruption and unjust.
Despite all such anomalies, small fishes called petty criminals have no voice and space in Nepalese society and are not safe even inside the prison. When prison inmates cried and warned the government and authorities about Kailali prison violence, nobody paid attention to prevent it, not even the National Human Rights Commission could do anything to stop the atrocities of prison gang violence.
Urbanization and urban living naturally breed goons and underworld, help to proliferate turf wars, gang fights, and bloody violence, disturbing social harmony. In this regard, Nepal is fortunate in a way that Nepal street goons and prison population have not yet taken guns and firearms. But the risk is always there. Too much Singam-type of police adventurism and police encounters can one day change the whole underworld scenario, resulting in more armed violence and killing.
Presently, Nepal needs to get out-of-the-box thinking and start a meaningful prison reform initiative. In the past, Nepal had taken positive steps like Open Prison and penal reform initiatives. But now, the government seems to have inclined more toward control by deterrence than reform and rehabilitation.
Prison incidents of the past few months have badly exposed Nepal’s precarious conditions in criminal and juvenile administration systems, contributing to a rise in violence in prisons and juvenile detention and reform houses. It is a pity that Nepalese prison authorities lack adequate motivation, resources and capacity, even though they want to do more in prison reform, even up to a minimum international level.
Like any other country, the prison population is rising in Nepal too. There are many international rules and good practices, like the Tokyo Rules, known as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures, aimed at reducing imprisonment and promoting alternatives to incarceration. These rules encourage countries to implement measures like conditional discharges, community service, and probation, rather than automatically resorting to imprisonment.
Today, Nepali prisons are run by organized goons and dons who are themselves convicts of serious crimes. If the government is really serious to improve Nepali prison, it needs self-examination to bring about a meaningful reform measures and change and there are many ways to do that. At the bedside, the UN, there are international agencies and institutions like Penal Reform International (penalreform.org) that can provide information and guidance if the concerned agencies take interest. Learning does not cost a lot of money.
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