In a significant push to reform Nepal’s prison system, Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak has vowed to transform correctional facilities across the country into "industrial villages" aimed at rehabilitation, productivity, and human rights.
Many of these political prisoners, primarily arrested in the 1990s and early 2000s, remain behind bars without any hope of release, despite Bhutan’s claims that no such prisoners exist.
Inmates complain of human rights abuse and indifference by prison officials regarding the risk of COVID-19, inadequate heating during winter, lack of proper hygiene...
Timely community action and strengthened health services will determine how many more young lives are placed at risk before cooler weather arrives, health workers say.