Bhutanese minority excluded from historic vote (Reproduction)
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 25 : Bhutan made a historic move this week by completing a peaceful transition from absolute monarchy to democratic rule. But many wonder whether the newly elected leadership in that tiny Himalayan nation will be willing to ensure equal rights for minorities.
"We hope they would work for reconciliation, but so far there is no suggestion (that they would)" said Bill Frelick of the New York-based Human Rights Watch organization that has been calling for an end to discrimination against ethnic minorities in Bhutan for years.
Though pleased with the king's decision to introduce a democratic system in Bhutan, Frelick and other human rights defenders said they were disappointed with the fact that the election process did not follow the principle of universal franchise.
Observers say about 13 percent of Bhutanese — citizens of Nepali origin — were unable to exercise their right to vote because the authorities imposed strict rules against their participation in Monday's elections.
Over 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin are currently living in refugee camps in Nepal. Most of them fled to Nepal in the early 1990s, due to fear of harassment and abusive treatment stemming from the discriminatory nature of new citizenship rules in Bhutan.
Bhutan, a remote and impoverished kingdom, is located in the high Himalayas with less than 700,000 population. It is surrounded by two powerful neighbors, India and China.
Almost completely isolated for centuries, the largely Buddhist Bhutan has constantly endeavored to protect its ancient traditions from the outside world. Most of its minority population believes in the faith of Hinduism.
The Bhutanese name for Bhutan, Druk Yul, means "Land of the Thunder Dragon." The country began to open up to foreigners in the 1970s.
Unofficial results show that the party of Jigmi Thinley, who was previously the country's prime minister under the king's rule, won a landslide victory.
The move to democratic rule was proposed by Bhutan's royal family, which is led by the 28-year-old Western-educated King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. Though he will be a symbolic head of the state, observers say he will continue to exert significant influence on governance.
Monday's vote for the National Assembly completes the country's peaceful transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. An election for the upper house of parliament, the 25-seat National Council, was held in December.
A Bhutanese government census in 2005 classified 13 percent of Bhutan's current population as "non-nationals," meaning that they are not only ineligible to vote, but are denied a wide range of other rights.
If the elected government does not take appropriate measures on national unity and reconciliation soon, according to some observers, it will likely see some disgruntled minorities getting involved in acts of violence.
Just a couple of months ago, Bhutan was rocked by a series of explosions in the capital, Thimpu, and three other locations. The bombs went off without causing much damage. However, their impact on the peace and serene setting of Thimpu was huge. Authorities said exile groups were behind the bombing, but a previously unknown group said its activists were the ones who did it.
Claiming responsibility for the attacks, the United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan charged that Thimpu's changes were cosmetic and would not benefit all Bhutanese.
"Though such bombings are never justified, the alarms they sound should not be ignored," said Frelick, noting that the Bhutanese authorities have not allowed a single refugee to return. "This salvo should warn the government to be inclusive in its experiment with democratization."
In 2006, the U.S. government, seeing an impasse in negotiations between Nepal and Bhutan, offered to resettle 60,000 of the Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin. Human Rights Watch says the processing has been slow to start; the first 100 refugees are traveling to the United States this week.
"After 17 years of deadlock, the coincidental synchronization of elections and resettlement of refugees to the United States plays into the fears of some refugees, who believe the U.S. is conspiring with Bhutan to keep them from repatriating and asserting their rights," said Frelick.
In his view, "these refugees insist that return to Bhutan is the only acceptable solution and they are increasingly intimidating refugees who want to accept the U.S. offer — through beatings, burning huts, and death threats."
"If Bhutan aspires to be truly democratic, it should choose a path of reconciliation with the disenfranchised ethnic Nepalese inside and outside its borders," said Frelick. "If instead it deliberately excludes many of its people, it may strengthen the hand of the militants and discover that simply holding elections will bring neither real democracy nor peace."
(Source: By: Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US)