For Immediate Release: Nepal: Police Attack Transgender People
Pattern of Police Abuse Highlights Broader Threat to Civil Society


(Geneva, April 19, 2005) -- Police in Kathmandu attacked a group of transgender people on Wednesday, underscoring the vulnerability of all Nepalese to police abuse since King Gyanendra seized direct power in February and suspended most civil liberties, Human Rights Watch said today.

On April 13—the Nepalese New Year’s Eve—police attacked 18 metis (a traditional term for biological males who dress and identify as women) who were walking toward a festival in Kathmandu. Nine were severely beaten with batons, gun butts, and sticks.