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Nepal torture suspect held by Metropolitan Police Nepal torture suspect held by Metropolitan Police
(about 1 hour later)
A man has been arrested in the UK suspected of committing torture during the civil war in Nepal in 2005, police have said. By Dominic Casciani Home affairs correspondent
A man has been arrested in the UK on suspicion of committing torture during the civil war in Nepal in 2005.
Metropolitan Police officers arrested the 46-year-old man in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on Thursday.Metropolitan Police officers arrested the 46-year-old man in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on Thursday.
The Met is the UK force responsible for investigating accusations of war crimes or human rights abuses.The Met is the UK force responsible for investigating accusations of war crimes or human rights abuses.
The man is being held on suspicion of torture contrary to href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/part/XI/crossheading/torture" >Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The BBC understands that the suspect is linked to the former government in Nepal and that police are acting on a complaint made in the UK.
This rarely-used law permits the UK to arrest and prosecute people accused of human rights abuses committed overseas, even if the crime is not connected to events in the UK. In a brief statement, the Metropolitan Police said the man remained in custody in a police station in Sussex. Officers are conducting searches at the residential address where the man was arrested at 07:19 GMT.
In a brief statement, the Metropolitan Police said the man remained in custody in a police station in Sussex. Nepal's decade-long civil war, which ended in 2006, witnessed the deaths of almost 15,000 people while thousands more were tortured or injured. Some 100,000 people were internally displaced and the fate of approximately 1,400 others remains unknown to this day. Both the army and Maoist rebels were accused of committing atrocities during the conflict.
Officers are conducting searches at the residential address where the man was arrested at 07:19 GMT. The man is being held on suspicion of torture contrary to href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/part/XI/crossheading/torture" >Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the investigation is being led by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command. There are nine detectives at Scotland Yard who specialise in investigating war crimes, alongside their other duties.
The investigation is being led by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command. The rarely-used 1988 war crimes law is known as a "universal jurisdiction" offence. It permits the UK to arrest and prosecute people accused of human rights abuses committed overseas, even if the crime is not connected to events in the UK. The investigations rarely reach trial because of the difficulties detectives face in gathering sufficient evidence to put before a jury.
War crimes investigations are run within tight guidelines agreed between the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Officers must secure corroborating evidence in the UK before a prosecution becomes possible. The proposed prosecution must also be approved by the Attorney General.
The last successful war crimes prosecution in the UK is thought to have been in 2005 when a former Afghan warlord, hiding in south London, was jailed for 20 years. Faryadi Zardad, who was living in Streatham at the time of his arrest, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of torture and hostage-taking in his home country.