Bhutan: Visits to security detainees

Between 9 and 16 October the ICRC carried out a series of visits to security detainees in Bhutan. The persons concerned, who have been convicted of " anti-national activities " , are held in the central prison in Chamgang and in the Thimphu detention centre. The series of visits, the tenth since 1993, took place under a memorandum of understanding signed in that year by the Bhutanese authorities and was conducted in accordance with the ICRC's standard visiting procedures.

The ICRC's visits to persons deprived of their freedom are carried out on condition that its delegates have access to all detainees within its terms of reference, are able to speak to them in private, and are allowed to repeat the visits and follow up each detainee in the long term.