Bhutan’s Veil of Happiness: Unmasking Systemic Arbitrary Detention
By Depika Subedi, Youth Coordinator, The Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan (GCRPPB)
For decades, Bhutan has enchanted the world with its philosophy of Gross National Happiness, a national mantra marketed as a counterbalance to materialism. Yet, behind this curated narrative lies an unsettling truth: the state is detaining political dissidents in silence, without due process, and in violation of fundamental human rights. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s Opinion No. 60/2024 reveals the disturbing cases of three Nepali-speaking Bhutanese among others, Birkha Bahadur Chhetri, Kumar Gautam, and Sunman Gurung, who have been held in Bhutanese prisons for nearly two decades under arbitrary, discriminatory, and unlawful conditions.
The Working Group determined that Bhutan’s actions violated four distinct categories of international law concerning arbitrary detention. These men were arrested without warrants, denied legal counsel, tried under vague national security laws, sentenced to life imprisonment, and cut off from the outside world. Their imprisonment is not just a human rights violation, it reflects a systemic pattern of persecution based on ethnicity, political belief, and statelessness. Bhutan’s silence in the face of the UN inquiry only deepens its complicity.
Birkha Bahadur Chhetri (b. 1987), Kumar Gautam (b. 1983), and Sunman Gurung (b. 1976) are Nepali-speaking Bhutanese nationals rendered stateless by the government during the ethnic expulsions of the early 1990s. All three held identity documents issued by refugee agencies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), having lived as refugees in camps in eastern Nepal before they were arrested in Bhutan while returning to distribute political pamphlets in southern villages.
On February 5, 2008, Chhetri and Gautam were arrested by Bhutanese army officers near the Indian border for carrying political pamphlets criticizing Bhutan’s treatment of Nepali-speaking minorities. They were held for 20 days at an army barracks without legal representation and subjected to daily interrogations. Ten days later, Gurung was similarly arrested while returning from Kalikhola after distributing pamphlets. No weapons were found on him. All three were denied the right to notify their families and were transferred to Chamgang Central Prison in Thimphu. Their families only learned of their arrests weeks later through a radio broadcast.
Initially, the men were accused of “unauthorized entry” into Bhutan, even though their citizenship had been revoked, making it legally impossible to return with documentation. Later, they were charged under Bhutan’s National Security Act of 1992 and several articles of the Penal Code, including treason and aiding the enemy. The penalties: life imprisonment or death. In September 2008, they were sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.
Authorities claimed the men possessed pamphlets and weapons and had ties to the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist), labeled a terrorist group by Bhutanese officials. But in their defense statements, the men argued they never intended to commit violence. No credible evidence was presented linking them to armed rebellion. More alarmingly, they were denied defense counsel at every stage, forced to represent themselves, and the trial was conducted entirely in Dzongkha, a language none of them understood. The interpreter provided was biased government civil servants and their appeal was dismissed after eight months.
The Working Group found Bhutan in violation of Category I of the arbitrary detention. The arrests were carried out without warrants, and none of the men were informed of the legal basis for their detention. They were held incommunicado for weeks, deprived of their right to contact family, and subjected to enforced disappearance, a grave breach of international law. The UN declares that such arrests lack legal foundation and place individuals beyond the protection of the law, violating Articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Their arrest and continued detention also violated Category II. Bhutan stripped these men of citizenship and then arrested them for re-entering their homeland without documents, a Kafkaesque catch-22. This violates Article 13 of the Universal Declaration, which guarantees the right to return to one’s country. Additionally, they were punished for distributing political material and affiliating with a political group, breaching Articles 18, 19, and 20: the rights to freedom of thought, expression, and peaceful association.
The Working Group emphasizes that Bhutan’s National Security Act was enacted in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests led by Nepali-speaking citizens, and has since been used to suppress minority dissent. The Act’s vague language criminalizes peaceful activism and equates political expression with treason. Bhutan has failed to show that the men posed any real threat to national security. According to UN precedent, merely belonging to a banned political party does not justify imprisonment without evidence of violent intent.
The Working Group also confirms Category III violations: denial of due process and a fair trial. None of the men had access to legal representation during arrest, trial, or appeal. This aligns with patterns the UN documented during prior visits to Bhutan, where most accused under national security laws lack defense lawyers. The trial being held in a language foreign to the defendants, coupled with inadequate and biased interpretation services, further undermined the legitimacy of the proceedings. Sentenced to life without parole, they now have no legal recourse, a situation the UN classifies as especially egregious.
Finally, the detention falls under Category V: discrimination. The men were targeted due to their identity as Nepali-speaking minorities and former refugees. Their arrest, prosecution, and sentencing reflect Bhutan’s decades-long pattern of marginalizing this community. UN reviews have repeatedly flagged Bhutan’s discriminatory policies, particularly around citizenship, political inclusion, and access to legal protections. The Working Group asserts that these arrests were not the result of real threats, but of perceived dissent by members of a minority group.
Despite receiving a formal communication from the UN on February 23, 2024, Bhutan offered no reply, no legal justification, and no defense. The Working Group interprets this silence as a failure of international responsibility. Bhutan has ignored its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while continuing to project a sanitized image to the global community.
First, Bhutan must immediately release Mr. Chhetri, Mr. Gautam, Mr. Gurung, and all others, and offer them compensation and reparations as required under international law. Their imprisonment is an ongoing human rights abuse.
Second, the government must amend or repeal the National Security Act, whose vague and overly broad definitions violate the principle of legality. Laws that criminalize peaceful dissent or opinion are incompatible with democratic norms.
Third, the international community, especially donor countries and multilateral agencies, tie aid and cooperation with Bhutan to meaningful human rights reforms. The Red Cross and UN agencies must demand prison access, independent investigations, and progress reports.
Bhutan cannot continue to parade itself as a beacon of happiness while disappearing dissidents in silence. Peace is not the absence of protest. It is the presence of justice. The kingdom must choose between global admiration and moral accountability.