Paris Protests Against Nepal's Crown Prince Over 'Sexual Cleansing Drive' Against Transsexuals

March 27, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET (Paris)
Human rights protestors demonstrated against the visit to Paris by Nepal's Crown Prince demanding an end to what they called a "sexual cleansing drive" aimed at transsexuals.
Carrying black flags, gay rights and AIDS activists joined other human rights protestors and exiled Nepalese demonstrated at the Eiffel Tower.
Crown Prince Paras is reportedly on a private visit to Paris.
The protests come a week after Human Rights Watch reported that transsexuals and HIV/AIDS outreach workers in Nepal's capital Kathmandu are under increased scrutiny by police.
Human Rights Watch first raised the alarm in January after groups of transgendered women, called Metis in two separate incidents were attacked by police and the military.
Human Rights Watch says the situation has gotten increasingly worse. Earlier this month police rounded up 26 metis. According to the Blue Diamond Society, a Nepali organization working in the fields of sexual rights, sexual health and HIV prevention, they were taken to the Hanuman Dhoka central police station in Kathmandu.
Five were later moved to Kalimati police station. Human Rights Watch understands that as of March 16, they have still not been permitted to speak to a lawyer. All have reportedly been charged with committing a "public nuisance."
"This is the latest incident in a violent police campaign to 'cleanse' Kathmandu of those considered undesirable," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Police regularly assault and in some cases sexually abuse transgender people, all in the name of enforcing 'moral values.'"
Those arrested included two staff, two outreach workers, and two peer educators working for the Blue Diamond Society.

Photo: A Nepali Sister