Indigenous rights activist Som Bahadur Ghale Tamang was reportedly arrested by police at his home in Dhumbarahi, Kathmandu, at midnight on 2 June, the day after he was involved in a peaceful demonstration for indigenous rights. His whereabouts are unknown and there are fears for his safety.

One member of the Armed Police Force and eight other officers in plain clothes reportedly searched his house and then took him away.

Som Bahadur Ghale Tamang is General Secretary of the Nepal Tamang Ghedung (Tamang indigenous people's organization), which campaigns for indigenous people's rights. Nepal Tamang Ghedung and other community organizations organized a peaceful demonstration in Kathmandu on 1 June in protest at a government ban on local authorities' use of indigenous languages in official documents. The ban has been in force since June 1999.

Police arrested 13 other people during and after the demonstration.

The Nepal Tamang Ghedung has appealed to the authorities to reveal where Som Bahadur Ghale Tamang is held, and release him. The authorities have not so far responded.

Som Bahadur Gale Tamang was released on 6 August.

The General Secretary of the Nepal Tamang Ghedung (Tamang indigenous people's organization) had been arrested by police from his residence in Kathmandu on 2 June. He was then held in unacknowledged detention for over two months at a number of different police stations. Som Bahadur Gale Tamang was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment while in custody.

No further action from the network is required. Thank you to all those who sent appeals.