Bhutan Watch

ABSTRACT 

The uprising of 1990 in Bhutan was a wake-up call for the Bhutanese monarchy to reform. The King announced in 2005 that the country will have a ‘democratic’ government. He handed over his authority to his son to govern. The King and the country received a massive appreciation for initiating democracy. By nature, democracy should primarily benefit those who demanded it. Instead, Bhutan is the only democracy in the world where pro-democracy activists are still serving jail sentences. The international community remains a mute spectator to the sugar-coated Bhutanese democracy. Bhutan fooled them by taking advantage of their interest in geopolitics.  

This paper shall look at the story of dissidents behind bars, their families and response from the international community – including governments, human rights groups and the United Nations. Additionally, the major highlights of this paper will be to examine the implementation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of Bhutan and to see if such fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitution are real or a toothless instrument.  

Keywords: political prisoners, democracy, human rights, politics, justice,  

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