Your Excellency,

I am Tek Nath Rizal, Former Member of the Royal Advisory Council of Bhutan and a Prisoner of Conscience.

I write not with hatred, nor with a desire for revenge, but with the voice of a people whose suffering has remained unresolved for far too long.

For a powerful government, the United Nations may be an international institution.

But for a homeless refugee, a political prisoner, a displaced family, or a person who has nowhere else to appeal—

THE UNITED NATIONS IS HOPE.

That is why I respectfully place this question before Your Excellency.

The United Nations has spoken to Bhutan.

Its human-rights mechanisms have raised concerns.

Its Special Procedures have sought answers.

UNHCR has worked for decades around the Bhutanese refugee crisis.

Yet the question remains:

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MEMBER STATE HEARS THE VOICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS—BUT DOES NOT SUFFICIENTLY ANSWER IT?

If the concerns, recommendations and appeals of the international community can simply be ignored, what protection remains for those who have no power of their own?

This is no longer only a question about Bhutan.

IT IS A QUESTION ABOUT THE DIGNITY, AUTHORITY AND MORAL CREDIBILITY OF THE UNITED NATIONS ITSELF.

We are not asking the United Nations to humiliate Bhutan.

We are not asking for hatred.

We are not asking for revenge.

We are not asking the world to take sides.

**WE ARE ASKING FOR TRUTH.

WE ARE ASKING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY.

WE ARE ASKING FOR HUMAN DIGNITY.**

We therefore respectfully appeal to Your Excellency to give renewed attention to the unresolved concerns of the Bhutanese people and to encourage OHCHR, UNHCR, UN Special Procedures, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and other relevant humanitarian and human-rights institutions to continue their work with renewed courage and determination.

Because when an international institution speaks for people who cannot speak with power,

THE WORLD MUST NOT ALLOW THAT VOICE TO BECOME A WHISPER.

And to the Government of Bhutan, I say with respect:

Please do not hear this only as an accusation.

Hear it as an opportunity.

An opportunity to answer the world.

An opportunity to answer your own people.

An opportunity to demonstrate that no nation is too small to uphold human dignity—

AND NO GOVERNMENT IS TOO POWERFUL TO BE QUESTIONED.

For decades, Bhutanese families have carried the pain of displacement, separation, uncertainty and unresolved questions about their homeland.

Some have found new homes in third countries.

Others still carry the question of return.

But behind every statistic is a human being.

Behind every refugee file is a family.

Behind every political prisoner is a life.

And behind every unanswered appeal is a human heart still waiting for justice.

HOW LONG MUST A PEOPLE WAIT BEFORE THEIR SUFFERING BECOMES A MATTER OF INTERNATIONAL CONSCIENCE?

Excellency,

If the United Nations has raised questions, and a member state does not provide an adequate answer, should the matter simply end there?

Or should the United Nations, in defence of its own principles, ask again—more firmly, more clearly, and with greater international attention?

I respectfully believe this question deserves an answer.

Not only for Bhutan.

But for every small and vulnerable people who looks toward the United Nations and believes:

“Perhaps there, someone will hear us.”

One day, history may not ask how powerful Bhutan was.

It may ask something much simpler:

**WHEN ITS PEOPLE CRIED FOR JUSTICE,

DID THE WORLD LISTEN?**

And history may ask the United Nations an equally difficult question:

**WHEN YOU HEARD THEM—

WHAT DID YOU DO?**

Therefore, I respectfully appeal to Your Excellency:

Please do not let the suffering of the Bhutanese people become another forgotten file in the archives of history.

Please help ensure that the voices of the displaced, the imprisoned, the forgotten and the powerless remain heard.

LET JUSTICE SPEAK.

LET HUMANITY LISTEN.

LET THE UNITED NATIONS REMAIN WORTHY OF THE TRUST OF THE POWERLESS.

With respect and hope,

Tek Nath Rizal

Former Member, Royal Advisory Council of Bhutan

Prisoner of Conscience

Inexile ;,Birtamod Nepal