UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF PLEDGES CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR NEPAL

The top United Nations human rights official today voiced her continued support for Nepal as it rebuilds after a decade-long civil war, with the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the South Asian nation being extended until next year.

In her letter to the Nepalese Government confirming her acceptance of that agreement, High Commissioner Navi Pillay wrote that OHCHR "remains strongly committed to further strengthen the national human rights protection system, in particular the National Human Rights Commission, through continued cooperation and capacity building," according to a press release issued in Kathmandu.

The Office's mandate is now set to expire on 9 June 2010.

Last weekend, a new UN-backed project was launched to help heal the scars left by Nepal's civil war, using transitional justice mechanisms to spur reconciliation.

The "Peace through Justice" initiative, financed through a $2 million grant from the UN Peace Fund for Nepal (UNPFN), seeks to aid in setting up effective transitional justice systems provided for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the 2006 pact ended the conflict between forces loyal to the former King of Nepal and Maoists.

OHCHR said that "a systematic approach to dealing with the past can help societies heal and work their way back to normality. Establishing the facts of the conflict, acknowledging the losses suffered by the victims and providing a platform for justice helps end impunity and aids reconciliation."

The project, which will run initially for 12 months, will support the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) to set up bodies, such as the Commission on Inquiry on Disappearances, and will focus on documenting human rights and international humanitarian law violations committed during the conflict, which claimed some 13,000 lives.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his latest report on Nepal's request for UN assistance in support of the peace process, wrote that progress on key elements in Nepal's peace process has slowed down or stalled altogether owing to the country's recent political crisis.

"The two major tasks at the current stage of the peace process are the integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist army personnel and the drafting of the new constitution," he said, noting that efforts to advance on both these fronts slowed with the onset of the crisis sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ("Prachanda") in early May, which occurred one day after the Chief of Army Staff – who he had fired – was reinstated.

A senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML), Madhav Kumar Nepal, was elected Prime Minister on 23 May and subsequently formed a new coalition Government with the support of 21 other political parties but without the participation of the Maoists.

"The modest progress witnessed in some aspects of the peace process during the first quarter of 2009 has stalled against a backdrop of mistrust and a further deterioration of relations among key stakeholders, notably between UCPN-M [Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist] and the other major parties and between UCPN-M and the Nepal Army," says the Secretary-General, proposing a six-month extension of the United Nations mission to continue assisting with remaining tasks.
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Nepal: Victims Await Justice From New Government

The Maoist-led Nepali government should make accountability for human rights abuses before, during, and after the conflict in Nepal an urgent priority, Human Rights Watch and the Nepal-based Advocacy Forum said today in a letter to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The groups urged the prime minister to ensure that members of security forces and of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) responsible for large-scale "disappearances" are held accountable, including through criminal prosecutions.

The letter was released during the March session of the UN Human Rights Council where a delegation of victims is due to give testimony before the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

Nepal had the largest number of "disappearances" in recent years among countries reporting to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances. In December 2008, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) made public findings of its investigations into 156 cases of enforced disappearances in Bardiya district, most of which occurred between December 2001 and January 2003.

"In spite of promises of a new Nepal, the government has not taken meaningful action on 'disappearances' and other gross human rights violations," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Those responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances and other serious abuses should be investigated and prosecuted. Now is the time for the prime minister to live up to his promises and hold perpetrators accountable."

In September 2008, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum released a report, "Waiting for Justice: Unpunished Crimes from Nepal's Armed Conflict," which examined in detail the state's response to 48 First Information Reports (FIRs) filed in relation to 62 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and rape by security forces between 2002 and 2006.

Both organizations expressed their disappointment at the government's failure to table the Disappearance Bill for debate in parliament, passing it by ordinance without public input or debate.

"We welcomed the disappearances bill, as it is a hopeful step on the road to accountability," said Mandira Sharma, director of Advocacy Forum. "But we are deeply disappointed that the government chose to avoid a national debate on such a central issue. The bill needs to meet international standards to have any chance of success."