|
NEPAL
Head
of state: |
King
Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev |
Head
of government: |
Girija
Prasad Koirala (replaced King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in April 2006) |
Death
penalty: |
abolitionist
for all crimes International Criminal Court: not ratified |
The
political transition, cessation of hostilities and relaunching of a peace
process following popular protests in April led to major improvements in
the human rights situation and raised expectations that long-standing issues,
such as caste-, ethnic- and gender-based discrimination, would be addressed.
The
new coalition government and the armed opposition Communist Party of Nepal
(CPN) (Maoist) pledged their commitment to human rights in a series of
agreements, culminating in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in
November. Key challenges remained, including holding both parties to their
promises and ensuring accountability for past human rights violations and
abuses.
Background
The
year began with growing opposition to the rule of King Gyanendra, who seized
executive authority in February 2005 and imposed increasingly severe restrictions
on freedoms of assembly, association and expression. More than 3,000 people
were detained between mid-January and mid-February for involvement in political
demonstrations, including senior political leaders and prominent peace
activists. Police used excessive force against demonstrators and ill-treated
activists in custody.
A
renewed protest movement gathered strength in April, known as the People's
Movement (Jana Andolan). The demonstrations, initiated by the coalition
of major political parties known as the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), eventually
included a broad cross-section of the population and also had the backing
of the CPN (Maoist). The royal government again imposed undue restrictions
on freedoms of assembly and expression and the security forces used excessive
force in efforts to suppress the protests. The security forces used batons,
live and rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, fired at close range, to
control the crowds, resulting in the deaths of at least 18 people and injuries
to more than 4,000. Hundreds of peaceful political and civil society activists
were among those arrested.
On
24 April, King Gyanendra announced the reinstatement of the House of Representatives.
Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala was appointed Prime Minister,
heading an SPA coalition government. Within days, the House convened for
the first time since 2002 and endorsed a proposal to hold elections for
a constituent assembly to rewrite the country's 1990 Constitution and decide
the fate of the monarchy.
The
CPN (Maoist) announced a three-month ceasefire on 26 April. The SPA government
reciprocated with an indefinite ceasefire on 3 May. Negotiations, starting
on 26 May, resulted in a series of agreements that paved the way for the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed on 21 November. The Peace Agreement
ended Nepal's decade-long armed conflict and included provisions on political,
social and economic transformation. It committed both parties to the establishment
of an interim government, including representatives from the CPN (Maoist),
and to constituent assembly elections by mid-June 2007.
An
agreement in late November established procedures to ensure that CPN (Maoist)
combatants would be confined to temporary camps and lock their weapons
under UN supervision while the Nepal Army would remain in barracks and
store an equal number of arms.
Both
parties requested the UN to provide assistance in election observation
and continued human rights monitoring.
Peace process and human rights
All
the agreements signed in the course of the talks included human rights
commitments. However, many of the pledges were vaguely worded and few had
been fully implemented by the end of the year.
In
May the SPA government and the CPN (Maoist) agreed a Code of Conduct for
the ceasefire. By mid- November, the National Monitoring Committee established
to oversee compliance said it had found violations of the Code of Conduct
in 913 cases out of 1,425 complaints, but no further action was taken and
the Committee was dissolved at the end of that month. The role of Nepal's
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) remained unclear. The NHRC's reputation
for independence was damaged in 2005, when new Commissioners were appointed
by the King. In July, the Chairperson and Commissioners resigned; new appointments
had not been made by the year's end.
The
Peace Agreement signed on 21 November contained significant human rights
commitments, including an end to impunity for human rights abuses and guarantees
of the rights to food, health and education. It provided for a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission to investigate "serious violations of human rights
and crimes against humanity" committed during the armed conflict and a
National Peace and Rehabilitation Commission to provide assistance to conflict
victims.The Peace Agreement also included pledges to publicize the whereabouts
of victims of enforced disappearances within 60 days and to create an environment
conducive to the return of internally displaced people.
Marginalized
groups were under-represented in the peace process. Neither the SPA government
nor the CPN (Maoist) leadership included women in their peace talk teams.
The 31-member National Monitoring Committee included only two women, and
a sixmember, all-male Interim Constitution Drafting Committee was expanded
to include four women and a Dalit representative only after widespread
protests.
Abuses by the CPN (Maoist)
Despite
the CPN (Maoist)'s public commitments to respect international human rights
standards, there were continuing reports of unlawful killings, abductions,
torture and ill-treatment, extortion, threats and harassment by members
of the CPN (Maoist). Investigations by the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal found that many of the abuses were committed
in the context of the "law enforcement" activities of the CPN (Maoist)
and its "people's courts". In November, the CPN (Maoist) pledged to dissolve
the "people's government" and "people's courts" on the day the interim
parliament was formed.
There
were reports of ongoing child recruitment after the ceasefire, particularly
in the days and weeks preceding the Peace Agreement. Under the Peace Agreement,
both parties pledged not to use children aged 18 or below in military activities
and to provide assistance for their rehabilitation.
Abuses by other armed groups
Other
armed groups, in particular the anti-Maoist "village defence forces" and
the Terai Janatantrik Mukti Morcha (TJMM), were responsible for human rights
abuses, including unlawful killings and abductions. In July, the CPN (Maoist)
declared "war" against the TJMM, a splinter group advocating selfdetermination
for the Madhesi people of the southern Terai region. By the year's end,
there had been no systematic effort to disarm the village defence forces,
which had gained strength in 2005 with the support of the security forces.
Human
rights violations by the security forces The security forces were responsible
for unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions,
and the widespread use of torture, including rape, in the context of the
decade-long conflict. The army regularly resorted to indiscriminate or
disproportionate attacks in its battles with the CPN (Maoist), resulting
in the deaths of civilians and damage to homes, schools and other civilian
objects. Throughout 2005 and early 2006, the King increasingly used the
security forces to control peaceful political opposition. The Nepal Police
(NP), Armed Police Force (APF) and the Royal Nepalese Army (renamed the
Nepal Army in May) were deployed to curb political demonstrations in early
2006 and were all responsible for the use of excessive force, according
to OHCHR investigations. The NP and APF arbitrarily detained thousands
of people during the demonstrations.
With
the cessation of hostilities in May, conflictrelated violations ended almost
completely. The Army Bill adopted by the parliament in September contained
provisions to bring the army under civilian control but did not adequately
address concerns regarding jurisdiction for violations of human rights
and humanitarian law committed by the military.
Accountability
Measures
to address past violations and abuses were inadequate.
In
May, the SPA government appointed a Commission of Inquiry chaired by a
former Supreme Court judge to investigate human rights violations committed
in the context of suppressing the People's Movement. The Commission delivered
its report to the SPA government in November but its findings were not
made public. The Commission reportedly recommended action against more
than 200 people, including King Gyanendra, senior ministers and security
officials. The SPA government formed a committee to study the report. In
early June, the Home Ministry established a oneperson Disappearances Committee
without the capacity to investigate the hundreds of unresolved cases of
enforced disappearance.
Authorities
were reluctant to proceed with criminal investigations into past human
rights violations, even when presented with detailed reports by local human
rights defenders and the OHCHR. Neither the security forces nor the CPN
(Maoist) took concrete steps to strengthen accountability within their
ranks.
Women's
rights
Violence
against women was not widely recognized as a human rights issue. Gender-based
violence was under-reported, partly due to fear of retaliation and to the
scarcity of shelter and other support services. Widows and single women
were particularly at risk of violence and harassment.
Many
women human rights defenders believed that the political transition presented
an opportunity to secure more equitable representation in government and
press for legal reform. Lawyers estimated that there were at least 118
discriminatory provisions contained in 54 different laws, including the
1990 Constitution.
Internally
displaced people Between 100,000 and 250,000 people were displaced during
the conflict. Following the cessation of hostilities in May, some internally
displaced people (IDPs) began to return to their communities, but prevailing
security concerns discouraged large-scale returns. Despite the repeated
commitments of both parties to ensure the safe return of IDPs, there were
no comprehensive policies to provide necessary assistance and protection.
Bhutanese
refugees
Toward
the end of 2006, there were moves to resolve the plight of around 106,000
Bhutanese refugees living in camps in south-eastern Nepal after their forced
expulsion from Bhutan in the early 1990s. The SPA government attempted
to reopen talks with the government of Bhutan, suspended since 2003. In
October, the USA offered to resettle up to 60,000 refugees and other countries
said they would provide resettlement. Refugees were reportedly divided
about the offers, with some fearing that accepting resettlement would end
all hopes for repatriation to Bhutan and legitimize "ethnic cleansing".
AI
country reports/visits
Visits
AI
delegates visited Nepal in February, March and December.
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