Human rights
NDI: Nepal faces an unparalleled human rights catastrophe
December 2004
Grafik
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GrafikNew Anti-Terrorism Measure a Major Step Backwards for Nepal
December 2004 - PRESS Report

Nepal today faces an unparalleled human rights catastrophe. Although the country has ratified many international conventions and their optional protocols, it has failed miserably in holding even to the spirit of these instruments. Instead, it is today competing for the record number of enforced disappearances in modern Asian history. Disappearances are a daily event in Nepal. Its National Human Rights Commission alone has recorded some 1400 cases, most involving the military. Those disappeared seldom return: most are killed, their bodies never returned to their relatives, who have no means to complain or protest. They live in total uncertainty, waiting and clinging to the last bit of hope for those who have disappeared. The few who do survive find it hard to live a normal life after what they have experienced.

The government of Nepal is in chaos. It is clearly unable to ensure the security of its people. During 2004, the AHRC raised its voice on a number of occasions when government security forces resorted to unnecessary violence as a means of control. With government consent, these agencies have arbitrarily arrested, tortured, extrajudicially killed and forcibly disappeared thousands upon thousands of citizens: most have fallen victim to units under the Joint Command of the Royal Nepal Army, and most are ordinary people innocent of any crimes. The government also knows that the security forces have targeted journalists and human rights defenders on the pretext of maintaining law and order. Both the government security forces and militias blatantly use force with the same degree of vigour and brutality, in total disregard to all human rights principles and standards. The government, by remaining mute in the face of these atrocities, has grossly violated its constitutional and international responsibilities.

The government has gone so far as to help the security forces to conceal grave human rights violations, particularly disappearances. Even the highest court of the country and the National Human Rights Commission have been directed not to discuss violations committed by the military, thereby denying any possibility of relief for the victims. And with the police and military refusing to admit that large-scale disappearances are occurring, domestic law-enforcement agencies, including the courts, are unable to do anything. Local police often refuse to register complaints of disappearance, and the Supreme Court is reluctant to intervene on grounds of lack of evidence and authority. Cases filed before it are rejected summarily, causing those who had once dared to lodge complaints to no longer bother. Civilians cannot get access to military courts, and these are anyhow far below accepted standards of impartiality. All government organs responsible for disappearances enjoy absolute impunity. In short, there is zero rule of law in Nepal. The result is overwhelming fear, helplessness and silence. The situation in the Maoist-controlled regions is equally bad since virtually no civilian law enforcement agencies are operative there at all.

With the expiry of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Punishment and Control) Act - 2058 last October 12, the government of Nepal has introduced a more severe version of the same law in its stead: the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance - 2061. This legislation clearly signals that the government has surrendered its authority to the military, and given it a green light to continue with arbitrary detentions, torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial and summary executions. One of the reasons for this weak position is the question mark looming over the constitutionality of the existing government itself after the democratically-elected government was dismissed and a new one appointed according to the king's fancy. This repressive legislation effectively rules out any possibility for genuine dialogue to end the civil conflict in Nepal, and with it, any chance that the disappearances, killings and torture will end soon. The mistaken belief that unrestrained use of force will resolve the country's political and security problems, prevalent at the highest levels of government, is stimulating the ongoing systematic and widespread human rights violations and crimes against humanity being committed by the security forces. The government must instead adopt a realistic and sincere approach towards a solution; otherwise, the blind, unnecessary and blatant violence coupled with total impunity of state security officials will lead the country into a disaster from which it will take decades to recover.

Local groups and international agencies must also play a more thoughtful role in negotiating a way through the conflict. At present, the absence of deliberate and concerted international effort to bring about an end to the impasse is resulting in great loss of life and immense suffering; far worse can be expected if nothing is done soon. International agencies must also reconsider how they engage in partnerships and make contributions at the local level in Nepal. Despite the prevailing chaos, the country is a hive of non-governmental organisations engaged in everything from natural disaster management to forums for a democratic movement. However, aside some remarkable exceptions most are just busy cashing-in on a worsening crisis, and the pursuit of their own self-interest while the society as a whole stares into the abyss. More thought-out approaches by international agencies may do something to rectify this unfortunate state of affairs, and perhaps even help to pull the country back from the brink.

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