Nepal Monitor :: The National Online Journal

I intend to divide today's briefing into two parts. First, I will brief you on the current situation in relation to last week's tragic helicopter accident and take your questions on this matter. After those questions, I will turn to UNMIN's preparations in support of the Constituent Assembly election, now only four weeks away.

You will understand that the past week has been a difficult time for UNMIN. Our grief is shared by the United Nations as a whole. The President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General expressed their deep sadness at the loss of ten lives in the accident, and their condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased. The further tragic death over the weekend has compounded this sadness. I, and my colleagues at UNMIN, have of course expressed our own condolences, and we have in turn greatly appreciated the support offered from all corners of Nepali society. This began with a personal expression of sympathy from the Prime Minister, and has included a number of individual journalists and media workers. I thank you for that.

We have tried to keep the public informed about developments as they have occurred and as we have been able to verify them. You will understand that our highest priority has been the difficult processes of recovery of the bodies of our colleagues, of identification and of delivery to their families or arrangements for repatriation of their bodies to their respective homelands. I can now confirm that the bodies of all ten people who died have been positively identified. I and senior members of UNMIN attended ceremonies with the families of our three Nepali colleagues last week: Lieutenant Colonel Bhim Bahadur Gurung, who had recently become a liaison officer with our arms monitoring office after heading the Interim Task Force deployed at cantonment sites; Rabindra Khaniya, who was a language assistant with our arms monitoring team; and Rajesh Maharjan, who was a motor mechanic with our transport team. On Monday, the body of Colonel Hyung Jin Park of the Republic of Korea was repatriated to his homeland after a brief ceremony here at the UNMIN headquarters with his son and brother and an official delegation of the government of the Republic of Korea. This morning we held a similar ceremony here for Major Famara Jammeh of the Gambia, before his body commenced its journey home. And we will conduct a similar ceremony for Lieutenant-Colonel Sondang Irawan of Indonesia and Major Mats Norhult of Sweden here tomorrow. The aircraft company will repatriate the bodies of the three crew members, as well as that of Avionics Engineer Evgeny Alexandrov, in the coming days.

We will conduct a memorial ceremony for all who lost their lives next week. I hope that the families of all of our lost colleagues will find some comfort in the care and dignity with which we are remembering them.

Immediately after the crash was reported, United Nations headquarters dispatched the Chief of the Aviation Safety Section in the Department of Field Support, Emil Petrunov, to Kathmandu. He is responsible for leading the UN's participation in the official investigation of the crash, and for an internal UN Aviation Safety Technical Investigation.

As you know, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has established an Inquiry Commission, which has been mandated to report within three months on the causes of the crash. Mr Petrunov and UNMIN's aviation officers are participating in the investigation, which is already under way. The flight data and voice recorders have been recovered from the wreckage, and are currently being analysed.

Experts also arrived promptly from the Interstate Aviation Committee, which is the highest regulatory and investigative body dealing with aircraft registered in countries of the former Soviet Union/Commonwealth of Independent States, including the Russian Federation, and is thus responsible for certifying the airworthiness of the helicopters brought to Nepal by our contractor. They are also assisting in the investigation carried out by the Inquiry Commission, and are examining and inspecting the log books, maintenance records, and operational procedures of both the crashed helicopter and the others in the fleet. UNMIN's helicopter contractor, Vertical-T, has flown in its Director-General and its Technical Director, who are conducting thorough diagnostic examinations of the other helicopters in the fleet.

I want to clarify some aspects related to the accident and our helicopter operations, as some of the stories that have appeared over the last week have been erroneous.

Firstly, all UNMIN flights comply fully with Nepalese civil aviation rules and procedures: each and every flight is carried out with the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. This has always been the case; it was the case with the ill-fated flight; and it continues to be the case. Reports to the contrary were simply false, and potentially very hurtful to family members and colleagues of the deceased.

Secondly, there has been some misreporting regarding a precautionary landing of an UNMIN helicopter on 29 January this year. The pilot exercised appropriate caution in landing safely after the automatic fire extinguisher activated on the port engine. Upon inspection it was found that part of an exhaust tail-pipe had fallen off in flight, probably due to a faulty clip. There was no actual fire or engine problem. This was not the same helicopter that crashed last week, as has been erroneously reported by some media. It was carrying a small quantity of explosives procured from the Nepalese Army, safely packaged, for the destruction of IEDs or other explosive remnants of war at a Maoist cantonment site, a process which UNMIN has been carrying out over many months with full knowledge of the authorities and all necessary clearances.

Thirdly, there continues to be reporting that UNMIN does not pay airport charges or fees for services, or is in some way seeking not to pay these. This is untrue. In line with an agreement by Member States, including Nepal, in the General Assembly, applicable to all UN missions, UN missions cannot pay government taxes or fees, except for services rendered. UNMIN has made clear to the Government and to the Civil Aviation Authority that it is willing to pay all relevant fees and charges for services provided, once these are identified as such. We have proposed how these can be identified, so that we can make the appropriate payment as soon as possible, and can conclude the official Status of Mission Agreement between the Government of Nepal and the United Nations, which has been agreed in principle for some time now.

Finally, I want to refer to reports that there was a problem between the UNMIN recovery team at the site the morning after the crash and Nepalese media. It has been suggested that there was a lack of respect by UNMIN personnel for the right of freedom of the press in this matter. In my former position as Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, I spoke often about this right and its importance to the protection of broader democratic rights, as I think some of you will recall. I, UNMIN and the whole UN system in Nepal remain committed to defending this right. However, freedom of expression should be exercised by the press in accordance with professional ethics, which should govern the decision about what to photograph and film, and what not to. UNMIN staff asked television crews not to film the bodies of the deceased until after they were covered, out of respect for the dead and the sensibilities of their families and friends. I stand by this as an appropriate request, and one that did not in any way hinder the media documenting the story for the Nepalese and international public. The UNMIN team did ask to see footage that had been filmed to confirm that it did not include film of the bodies. But there was no manhandling, and indeed no UNMIN staff handled the cameras of photographers or cameramen.

I regret that media attention has at times shifted from the fact that ten individuals lost their lives working to support Nepal's peace process. UNMIN and the United Nations in Nepal intend to honour the memory of our colleagues by continuing to work as hard and effectively as we can to support lasting peace and democracy in Nepal. As we do so, UNMIN will continue to do all it can to make itself available to the media, to respond to your questions, and clarify facts for you as you prepare stories that relate to our work in support of Nepal's peace process.

I will take your questions related to the accident before moving on to what UNMIN is planning to do in the lead-up to the 10 April Constituent Assembly election.

UNMIN and the electoral process
The Constituent Assembly election is now on track. I commend once again the efforts of all concerned in finding acceptable political compromises that have created conditions for holding the election in a timely manner. Despite the difficulties of recent days, UNMIN has remained focussed on its mandated work in support of the electoral process. I want to speak briefly now on what we see as the main challenges which must be met in the next four weeks, and to update you on what UNMIN is doing to assist in the creation of a free and fair atmosphere for the election as well as providing technical assistance to the Election Commission for the conduct of the election.

The focus now is on ensuring that the election takes place in an environment that enables all parties to campaign and organize freely anywhere in the country, and allows the people of Nepal to cast their votes in accordance with their free will and conscience, without intimidation or infringement of their rights. Efforts to reach out to those with grievances should continue, but the international community will have no sympathy with any group which carries out acts of violence in pursuit of its grievances or in attempts to disrupt the electoral process.

UNMIN will continue to implement the tasks that it has been asked to perform in support of the peace process, and is focussing its activities and operations on fostering an atmosphere conducive to a credible election and the smooth transition from the electoral to the constitution-making phase.

In the area of arms monitoring, having completed the registration and verification of the cantoned personnel of the Maoist army, UNMIN is now in discussion with the Nepal Army and the Maoist army, including through the Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee, on ensuring full respect during the election period for the commitments of both sides under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the arms monitoring agreement, beginning with the restriction of the two armies to their designated locations and the monitoring of weapons. We have been in discussion with the leadership of the Maoist army on strengthening monitoring in the cantonment areas. We have also been in discussion with the Nepal Army on ensuring compliance with the procedures for carrying out permitted activities under the agreements. The strict adherence to such commitments is important for preserving the integrity of the monitoring regime and maintaining the political confidence it promotes. At the same time we are seeking the cooperation of the Maoist army and the Government in arrangements for the earliest possible orderly discharge of those required to leave the cantonments after verification, especially minors.

After a period of scaled-down activity in our electoral advisory role following the postponement of the November election, UNMIN has now fully redeployed its electoral advisory capacity and is working very closely with the Election Commission in all areas of the Commission's mandate. As we speak our electoral advisers are being deployed to the regions and districts around the country. The last batch of the advisers will be in their respective districts within this week.

UNMIN also continues to work both at the national level and in the regions and districts to assist the monitoring of the ceasefire code of conduct and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Creating the conditions for a free and fair election requires the good faith effort of all political actors. Without the cooperation of all key players such conditions cannot be created through law enforcement measures alone. UNMIN's regional offices and their mobile presence around the country has enabled us to understand more clearly the challenges to a successful election and the measures that need to be taken to achieve it. In parallel, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHRNepal) continues to play a vital role by monitoring and reporting on the human rights conditions around the country, a role that has become increasingly and directly relevant to the election process. We share our findings, assessments and recommendations with all concerned. In the weeks ahead we intend to provide the main political actors with regular assessments of the conditions for elections, and to share these with the public.

The Election Commission has repeatedly emphasised that election security is a vital part of the process, and this has also been emphasised by the United Nations Electoral Expert Monitoring Team, which is currently carrying out its fourth visit. The political cooperation which is essential to security must include the willingness of political actors to refrain from calling for the premature release of those who have been properly arrested.

It is now imperative for all democratic forces to work together to make the election a successful democratic exercise. This requires respect for the principles of fair play and equal political space for all, and the wisdom to look beyond short-term party interests and to work for the common good. Every day infringements of the code of conduct are being reported from different areas of the country. If left unchecked, these are bound to hamper the election and the freedom of voters. It is essential therefore that acts of violence, intimidation and obstruction of the campaigns of others are tackled as early as possible, and preventive measures should be taken in advance to avert undemocratic behaviour and practices before, during and after the voting. This election will be scrutinised more closely than ever before in Nepal by national and international observers.

Nepal is very close to achieving an historic step in its democratic transition, one which the people of Nepal have called for since the Jana Andolan in April 2006. An inclusive Constituent Assembly, elected in a free and fair atmosphere, will provide the democratic basis for decisions to shape the future of this highly diverse country, as well as for a government with the broad legitimacy necessary to address the challenges of peace and development. UNMIN and the United Nations as a whole in Nepal will continue to play the roles asked of us to support this process.

(Press statement by Ian Martin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal - 12 Mar 2008)

A PDF version of the statement is available here.

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