Human Rights Situation in Nepal Remains Poor: Report
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The annual report 2008 by NHRC says rights situation this past year remained poor.
A total of 216 persons lost their lives this past year. The report says this statistics is higher by 78 persons compared to the last year's record. However, NHCR received 1137 complaints in total significantly fewer than the record of last year, which was 1948. The following is the synopsis of the final report:
NHRC Nepal Annual Report 2007/8: A Synopsis
National Human Rights Commission of Nepal has been established on May 26, 2000 realizing the necessity of a national institution to work in the field of human rights. The Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 has recognized NHRC as a constitutional body and mandated the responsibility to ensure human rights in order to respect, protect, promote and help effectively implement. As per the Article 133 of the Constitution, NHRC has to submit its annual report to the President. Hence, this annual report has been prepared as per the Constitutional obligation. Since the NHRC has been declared as a constitutional body, this is the first annual report that has covered the activities of NHRC during the fiscal year 2007/08. This report has resembled the human rights situation and challenges of the aforementioned period. It has contained 6 chapters and 13 annexes.
1. NHRC Submits Annual Report to President
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has submitted its annual report 2007/08 before the President in accordance with the Article 133 of Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 BS (2007). A team of NHRC officials submitted the report to honorable President Dr. Rambaran Yadav this afternoon at the Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas. Speaking on the occasion, NHRC chairman Kedar Nath Upadhyay said that “the period of past one year was very challenging since Kapilvastu incident took place at the same time when NHRC officials were appointed last year and the election to Constituent Assembly (CA) was held amid various instabilities.”
This is the first annual report after the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 gave constitutional status to NHRC and after present officials were appointed in NHRC. This report includes the activities of NHRC towards protection and promotion of human rights carried out from July/August, 2007 to June/July, 2008. Last year, NHRC carried out different functions including monitoring and investigation of Kapilvastu incident and giving recommendations, monitoring of CA election 2008, formulating three-year interim strategic plan (2008-10), exhumation of the bodies of persons said to be disappeared from Bhairabnath Battalion in Maharajgunj on different dates and on different places.
2. Year of Achievement and Challenges
From the perspective of human rights, this year is found to be the period of both achievements and challenges. If we see the achievement s, the most significant event of the year is the long-awaited Constituent Assembly election that was held on April 10, 2008.
Right to Information Act, 2007, Human Trafficking and Migration (Control) Act, 2007, Foreign Employment Act, 2007, Act Against Abduction Cases, ratification of ILO Convention 169 related to Indigenous People's Rights, Apex Court Verdict on Gender Minorities, etc. are much more remarkable legal reformations of the said period. Similarly, The period is much more significant for the peaceful resolutions of all agitations, protests and political demonstrations raised by various political and nonpolitical groups.
The said period is immensely meaningful for the NHRC in some respects like relationship with national and international relations; various national and international stakeholder organizations and persons visited NHRC in this period in order to strengthen mutual relationships with each other as well as to improve HR situation of the country. NHRC took part in several important international programmes like APF annual meeting in Malaysia, ICC of NHRIs meeting in Geneva; and other programmes in different themes in South Africa, India, Switzerland, USA, Bangladesh, Finland, etc.
3. HR Situation not satisfactory
The interim Constitution of Nepal and the CPA have mandated NHRC Nepal to regularly monitor the HR situation of the country. Despite there are some remarkable achievements and informed HR situation in several respects, NHRC finds that, in totality, HR situation of the country has not been improved up to the satisfactory level. Within this period, 216 persons have lost their lives; this statistics is higher by 78 persons compared to the last year's record. See the table below:
SN/Alleged Groups/People Killed
1/ Security Force (Police) / 31
2 / CPN-M/ 6
3 / JTMM (Jwala)/ 35
4 / Akhil Terai Mukti Morcha/ 14
5 / JTMM (Rajan)/ 2
6 / Madhesi Mukti Tigers/ 6
7 / Madhes Virus Killers/ 2
8 / Madhesh Mukti Morcha/1
9 / Terai Mukti Morcha/ 1
10 / Various Bomb Blasts in different dates/27
11 / Kapilvastu Incident/14
12 / Unknown Groups/ 73
13 / Other various groups/ 14
Security situation of the period is remarkably miserable; the time-period was found more challenging because of recurring strikes and protests on different themes in different areas, especially in central and eastern terai and eastern region. Abductions, extortions, killing, cases of violence such as bomb blasts were not minimized this year too. Security situation was somehow improved during the CA election period; which couldn't long last after the election period.
4. CPA Provisions not implemented
The written commitments made in the CPA by the then Government and the CPN-M were not implemented this year too; such as- publishing the status of the whereabouts of the disappeared persons with in the 60 days of CPA signature; on the other hand, the Government could not implement the Verdict of the Apex Court related to the Disappeared. Recently published NHRC status shows that there are 970 persons still missing- 671 from State Side and 299 from CPN-M side.
5.2.3. Prepare the details of the disappeared persons or those killed in the conflict with their real name, surname and residential address and publicize it within 60 days from the day of signing this agreement and inform the family members of concerned persons.
Similarly, the following provisions of the CPA could not be implemented from both sides. During the period, 27 persons have lost their lives due to the mine explosions or bomb blasts.
5.1.4. Both parties shall inform each other about the demarcation and storage of ambush or mines planted during the war period within 30 days and help each other to diffuse or dispose them off within 60 days.
Contrary to this, against the spirit of CPA, property seized from CPN-M and its sister organizations was not returned to the concerned stakeholders, and the Government couldn't cultivate favorable situation in order to return IDPs to their destinations. In the same way, Peace and Rehabilitation Commission, and Truth and Reconciliation Commission were not formulated in this period. In this year, there were many cases of women's rights violence as well as the cases of caste and other kinds of discriminations.
5. Complaints Received in NHRC
This year NHRC received 1137 complaints in total. This statistics is significantly less than the record of last year, which was 1948. See the table below for detail:
|
SN |
Theme of Complaint |
M1 |
M2 |
M3 |
M4 |
M5 |
M6 |
M7 |
M8 |
M9 |
M10 |
M11 |
M12 |
Total |
|
1 |
Abduction (CPN-M) |
3 |
4 |
9 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
41 |
|
2 |
Disappearance (State) |
9 |
12 |
4 |
75 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
4 |
127 |
|
3 |
Abduction (unidentified groups or other groups |
17 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
7 |
11 |
4 |
4 |
86 |
|
4 |
Killing (Security Force) |
46 |
5 |
70 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
12 |
6 |
15 |
6 |
181 |
|
5 |
Killing (CPN-M) |
12 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
53 |
|
6 |
Killing (others) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
|
7 |
Torture (Security Force) |
19 |
23 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
6 |
104 |
|
8 |
Torture (CPNM) |
7 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
46 |
|
9 |
Torture / Misbehavior (Others) |
4 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
|
10 |
Prison Relation. |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
11 |
IDPs (CPN-M) |
6 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
14 |
5 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
53 |
|
12 |
Property Seizure (CPN-M) |
5 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
36 |
|
1 |
Property Seizure (Security Force) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
3 |
Property Seizure (Others) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
|
1 |
Compensations |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
19 |
|
4 |
Threats (CPN-M/ YCL) |
3 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
36 |
|
15 |
Threats (Security Force) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
16 |
Threats (Unidentified Groups |
2 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
36 |
|
17 |
Illegal Detention |
2 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
17 |
|
18 |
Civil Rights |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
|
19 |
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
6 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
36 |
|
20 |
Casualties in Bomb- blasts |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
|
21 |
Child Rights |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
59 |
0 |
2 |
79 |
|
22 |
Women Rights |
2 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
19 |
47 |
|
23 |
Judicial Administration |
1 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
7 |
42 |
|
24 |
Others |
7 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
2 |
65 |
|
|
TOTAL |
162 |
104 |
152 |
118 |
72 |
79 |
69 |
67 |
44 |
121 |
96 |
89 |
1173 |