Enforced disappearance and torture of Jit Man Basnet from February to October 2004

Jit Man Basnet

The case

In February 2011, TRIAL submitted an individual communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee regarding the enforced disappearance and torture of Jit Man Basnet in February 2004. In this case, TRIAL also represents the victim’s cousin, Top Bahadur Basnet.

Jit Man Basnet is a journalist and a lawyer in Kathmandu. On 4 February 2004, he was arrested by security forces and brought to a detention camp known as Bairabnath Battalion barracks.

During this time period (2003-2004) the Bhairabnath Battalion Barracks run by the Royal Nepali Army (RNA) became notorious. In May 2006, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report after an investigation of the Maharajgunj RNA barracks in Kathmandu. The Bhairabnath Battalion, quartered at these barracks, played the primary role in the arrest, illegal detention, torture, extrajudicial killing and disappearance of hundreds of people suspected of affiliation with the Maoists, in 2003 and thereafter.

During the first three days of detention Jit Man Basnet was extensively tortured and beaten. There was no fixed routine, the soldiers would come for him at any time of night or day. Beyond the physical pain inflicted by the severe beatings, not knowing when they would come again provoked an ongoing mental distress. The guard accused him having contacts with the Maoists, when he explained he had no information about Maoists, the torture would only get worse. The detention conditions were inhuman. During 258 days Jit Man Basnet was continuously blindfolded and handcuffed.

On 18 October 2004, Jit Man Basnet was finally released. He was strictly forbidden to reveal the existence of the barracks and was forced to sign a paper stating that he was kept in detention for only 90 days, in accordance with state of emergency laws.

More than seven years have passed and, no ex officio, prompt, impartial, thorough and independent investigation has been carried out by Nepal authorities and no one has been prosecuted, judged and sanctioned for the enforce disappearance and torture of Jit Man Basnet, thus fostering an ongoing climate of impunity

In February 2011, TRIAL thus submitted an individual communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee asking it:

to recognise that Nepal violated numerous articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights subsequently to Jit Man Basnet’s enforced disappearance and torture;

to strongly recommend that Nepal initiate immediate investigations into the role of the soldiers attached to the Bhairabnath Battalion stationed at the Maharajgunj Barracks in the period concerned and prosecute those responsible for the arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance and torture of Jit Man Basnet;

to urge the State party to immediately suspend from office all army officials against whom there is prima facie evidence that they were involved in the Jit Man Basnet’s enforced disappearance and torture;

to declare that Nepal also violated the Covenant with regard to the suffering undergone by Jit Man Basnet’s cousin, Top Bahadur Basnet; and therefore require that Nepal grant him full and adequate reparation;

to require that Nepal offers integral, prompt, just and adequate reparation for the enforced disappearance and torture suffered by Jit Man Basnet.

General context

In February 1996 the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) overtly declared war against the official governmental authorities of Nepal, which at the time was ruled in the form of a constitutional monarchy.

The conflict rapidly spread all over the country. In 2001, when violence truly escalated into a civil war, a state of emergency was declared. The state of emergency allowed the State to increase its repression against persons who were suspected of helping the Maoist insurgents and to derogate from fundamental rights and liberties. The recourse to enforced disappearances, torture, summary executions and arbitrary detentions by State agents and Maoists was generalized during this period. Arbitrary detention and torture were used years after the end of the state of emergency against all those suspected of affiliation with the Maoists. It is within this context that Jit Man Basnet was detained and disappeared for over 8 months.

http://www.trial-ch.org/en/activities/litigation/the-advocacy-center-trial-act/acts-cases/nepal/basnet-case-february-2011.html

PLA integration: Not against PLA integration: Army

• Says it will abide by any decision taken by parties

POST REPORT

KATHMANDU, JAN 28 -
The Nepal Army (NA) has said it is not against the integration of former Maoist fighters into the national army, adding that the Army has conveyed its willingness to abide by any decision taken by the parties for concluding the peace process.

The NA position, expressed during a press conference on Friday, comes at a time when the three major political parties are holding serious negotiations that will last some days on the integration and rehabilitation modality of over 19,000 PLA combatants. This is the first policy statement in regard to the integration made by NA after the departure of UNMIN on Jan. 15. 

During his meeting with UN Under-Secretary General of Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe last year, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Chhatra Man Singh Gurung had said NA was ready to accept the integration of combatants so long as the entries were on an individual basis. Opposing bulk integration of combatants, Gen. Gurung had then stated that the time-honoured “honesty, impartiality and organisational integrity” of NA could be compromised by “politically motivated individuals.”

“We don’t have an independent position on the issue of integration. The Nepal Army, as common citizens, desires peace in the country. So, we will always stand for anything to resolve the issue,” said NA Spokesman Ramindra Chhetri at the press conference organised by the Army Headquarters. He said the handover of Maoist combatants to the prime minister-headed Special Committee was an important step in the integration process. 

When asked to offer NA’s position on the standards that should be considered while determining modality, Gen. Chhetri said the NA won’t take any stand that might evince that it is trying to influence the authorised institutions. He said the Army is committed to the provisions of the Interim Constitution, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the Agreement on Management of the Arms and Armies (AMMAA) and other documents signed by the parties during the peace process.

“These legitimate documents themselves have defined the benchmark of the integration process,” he said. “We want to let the Special Committee and its secretariat to take a call on this issue.”  

Gen. Chhetri said the concept of bulk integration was beyond the scope of the Interim Constitution and the peace agreements.

He said a “consensus model” determined by the parties would be the basis to conclude the peace process.

Commenting on the democratisation of NA, as committed in the CPA and the Interim Constitution, Gen. Chhetri said it will support the Action Plan on Democratisation of Nepal Army proposed by the cabinet committee headed by Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari. The plan, now under discussion at the State Affairs Committee of the Parliament, proposes a three-year programme for the democratisation of the Army.

The plan covers eight areas including civilian supremacy, government control, organisational restructuring, enhancing civil military relationship, amendment in law, transparency and accountability, promotion of human rights, coordination between Ministry of Defence and the Army and inclusiveness. “The Nepal Army is one of the most inclusive institutions of the country,” he claimed, adding that the recruitment process is voluntary and recently 45 percent of the total vacancies were reserved for Madhesis, Dalits, women, Janajatis and other minority groups.  

Army officers in barracks, not jailed NA’s legal department Head Maj. Gen. B A Kumar Sharma said nine officers currently facing court martial for their alleged involvement in political lobbying are being held in the Army barracks and not jailed. He said they have been kept there for security reasons and are allowed to meet relatives.

A Summary Military Court has been formed to look into the charges against Brig. Gen. Kiran Barjracharya and eight other officers who allegedly lobbied against the term extension of Maj. Gen. Naresh Basnyat. Sharma said the punishment for the offence could vary from a warning to seven years imprisonment.

Posted on: 2011-01-29 08:17

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/01/28/top-story/pla-integration-not-against-pla-integration-army/217768.html

Debate on Nepali Army reform

  Experts against using term 'democratisation'

Added At:  2011-01-27 12:19 AM

   Last Updated At: 2011-01-27 12:19 AM

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HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Security experts have taken exception to the use of the term ‘democratisation of the Nepali Army’, which figures in the Interim Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Accord, among others, arguing that such term is not suitable for an apolitical organisation. They said such a term will hinder NA’s reforms.

The experts, commenting on the draft paper of the Comprehensive Work-plan on Nepali Army’s Democratisation, after its presentation at a seminar of Nepal Institute for Policy Studies here today, reasoned it will be better to use the term ‘modernisation or restructuring’.

The work-plan, prepared by inter-minister committee under the Minister for Defence, is currently under consideration at the Cabinet’s State Affairs Committee for approval. “I had never heard or read words like ‘democratisation of army’ before. Army is itself a non-democratic institution, such a word may mislead the objective of Nepali Army’s reform,” said Dr Deepak Prakash Bhatta, who wrote his PhD dissertation on the NA, adding, “It would be more correct to use words like reform, modernisation, or restructuring of the Nepal Army in the draft.”

Senior Advocate Vishwo Kanta Mainali, advocates Kumar Regmi, Rudra Sharma, ex-army officials Kesher Bahadur Bhandari, Deepak Gurung, CA member Gopal Singh Bohara shared the same view.

By using the term democratisation in reference to army’s reform, there would be the danger of political leadership’s influence and interference within the army, Lieutenant General (Rtd) Balananda Sharma warned. “Professionalisation of Army would be a correct term,” suggested Sharma, coordinator at the Secretariat of Special Committee for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of PLA Combatants.

However, Dr Paul Jackson, Professor at the University of Birmingham, UK, stated the term of ‘democratisation of army’ should be considered as legal control over its functioning, civilian oversight upon it and inclusiveness within every aspect of the army.

Defence Secretary Nabin Ghimire, who had presented the work-plan draft at the seminar, argued that the term democratisation was not put to mean political influence or to break army’s institutional discipline, but rather to make the organisation more efficient, transparent and responsible.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal expressed hope the suggestions made at the seminar will be helpful in making the work-plan more comprehensive.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Debate+on+Nepali+Army+reform&NewsID=274542

For more http://nipsnepal.org/

APPELLATE COURTS ORDER POLICE TO SLOUGH OFF SLUMBER IN THREE CASES

26 January 2010. Recent decisions from Appellate Courts have directed the police authorities concerned to immediately carry out effective investigations into two cases of extrajudicial execution and one case of killing perpetrated by the security forces and the Maoists respectively during the conflict.

On 12 January 2011, the Appellate Court of Nepalgunj issued an order of mandamus to the concerned authorities to initiate a prompt investigation vis-à-vis the extrajudicial execution of Patan Din Lohar and sought written reply enclosing all necessary documents with the 15 days timeframe (See Case Summary below)

Similarly, the Appellate Court, Tulsipur,  on 23 November, 2010, gave clear directives to the District Police Office Dang, and District Public Prosecutor Office, Dang, "to complete the duty set down as per the law by effectively and promptly investigating into the FIR" by revving up investigation" regarding the brutal murder of eleven farmers (Asharam Chaudhari, Krishna Prasad Chaudhari, Sita Lal Chaudhari, Prasad Chaudhari, Ram Bahadur Chaudhari alias Ramu, Rupa Lal Chaudhari, Khusiram Chaudhari, Jagaman Chaudhari, Rishiram Chaudhari alias Rishman, Jogi Chaudhari, Somlal Chaudhari alias Soranga Chaudhari), by the members of the then Royal Nepal Army (RNA).  (See Case Summary below)

In yet another decision on 19 January, 2011, the Appellate Court, Tulsipur issued a final order directing the District Police Office Dang, and District Public Prosecutor Office, Dang, "to initiate the prompt and effective investigation into the FIR set down by the State Case Act 2049" vis-à-vis the murder of three youths by the Maoists. (See Case Summary Below)

Case Summaries

Patan Din Lohar

Patandin Lohar, a commoner and blacksmith by profession, aged 33, resident of Phattepur-1, Jhagadiya, Banke district, was gunned down at around 1 pm on 1 December, 2001, by, a team of Nepal Police while he was answering the call of nature nearby his home. He was accused of being a Maoist. A team of Nepal Police in combat dress and others in plain clothes numbering in 50-60 had entered the village of Patan Din Lohar and searched his house before they killed him. The security forces however failed to find anything at the house of Patandin. He was shot down twice, while he was defecating at a distance of 300m far from his house, by a team of police under the command of Police Inspector Dharma Raj Sunar, Area Police Office, Bhoj Bhagawanpur, Banke. The dead body then was loaded to the tractor as ordered by the Police Inspector Dharma Bahadur Sunar. Bechan Lal Murau, Triloki Bahun and Babbu Lal Bahun helped the police to carry and load the dead body into the trailer of the tractor.

Murder of 11 farmers by then Royal Nepal Army

Eleven farmers of Bargadi were murdered by the then Royal Nepal Army on 28 November, 2001 while they were working in the paddy sifting yard that belonged to landlord Krishna Sharma. The names of these victims are as follows:  Asharam Chaudhari, Krishna Prasad Chaudhari, Sitlal Chaudhari, Prasadu Chaudhari, Ram Bahadur Chaudhari, Ruplal, Khushiram Chaudhari, Jagaman Chaudhari, Rishiram Chaudhari, Jogi Chaudhari, Somlal Chaudhari. They were accused of being the supporters of Maoists.  At around 3 pm, armed RNA personnel in uniform entered the village and went to the place where these victims were sifting paddy.  Some army personnel said, “Comrade Red Salute!” and ordered all the victims to gather at a single place. The victims followed the order as they feared the army men. Army personnel asked them to genuflect and then they opened fire at them all. The soldiers then drove away in the red pick-up van.

Smoke was surging up in the incident spot. The victims’ family members couldn’t go to the incident spot because of the fear of the army. All except Ruplal Chaudhari were dead on the spot. Ruplal was crying for water. His wife dragged him to the hayrick, helped him lean on its support and gave him water. He could not drink water well; he only managed to drink some of it and poured it on his stomach while trying to drink. People gathered there were in dilemma whether to take him to hospital or not. They feared that soldiers may take reprisal on them if they took him to hospital. Later they decided that he should be taken to hospital. The victims’ family members started keening for their loved ones. Somlal Chaudhari’s family members took his dead body home.
Meanwhile, around 5 in the evening, the soldiers arrived there in three trucks covering their faces with masks. People gathered there began fleeing the scene fearing the soldiers. Seeing Ruplal Chaudhary alive, soldiers shot him dead and carried the ten bodies to Ghorahi. People were frightened to keep Somlal’s body at home for soldiers might come searching for it and kill others. Then they took the body back to the place of the incident. Army men came there the following morning and took it away on a truck.

Soldiers kept the dead bodies at Mahendra Hospital in Ghorahi for five to six days. Then the male members of the victims' family went there to claim the dead bodies. They went there along with the then mayor and vice-mayor of Tribhuvannagar Municipality and the ward president of the village Mohanlal Chaudhari. In the receipt it was stated that the victims had been killed in combat. When they tried to protest, army men threatened them by saying, “Sign on the receipt. The higher authorities have ordered the same. If you don’t sign, we’ll throw the corpse elsewhere and we also will do the same to you.” To save their own skin and to perform the last rites of their loved ones, they signed on the receipt.  The victims’ relatives loaded them in a truck and brought them to a stream nearby Peepaldanda in Bargadi where they interred them in a row.

False news was announced from Radio Nepal and Nepal Television that RNA personnel had killed terrorists in combat at Bargadi. Those terrorists had come to loot weapons. It was also announced that a socket bomb had been found from their possession. Victims’ relatives felt that insult had been added to their injury when their innocent loved ones were killed for no reason and on top of that they were tagged as terrorists.

Murder of 3 youths by Maoists

Three youths, namely Upendra GC, Gir Bahadur Thapa and Suvas Roka, from Dang were abducted by Maoist on February 21, 2002. While the family members were searching for them, they found out the pamphlets at Bahundanda forest signed by Maoist district level leader stating that they had been “wiped out.” Though the pamphlets were found, no bodies were recovered until 9 days had passed. The anguished, terrified family members came to know the brutal killings of their loved ones and their bodies being thrown in Bahundanda forest. 

After confirming the existence of the corpses, the victim’s relatives informed the police about it. However, the police showed reluctance in going to the incident spot citing the adverse condition of the country at that time. They asked the victim’s relatives to retrieve the corpses from the forest. In this way, the bereaved families were compelled to go to the incident spot taking a tripper with them.  After they reached there, they found the corpses lying there in a horrible condition. All victims had been severely tortured to death. The corpses were emitting foul odor and insects had infested them. The heads had been burnt. Kerosene had been poured on the heads and fire had been set on them. The bodies had been wounded at many places with sharp weapons. There were no weapons, other goods or even any marks of struggle which indicated that the victims had been murdered elsewhere and thrown there. Suvas Thapa’s forehead and chest had been shot at while Girbahadur’s body was riddled with bullets. Moreover, one of his hands and legs had been severed from the body. His penis too had been cut out. Then, the corpses were taken to Mahendra Hospital for post-mortem. It was conducted in presence of the police who later handed the corpse over to the relatives.

http://www.advocacyforum.org/news/2011/01/Appellate-Courts-Order-Police-to-Slough-off-Slumber-in-Three-Cases.php

VICTIMS KNOCK HRC DOOR AHEAD OF UN SCRUTINY DAY

24 January 2011. The families of eight youths from Manau, Bardiya District, who were disappeared at the hands of security forces back in April 2002, have submitted today an individual communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UN-HRC) with the help of Advocacy Forum-Nepal and the REDRESS Trust. The submission is timed to coincide with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council scheduled to kick off from tomorrow in Geneva.

Under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nepal is a party since 1991, victims can petition the Human Rights Committee, an independent body of experts, if they have exhausted all domestic remedies.

On the night of 11 April 2002, eight young persons - Dhaniram Tharu, Soniram Tharu, Radhulal Tharu, Prem Prakash Tharu, Kamala Tharu, Mohan Tharu, Lauti Tharu and Chillu Tharu - all of Tharu ethnicity, disappeared from their homes in Nauranga village, Ward No.8, Manau Village Development Committee (VDC), Bardiya District. They were aged between 14 and 23; two among them were girls; and five of them were thoughts to be below 18 years old. The disappearances were allegedly committed by a group of 60-70 soldiers who came to the village, with groups of two to five soldiers breaking into the targeted houses between midnight and 2am, carrying torches and weapons. In each house they asked for the disappeared person by name, sometimes even seeming to know the location of that person’s bed.

Having exhausted all available and effective domestic remedies as well as administrative remedies, the families of those disappeared are now submitting a communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The families ask that the Committee find that the state committed violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights ratified by Nepal, and, to declare in particular that the victims were arbitrarily arrested and disappeared by the State and recommend prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into the fate of the victims and prosecute those against whom there is sufficient evidence.

Padam Lal Tharu, father of Radhulal Tharu said: “We have been waiting for the last 9 years to know the truth. We could get neither truth nor justice... I have some new hope now Advocacy Forum and REDRESS have assisted us to take our voices to the Committee.”

Mandira Sharma, Executive Director of Advocacy Forum-Nepal said: “These victims represent many other victims from Bardiya with whom we have been working for years. Sadly, for these victims, the rights enshrined in human rights treaties remain a dream and the mechanisms established for their enforcement inaccessible. By helping these families to bring a communication to the Human Rights Committee we are trying to increase the possibilities of the victims getting truth, justice and reparation.”

Similarly, Carla Ferstman, Director of REDRESS Trust, said: “Enforced disappearances are recognised as among the worst international crimes. We hope that this petition and the eventual response of the UN encourages the Government of Nepal to address the devastating consequences of disappearances once and for all - the families of the disappeared deserve to know the full truth of what happened, and those responsible for the disappearances should be held accountable”.

A joint press statement issued by AF and REDRESS has called upon the government of Nepal to fully comply with its obligations under the ICCPR and its additional protocol, by fully implementing the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee in the Yashoda Sharma case, and by responding promptly and in full to the other cases currently before the Committee and the new case filed by the families of the eight young people disappeared from Manau.

This is the sixth case in which Advocacy Forum and REDRESS assisted victims from Nepal to file communications before the Human Rights Committee.

http://www.advocacyforum.org/news/2011/01/497.php

An appeal for the disappeared and their families.

by Duku Nepal on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 10:27am

Families of Bardiya disappeared victims appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee

Today, 24 January 2011, the families of eight youths from Manau, Bardiya District who were taken away by the security forces in April 2002 submitted an individual communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee with the help of Advocacy Forum-Nepal and the REDRESS Trust. Under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nepal is a party since 1991, victims can petition the Human Rights Committee, an independent body of experts, if they have exhausted all domestic remedies.

Case:

On the night of 11 April 2002, eight young persons - Dhaniram Tharu, Soniram Tharu, Radhulal Tharu, Prem Prakash Tharu, Kamala Tharu, Mohan Tharu, Lauti Tharu and Chillu Tharu - all of Tharu ethnicity, disappeared from their homes in Nauranga village, Ward No.8, Manau Village Development Committee (VDC), Bardiya District. They were aged between 14 and 23; two among them were girls; and five of them were thoughts to be below 18 years old. The disappearances were allegedly committed by a group of 60-70 soldiers who came to the village, with groups of two to five soldiers breaking into the targeted houses between midnight and 2am, carrying torches and weapons. In each house they asked for the disappeared person by name, sometimes even seeming to know the location of that person’s bed.  

Mandira Sharma, Executive Director of Advocacy Forum-Nepal said: “These victims represent many other victims from Bardiya with whom we have been working for years. Sadly, for these victims, the rights enshrined in human rights treaties remain a dream and the mechanisms established for their enforcement inaccessible. By helping these families to bring a communication to the Human Rights Committee we are trying to increase the possibilities of the victims getting truth, justice and reparation.” 

No news of the eight youths was received by the families for years despite repeated searches in all the army camps and police stations in a 50 kilometre radius and visits to the authorities. In 2006 the army informed the Neupane Committee, the ICRC and OHCHR-Nepal that seven of the young people were killed in crossfire during an encounter with Maoists in the Manau nursery jungle, but did not provide details as to what happened to the bodies. The families refuted the army’s allegations. They say that as the young people left their houses unarmed and under the control of a large group of soldiers they could not have engaged in an armed encounter later that same night. Furthermore, the villagers would have heard if there had been gunshots in the nursery. Finally, no information has been provided about the fate of Prem Prakash.

Advocacy Forum assisted the families of the victims to file habeas corpus petitions in the Supreme Court in 2003. All of the respondents denied detaining the eight young persons. In decisions reached between 24 August 2004 and 25 March 2005, the Supreme Court quashed all of the petitions on the grounds that the Authors could not identify where and by whom each young person was being detained. 

Having exhausted all available and effective domestic remedies as well as administrative remedies, the families of those disappeared are now submitting a communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Padam Lal Tharu, father of Radhulal Tharu said: “We have been waiting for the last 9 years to know the truth. We could get neither truth nor justice... I have some new hope now Advocacy Forum and REDRESS have assisted us to take our voices to the Committee.”

The families ask that the Committee find that the state committed violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights ratified by Nepal, and, to declare in particular that the victims were arbitrarily arrested and disappeared by the State and recommend prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into the fate of the victims and prosecute those against whom there is sufficient evidence.

“Enforced disappearances are recognised as among the worst international crimes. We hope that this petition and the eventual response of the United Nations encourages the Government of Nepal to address the devastating consequences of disappearances once and for all - the families of the disappeared deserve to know the full truth of what happened, and those responsible for the disappearances should be held accountable”, said Carla Ferstman, Director of the REDRESS Trust.

Context:

According to reports by OHCHR and national and international human rights organisations, Bardiya District had the highest number of disappearances carried out during the conflict. OHCHR-Nepal received reports of 200 disappearances in the district, other human rights groups have put this number at 240. This figure would account for approximately 20% of all disappearances in Nepal.

The Tharu indigenous group constitutes 52% of the population in Bardiya District.  During the conflict, the Tharu community in Bardiya District appears to have been particularly targeted.  Over 85% of the cases of enforced disappearance documented by OHCHR Nepal in Bardiya District were from the Tharu community. Similarly, 109 of the 160 cases of enforced disappearance examined by the WGEID during its 2006 session were cases of members of the Tharu community disappeared at the hands of members of the security forces.

Other cases before the Committee:

This is the sixth case in which Advocacy Forum and REDRESS assisted victims from Nepal to file communications before the Human Rights Committee. In the first case submitted by Yashoda Sharma (wife of Surya Prasad Sharma, who had disappeared at the hands of the army) the Committee reached a decision on 28 October 2008. It held that the Government of Nepal had committed numerous breaches of its obligations to both the victim and his wife. It recommended that the government promptly initiate a full investigation into the disappearance of Surya Prasad Sharma in 2002, with a view of prosecuting those responsible. It also recommended the prompt payment of adequate reparations to his family. However the government has only partially implemented the recommendation on adequate reparations and no investigation has been initiated. The Government is arguing that instead of conducting criminal investigations into the case, the case will be investigated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the High-Level Disappearances Commission. These mechanisms have yet to be established and their envisaged powers remain ambiguous.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/duku-nepal/an-appeal-for-the-disappeared-and-their-families/191933467500360

NA wants to break monitoring shell

Added At:  2011-01-19 12:09 AM  

Last Updated At: 2011-01-19 12:09 AM

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LEKHANATH PANDEY

KATHMANDU: The Nepali Army today refused to remain under the umbrella of the Special Committee (for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of Maoist PLA combatants), which has taken up the job of monitoring role of the United Nations Mission in Nepal.

Chief of the Army Staff Gen Chhatra Man Singh Gurung today conveyed the national army’s stand to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who also heads SC, during his meeting with the prime minister. “The national army won’t be able to act under the monitoring committee, as we had already been contemplating relieving NA from the ambit of UNMIN monitoring,” a highly placed source quoted Gurung as telling Prime Minister Nepal. Gen Gurung also dismissed the possibility of monitoring of the NA’s arms containers in its Chhauni barracks by SC. The three-point agreement, signed by PM Nepal and Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal on Friday, clearly mentions that SC would monitor the arms container of NA.

The agreement, however, falls short of clarifying whether the national army as a whole will fall under SC’s monitoring ambit.

Political parties too are divided whether NA should be under SC. Nepali Congress representative in SC Ram Sharan Mahat stated that NA escapes the monitoring purview of SC following the three-point agreement. CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli also has aired views in the similar vein.

Maoist Chairman Dahal, however, took strong exception to Mahat’s claim. “NA would continue to remain under SC according to the agreement,” said Dahal.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/rssReference.php?headline=NA+wants+to+break+monitoring+shell&NewsID=273509

NEPAL: Relatives of the missing struggle with legal void, social taboos

Photo: Brendan Brady/IRIN

Nepali widow, Belrani

BARDIA, 29 December 2010 (IRIN) - The economic and emotional toll of seeking answers continues for families of more than 1,000 missing during Nepal’s decade-long civil conflict which ended four years ago. While legal answers are proving elusive, widow-headed households are turning to NGOs for economic help. 

Eight years ago when Belrani Tharu’s husband applied for a job with the army, local commanders believed he was an enemy spy and arrested him - at least, this is what she was told by a man who said he had been her husband’s prison cellmate. 

Belrani, 35, lives in a small village in Bardia, a district in southern Nepal which in the mid-1990s turned from bucolic idyll into a conflict zone. 

“We searched everywhere for him. I’ve been waiting for my husband; I believe one day he will come,” she said. 

Suspected of being enemy collaborators, thousands of civilians were detained, interrogated and killed in Nepal’s 1996-2006 conflict between government troops and Maoist insurgents. 

Four years after the signing of a peace treaty, the fate of at least 1,370 individuals remains unknown, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). 

Rights groups assume most of the unaccounted for are dead. However, the status of the “missing” is officially unresolved until their bodily remains are produced or conclusive testimony concerning their death is provided. 
Families and rights groups are demanding answers - and legal recourse - but pursuing accountability is fraught with difficulty. 

Under Nepalese law, crimes such as kidnapping and murder during the civil war cannot be applied to state soldiers. Initial legislation to address disappearances granted amnesty to perpetrators. 

Legal impasse
Earlier in 2010, activists successfully lobbied for a bill with provisions for criminal prosecutions, but efforts to expedite it have been frustrated by the same political deadlock that has left Nepal with only a caretaker prime minister and no ruling party. 

But even if new legislation is passed, questions will remain about enforcement. 

“Unless there is political will, the legislation will mean nothing,” said Mandira Sharma, executive director of Advocacy Forum, a Kathmandu-based NGO providing pro-bono legal representation to families of missing persons in civilian courts. 

Four years waiting, asking

Families want answers to cases of the disappeared

Widespread disappearances still unresolved despite peace

Families of disappeared call for action

Families demand to know fate of missing relatives

Families of the disappeared demand justice

Economic help 

In 2008, the Maoist-led government gave the equivalent of US$1,385 in temporary compensation to families with missing relatives. Though this is roughly three times per capita gross domestic product, it is still insufficient for the long-term problems widows face. 

More than two-thirds of disappeared persons were married men. 

Like Belrani, most wives of disappeared persons come from isolated, rural communities, where fighting was fiercest. 

In these areas, tradition dictates that a woman should care for her family instead of earning income. As a result, it is difficult - even taboo - for a widowed woman to support herself and her children. 

Since 2007 the ICRC has assisted 600 of the most economically vulnerable families of the disappeared through assets which include livestock and agricultural materials. Belrani received a cow through this programme, and she sells the milk to supplement her meagre income. 

The ICRC is emphatic in branding the assistance “interim relief”. “Reparations would [wrongly] suggest the situation has been resolved, and of course it hasn’t,” said Jamila Hammami, with the ICRC in Kathmandu. 

Hindu customs, which are often strictly enforced in these communities, prohibit widows from remarrying until they receive official confirmation of their husband’s death. 

In the absence of such confirmation, by Nepalese law, a wife is unable to assume control of family property until 12 years after her suspected-to-be-dead-husband was last sighted. 

Through confidential interviews with both the Nepal Army and Maoist fighters, the ICRC is attempting to obtain information for families about burial sites which could contain the remains of their abducted relatives. 

bb/pt/cb 

Theme (s): Conflict, Economy, Gender Issues, Human Rights,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91475

Panel to fortify civilian control over Army

POST REPORT

KATHMANDU, DEC 26 -
In a bid to strengthen civilian control over the Nepal Army (NA), the Cabinet on Sunday formed Defence Steering Committee.

The three-member mechanism led by Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari will take a call on policy issues pertaining to the national army and national defence. Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) and the Defence Secretary are the two other members.

The committee, one of the components of the action plan prepared by Bhandari-led Cabinet committee in August, aims to maintain close coordination between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and NA.  “The committee will facilitate the Defence Ministry to take decision on policy issues of the Army,” Minister for Information and Communication Shankar Pokharel told the Post. “It is an effort to restructure the Defence Ministry.”

Earlier, there was no any formal mechanism to bridge the gap between MoD and NA.

A MoD official, requesting anonymity, said the committee will serve as a mechanism to build trust between the ministry and the Army. It will meet at least once in a month and concentrate on establishing coordination between the government and NA, facilitate MoD to take decision on policy issues and issue instructions to NA for enforcing new policies and actions.

Issues such as career development, human rights as well as annual and special programmes to be under taken by NA will be priority of the committee.

The committee’s birth marks the changed political context, said Defence Ministry Spokesman Shredhar Pokharel said. “It will work as a formal mechanism responsible for resolving the problems by taking appropriate legal and administrative decisions.”

Meanwhile, the Cabinet on Sunday promoted Brig. Gen. Gambhir Lal Rajbhandari to the post of Maj. Gen. and extended the tenure of Maj.Gen. Naresh Bhadur Basnyat for the next two years. The government also elevated Col. Satish Bikram Shah to brigadier general.

Posted on: 2010-12-27 08:26

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/12/26/nation/panel-to-fortify-civilian-control-over-army/216511/