Nepal to allow UN to monitor human rights abuses

Posted on 12 April 2005
IANS News
Kathmandu :

In a pre-emptive move to forestall harsher measures against it, Nepal has signed an agreement with the UN to allow its staff to monitor human rights abuses in the kingdom.

Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Monday with Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The agreement paves the way for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to set up a monitoring operation in Nepal to establish accountability for human rights abuses and prevent further violations.

A UN technical team is headed for Kathmandu to set up the monitoring mission that will have a permanent office in the Nepalese capital with probably field offices in different regions. The funding is likely to come from the donor countries attending the Geneva meet that began on March 14 and will continue till April 22. The OHCHR Office in Nepal will "monitor the observance of human rights and international humanitarian law, bearing in mind the climate of violence and the internal armed conflict in the country".

Based on the information collected by the office, Arbour will submit periodic analytic reports on any human rights violations committed to the Commission on Human Rights, the UN General Assembly, and the secretary-general. Arbour hoped the monitor would ultimately lead to peace in Nepal, racked by a nine-year-old insurgency that has killed over 11,000 people.

"Breaking the cycle of serious and systematic abuses will be the first essential step toward achieving peace and reconciliation in Nepal", she said in a statement issued from Geneva. The office will also advise Nepal's government on matters related to the promotion and protection of human rights in Nepal and will provide advisory services and human rights support to representatives of civil society, human rights non-governmental organisations and individuals. It is expected to maintain "impartiality, independence, objectivity and transparency" and to work closely with local human rights defenders, including the press, in carrying out its investigations.

By agreeing to have a UN body monitor the rights situation in Nepal, King Gyanendra has averted harsher measures by donor countries following his Feb 1 coup. Monday was the deadline for the UN rights session to receive proposals regarding Nepal. The agreement to have a UN monitor comes even as Nepal's political parties as well as Maoist insurgents have urged for such a watchdog. Last week, three major opposition parties - Nepali Congress (Democratic) headed by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali Congress party of opposition leader Girija Prasad Koirala, and the biggest communist party, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist - called for UN monitoring in Nepal to check human rights violations. The Maoist insurgents have also asked for international supervision. Switzerland, the European Union countries, Norway, Canada, New Zealand and Australia had been pressing for a resolution against Nepal under Agenda Item 9. Resolution under Agenda Item 9 means that the UN appoints a Special Rapporteur to the country concerned to investigate human rights violations and suggest measures to be taken by the international community to bring greater accountability. However, they had said they would be willing to tone down their action if Nepal showed any progress.

The Nepalese government seized the opportunity and agreed to have a UN monitor, thus averting the threat. Subsequently, the critics will now put Nepal under the milder Agenda Item 19. It means the international communities recognise Nepal has a problem but one that can be overcome with their support. The international community is hoping that since the Maoists have also demanded an international monitor, they would allow the team access to their strongholds to investigate allegations of atrocities. Sphere: Related Content