The decision has irked the other political parties of Nepal who were demanding a year long extension for the OHCHR-N. . The government has instructed OHCHR- N - which was established in April 2005 to monitor Nepal’s transitional politics and human rights situation during the active regime of deposed King Gynendra Shah - to wrap up its Nepal mission within six months.
In 2006, Nepal’s major political parties staged nineteen days of street protests that ousted the centuries-old monarchy from Nepal. In the preceding years, cases of human rights abuse were rampant, most of them committed by the the security forces, but a significant number also committed by the Maoists. In 2003 and 2004, the number of disappeared persons in Nepal was the highest for any country in the world, an ignoble record by any count. The establishment of OHCHR-N was the result of intense lobbying by human rights activists to draw the world’s attention to this grave crisis. The efforts bore fruits; the number of disappearances and other rights violations plummeted in the following years.
In a written letter to the OHCHR headquarter in Geneva, the Nepal government requested the organizations to wrap up its Nepal’s mission and leave within six months. Earlier in January, UN’s political mission, UNMIN, which was monitoring the Nepal’s ongoing peace process, was also asked to wrap up its mission immediately.
A section of the diplomatic community in Kathmandu, opposition parties like Nepali Congress and UML and ruling Madeshi Morcha and its sole stakeholders in Nepal, the National Human Rights Commission, and human rights defenders had called for a year long extension for the OHCHR.
On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had called Nepal’s Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and made a request to give a term extension to the UN’s rights body. But, Nepal’s PM refused Ban’s request and conveyed that government would not extend the term this time, saying that national rights institutions have been sufficiently strengthened and that the government now wants these organizations to monitor human rights violations in the country. Lauding the role played by the OHCHR-N in improving the human rights situation in Nepal, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently wrote a letter to PM Bhattarai, urging a year-long term extension for the UN body, according to a senior government official. The OHCHR-N, whose term expired on December 8, was lobbying for a one-year extension, arguing that its mandate was to stay until the next elections. It has already submitted its exit strategy to the Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) as directed when its term was renewed in June.
Clause 9.1 of the Compressive Peace Accord of 2006, which states that “both the parties agree to give continuity to the task of monitoring of the human rights provisions mentioned in this agreement by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal,” is also violated, says political leaders. Former Foreign Minister and Chairman of MJF (N) Upendra Yadav has claimed that the government’s move to not extend the term of OHCHR- N would tarnish the nation’s image in the international arena and would convey the message that Nepal does not honor its commitment to human rights.
It would not help build the image of the country, Yadav said. “The government’s move is biased and prejudiced. At a time when incidents of human rights violations are taking hold, it is not justifiable that [the] government took a lead to remove the OHCHR- N from the country.”
As the government was found to be reluctant to agree on a longer term extension, the EU based ambassador in Kathmandu held a meeting with President of Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala and offered his help to reinstate the UN’s rights mission. Several international human rights organizations like Asian Human Rights Commission and others said that presence of the OHCHR-N was necessary in view of the continued challenges in the human rights sector.
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Maoist Government Refuses to Renew UN Human Rights Term
December 17, 2011
The decision has irked the other political parties of Nepal who were demanding a year long extension for the OHCHR-N. . The government has instructed OHCHR- N - which was established in April 2005 to monitor Nepal’s transitional politics and human rights situation during the active regime of deposed King Gynendra Shah - to wrap up its Nepal mission within six months.
In 2006, Nepal’s major political parties staged nineteen days of street protests that ousted the centuries-old monarchy from Nepal. In the preceding years, cases of human rights abuse were rampant, most of them committed by the the security forces, but a significant number also committed by the Maoists. In 2003 and 2004, the number of disappeared persons in Nepal was the highest for any country in the world, an ignoble record by any count. The establishment of OHCHR-N was the result of intense lobbying by human rights activists to draw the world’s attention to this grave crisis. The efforts bore fruits; the number of disappearances and other rights violations plummeted in the following years.
In a written letter to the OHCHR headquarter in Geneva, the Nepal government requested the organizations to wrap up its Nepal’s mission and leave within six months. Earlier in January, UN’s political mission, UNMIN, which was monitoring the Nepal’s ongoing peace process, was also asked to wrap up its mission immediately.
A section of the diplomatic community in Kathmandu, opposition parties like Nepali Congress and UML and ruling Madeshi Morcha and its sole stakeholders in Nepal, the National Human Rights Commission, and human rights defenders had called for a year long extension for the OHCHR.
On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had called Nepal’s Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and made a request to give a term extension to the UN’s rights body. But, Nepal’s PM refused Ban’s request and conveyed that government would not extend the term this time, saying that national rights institutions have been sufficiently strengthened and that the government now wants these organizations to monitor human rights violations in the country. Lauding the role played by the OHCHR-N in improving the human rights situation in Nepal, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently wrote a letter to PM Bhattarai, urging a year-long term extension for the UN body, according to a senior government official. The OHCHR-N, whose term expired on December 8, was lobbying for a one-year extension, arguing that its mandate was to stay until the next elections. It has already submitted its exit strategy to the Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) as directed when its term was renewed in June.
Clause 9.1 of the Compressive Peace Accord of 2006, which states that “both the parties agree to give continuity to the task of monitoring of the human rights provisions mentioned in this agreement by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal,” is also violated, says political leaders. Former Foreign Minister and Chairman of MJF (N) Upendra Yadav has claimed that the government’s move to not extend the term of OHCHR- N would tarnish the nation’s image in the international arena and would convey the message that Nepal does not honor its commitment to human rights.
It would not help build the image of the country, Yadav said. “The government’s move is biased and prejudiced. At a time when incidents of human rights violations are taking hold, it is not justifiable that [the] government took a lead to remove the OHCHR- N from the country.”
As the government was found to be reluctant to agree on a longer term extension, the EU based ambassador in Kathmandu held a meeting with President of Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala and offered his help to reinstate the UN’s rights mission. Several international human rights organizations like Asian Human Rights Commission and others said that presence of the OHCHR-N was necessary in view of the continued challenges in the human rights sector.
