By: Dilep K. Paudel

The Issue:
The series of issues on Human rights in Nepal stared erupting since long back with the anarchic Rana regime where people were always the subject of suppression and oppression over the century long regime. The process was incessant until the downfall of successive autocratic Panchayat system in the same frequency and later after the restoration of Multiparty Democracy in 1990 the mercury of human right violation roars down to some extent. Again with the civil war waged by rebellion Communist party of Nepal Maoist, the extreme violation of human rights and torture began with new dimension and now exists to it culmination. Both fronts, the government and rebel force started jumping over the fundamental constitutional rights of the people and instigate the new series of human right violation. Over a decade long democratic government was complete failure to restore social order, peace and guarantee the basic human rights to the people. In another pole the extreme violation, crime, corruption, political unrest and human right violation in this regime were noticeable factors. The government indulged in dirty power politics ignoring the motive force of the people’s movement back to their principle memoir. As a result, the country has fallen under an autocratic and dictatorship regime of the King. After the King Gyanendra usurped all executive powers on 1 February 2005 by forming a council of ministers under his chairmanship and declaring a "state of emergency" through a Royal proclamation, civil and political rights of citizens have also been grossly ignored and blatantly violated. The national development later to this phase has added the fuel in human right crisis in the nation. The incidences of arbitrary arrest, illegal and incommunicado detention, torture and disappearance are widespread. The Maoist rebels are also equally, if not more, responsible for grave human rights abuses, including kidnapping, torture and the deliberate killing of civilians and captured security forces. The Maoists have recruited children and deployed them in combat situations as a part of forced conscription. Both the high contracting parties have demonstrated indifference to compliance with the application of humanitarian law in an intense conflict situation. The practices of barbaric killings, maiming, mutilation, cruel degrading treatment or punishment, targeting civilian populations and hostage taking are routine. The ability of human rights defenders to operate freely has also been undermined by the government, especially after the Royal takeover.

Current Development & National Catastrophe

Nepal, ranked in one of the poorest country of the world has different factors playing the role for the current national crisis and human right violation. Degrading political scenario, blind game of power politics and poor demographic indications of nations supported the ongoing national catharsis to great extent. Leading political parties are prime responsible for the national catastrophe. As a result of ongoing political unrest fueled by anarchic rule of the King in one side and in the other ongoing people’s war of the Maoist bring the nation in such a crux of problem that Nepal has the highest percentage record of missing people in the world. No measures have been put in place in order to facilitate the search for missing persons. Illegal detention and detention incommunicado are common practices on the part of the government. Similarly, the CPN Maoists’ human rights record includes abduction, torture, mutilation, killings, and disappearances of civilians, extortion, intimidation, forced labor and displacement. The country has been languishing without parliament since 2002. This absence has resulted in a power imbalance, a culture of impunity, non-transparency, corruption and non-accountability within the state functionaries. The cooperation of the government with institutions such as the judiciary, the media, the legal and medical professions and other sectors of civil society is extremely poor. The human rights community is taken as a hostile agent on most occasions, by both the state and non-state actors.

The country is ruled as per the Royal proclamation or the King's directives and ordinances. This "government" rules by practicing suppression of political freedom and civil liberties, undermining the basic concept of democratic polity. Inferring the ongoing national crisis, the King's intentions are publicly understood as aiming to be an absolute monarch, crossing the jurisdiction of constitutional monarchy. Basic civil rights and fundamental human rights are blindly ignored by the state. In such complexity the people are the subject of both side agitations. Although Nepal has the history of sounding the issues of human rights in public arena after the UN declaration of human rights in Dec 10 1948, in Nepalese panorama it become the topic of national concern after the nation adhered the principles of the UN Commission for human rights, by joining the universally acclaimed (UN) in Dec 14 1955. In this course some rigorous efforts were rendered by some humanitarian organizations and association in this apprehension but the nation and government is always mum.

The insecurity has increased since February 1st and state and civil society mechanisms for monitoring, reporting and prosecuting rights abusers are paralyzed. The suppression of the right to information and expression has further undermined democratic principles and allows for abuses to occur without fear of judicial prosecution. The human rights and media communities are badly affected due to increasing interference, and surveillance of their movement and activities. More than a thousand political activists, and four-dozen human rights defenders and trade unionists, including a dozen journalists are still under illegal detention in various hidden or undeclared detention centers under the Public Security Act, 1989, which was initially enforced to suppress the 1990 peaceful democratic movement. Subsequently, human rights defenders are forced to conduct their legitimate activities under the tremendous pressure and security restrictions in conflict-ridden areas.

The King's motives to strengthen the monarchy with the support of the RNA are further spelled out by their use of misinformation to attempt to fracture the Maoists as well as all political parties. To oppose the King, is to be an anti-nationalist, even to question aloud can result in being labeled an anti-nationalist or supporter of the "terrorists." Human right activist and other social workers have bitter experience of detention and punishment bared as anti nationalist on such occasion. The King's regime has gone as far as to call for the production of "pro-nationalist" movies. The media is not the only source of information that has been censored. Human rights defenders' work has been severely obstructed by the King's directives and the suppression of human rights. Activists are undergoing complete unsecured and threatened working condition in the nation.

Human rights organizations, which have always played a vital role in monitoring and reporting abuses by both parties to the conflict and ensuring that victims have some recourse against perpetrators, have been silenced. Due to the suppression of freedom to information and expression they are unable to monitor effectively and make their findings known. Who then is protecting the victims? Who is able to call for justice? Who is able to protect and demand adherence to the democratic principles that so many in Nepal have worked for and have sacrificed so much? The King’s and military's ongoing actions are clearly an abuse of power and are destructive to the democratic future of Nepal. It has created insecurity and fear for political activists, human rights defenders, free expression activists and journalists. Without political, democratic space, the free flow of uncensored information and unobstructed monitoring by civil society, human rights abuses and atrocities will increase and perpetrators will go unpunished. Such deadly national circumstances have led the country to the vicious circle of insecurity, violation of human rights and crossover in civil liberties.

Complexity of Situation: A deepening Crisis
These are extremely difficult times for the nation and the people of Nepal. Current years have seen the insurgency intensify to levels of violence and brutality that this country had not seen before. The militarization of what began as a political conflict has now taken the lives of more than 10,000 Nepalese and has led the country further and further away from political reconciliation and peaceful resolution. Massive, grave and systematic human rights violations characterize the present conflict in Nepal. On the one side there is a policy of assassination and execution aimed at destroying the last vestiges of civil administration and infrastructure in most of the country. We are also seeing mass abductions, particularly of children and youth with a view to indoctrinating and arming them, effectively putting them on the front lines of the conflict. This turn of events alone – the widespread involvement of children in the armed conflict – threatens to leave a legacy of brutality and lost generations that will haunt the country for many years to come. On the other side of the conflict, we have seen an undeniable pattern of disappearance, execution and torture that has been employed so widely and indiscriminately that it doubtlessly continues to drive large numbers of ordinary people into the arms of the insurgents. Both sides claim that they aim to win the hearts and minds of the people. But what we can all clearly see instead is that there are only more and more innocent people counted as casualties of the conflict. What is not easily seen is equally alarming, namely that the country is being emptied of much of its rural population. More and more Nepalese – particularly the youth – are fleeing from Nepal to escape from the wanton death and destruction caused by both sides of the conflict. And as they flee, they take with them the hope of the nation for its future.
With the increasing human right violation and brutality on children and women in Nepal in the recent era, there is no denying that Nepal is in the throes of a deepening crisis of grave proportions. There are, however, two essential mechanism that are indispensable if Nepal’s leaders are to break the cycle of intensifying violence and militarization. Firstly, a respect for fundamental human rights, including an end to the pervasive climate of impunity on both sides of the conflict is required. Human rights violations are not only intolerable but they are counter-productive for anyone who claims to be fighting for the people. Respect for human rights is an essential tool for any military commander wishing to instill discipline, command and control over his troops. The present climate of impunity must be combated actively and with determination. Additionally, both sides need urgently to reverse the involvement of children in the conflict: the Maoists by ending their abductions, indoctrination and recruitment of children; the security forces by ensuring the special treatment and protection of children in their rules of engagement aiming at the rehabilitation and reintegration of the child. Both sides should urgently consider signing a human rights accord aimed at ending the abuses and atrocities that are emptying the countryside. The hearts and minds of the people are indeed the key to victory in this conflict and the road to those hearts and minds is respect for human rights.
The second mechanism for breaking the cycle of violence is a strong and effective National Human Rights Commission. This means that, above all, the Commission must be allowed to carry out its work as mandated under the Human rights Commission Act and provided for in the Human Rights Commitment announced by His Majesty's Government on 26 March 2004. This should include full and unhindered access, without prior notice, to all places of detention, which is recognized internationally as vital to any effective human rights monitoring. Such visits would go far in helping His Majesty's Government to prevent disappearances, executions and torture. The international community has been watching the whole scenario from the very near pole and hopes that these issues will be addressed not only speedily but also through a process that takes into account the political sensitivities and the legal complexities of the present situation. Further to this the people of Nepal and national organizations and agencies will render their support and efforts to work together towards the common goal of a peaceful and democratic Nepal where the fundamental human rights of all are fully respected. Now, more than ever, the future of the nation depends on the success of those efforts.
National Endeavors
The Government of Nepal established the National Human Right Commission as a gesture of its global responsibility. This is one of the major initiative taken by the Government in the course of human rights protection and preservation. With the tune of time and situation the National Human Right Commission set up its frame and gained a bit popularity and national support on its framework and activities constructed in the short span of time. National Human Rights Commission is the country's statutory body promoting and protecting human rights. In the relatively short time of its existence, it has worked hard to establish itself on a firm basis. As a result of those efforts, the Commission has raised its profile nationally and internationally as the nation's foremost defender of human rights. For which each individual and national and international organization furnish their support to it and aptly although nation does not fully render the support in sufficiency the United Nations is among the most active supporters of the Commission and is appreciative of the encouragement received from the Government to provide the Commission with substantial technical and logistical assistance.
With the emerging alarm on human rights in Nepal the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is to set up a monitoring operation in Nepal in a move to help establish accountability for human rights abuses and prevent further violations. It is foreseen that OHCHR field offices will be set-up at the regional level in order to ensure rapid response to reports of human rights violations. The High Commissioner said she hoped human rights monitoring under United Nations auspices would be an important step in establishing accountability for human rights abuses and helping prevent serious human rights violations resulting from the nine-year old armed conflict. "Breaking the cycle of serious and systematic abuses will be the first essential step toward achieving peace and reconciliation in Nepal.
To revamp human rights to its standard, the government has also signed the global capacity development project for the Commission by UNDP. This means that it is now up to the international community to show their support for the National Human Rights Commission as it expands its presence into five regional centers across the country. With respect to monitoring and reporting on human rights violations, government has committed for its full support. These are welcome signs of Government's commitment on thee current presence of the crucial and unique role of the Commission plays in Nepal. Also the excellent work being carried out under very difficult conditions by the country's many human rights NGOs as well as the media is other side story to appreciate. The work being carried out by the NGOs, in particular, and the valuable information they provide make possible the effective functioning of the United Nations human rights mechanisms, including both special procedures and the treaty monitoring bodies. They certainly deserve more recognition, support and encouragement in their defense of human rights.
Role of the International communities
The voices to call the United Nations for mediation of talks between the rebel forces and the Government were sounding few years back in the cloud of national dilemma. As soon as the rumors to call UN for mediation cooled down, in response to the ongoing violations of human rights in Nepal after the King's invocation of Article 27-C to usurp all state power, the Nepalese human rights community takes this opportunity to make a public appeal to the international community to continue their actions against the new regime in order to restore democracy, freedom and political rights in Nepal. The people of also appreciate international solidarity and support in pressurizing the country's military regime to disclose the whereabouts of some political leaders who were detained in undisclosed detention centers. We urge the international community to put pressure on Nepalese authorities to reinstate all fundamental human rights of the citizens that are indispensable, inalienable and indivisible, including freedom of movement, freedom to political rights, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of access to information. The right to freedom of information and expression contributes to educating people, brings issues into the public, and contributes to the "checks and balances" of a country. The suppression of those rights, as Nepal has severely experienced since February 1st, significantly contributes to the demise of democracy and freedom throughout the nation. The notion of "democracy" and "freedom" has been abandoned and the country is quickly moving toward a "failed state" due to the ongoing violent conflict that began in 1996 and now a wholly undemocratic regime. In such situation the international communities can sought for national support to restore peace and reinstall the fully reserved and respected climate of human right in Nepal. Along with UN several other international organizations and associations advocating for the human right should make their presence in Nepal to revive the deepening crisis of human right.
Conclusion
With reference to the United Nations human right concern, Nepal has shown its sincere gesture and projection of a vision in which the human rights of all are fully respected and enjoyed in conditions of peace. The government committed as a member of the UN to working for Human Rights to keep that vision to the forefront through constant encouragement of the nation to uphold universally agreed human rights standards based on the Universal declaration of Human Rights on Dec 10 1948. It agreed on the Commissioner’s role to alert Governments and the world community to the daily reality that these standards are too often ignored or unfulfilled, and to be a voice for the victims of human rights violations everywhere. It is also our role to press the international community to take the steps that can prevent violations, including support for the right to development. Human rights are our common heritage and their realization depends on the contribution that each and every one of us is willing to make, individually and collectively, now and in the future. The nation adopt and adhere all provisions and statement passed by the UN but remained silence in its effect and implementation. The very slow initiatives taken by the government of Nepal in the issues of Human Rights gather no credit and candid result for the promotion of human right and national solidarity.