Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal expressed his commitment to take effective action to end impunity in Nepal. He made this commitment in a meeting with Amnesty International (AI) Nepal at his office on 1 July.
A delegation led by the Chairperson of Amnesty International Nepal Hem Kumar Khadka, on behalf of the International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED), delivered thousands of letters to the Prime Minister in the meeting calling to ratify a human rights treaty to combat enforced disappearances.In the meeting Chairperson Mr. Khadka and Director Rameshwar Nepal briefed about the campaign and call Nepal government to ratify the Convention. Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari was also present in the meeting.
The ICAED (in which Amnesty International is also a member), launches ratification campaigns focusing a country for a particular time-frame. From April to July 2009, the ICAED had launched a campaign on Nepal calling Nepalese authorities to ratify International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Campaign on Nepal have resulted in 5,366 appeal letters from within Nepal and abroad calling on Nepal to ratify the Convention.
More than 3 years after the Supreme Court delivered the landmark decision, recommending the establishment of an effective commission to investigate enforced disappearances, the Coalition asks that the government send an unmistakable signal that enforced disappearances will never be tolerated again in Nepal. Announcing that that Nepal will soon ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance would send such a signal. It would also make Nepal one of the very first countries in Asia to become a party to the Convention.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006 the Convention against Enforced Disappearance represents the culmination of a long effort by many families of disappeared persons, non-governmental organizations and governments to address the continuing problem of enforced disappearance through international law.
The Convention will be an effective way to help prevent enforced disappearances and to respond effectively to the crimes when they are committed by establishing the truth prosecuting the perpetrators and providing reparations to the victims and their families. As countless persons continue to be “disappeared” throughout the world, the prompt entry into force of the Convention and its ratification and effective implementation in all countries must be a priority for the international community and particularly for countries that have a legacy of enforced disappearances, such as Nepal.
The delegation expressed the organizations’ concerns over the rising impunity with the Prime Mininster. Nepal has a terrible legacy of grave human rights violations, including thousands of enforced disappearances. Two years after the end of a decade-long internal conflict, not one of those responsible has been brought to account. Hence, impunity prevails here.
The delegation also submitted another memorandum highlighting some key issues related to human rights. The memorandum has highlighted on the need of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) with no provisions of amnesties for cases of violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws, including extrajudicial killings, tortures, abductions, disappearances and rapes. It may be noted that the proposed TRC Bill of Nepal, under Article 25 (1), includes provisions of amnesty for those who have committed crime under international laws.
Secondly, the memorandum has stressed that the whereabouts of those disappeared by the government security forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) should be made public immediately. More than two years have already passed ahead of the timeline set by both the parties in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in November 2006.
The third concern raised by the organization was the delay in ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, despite directives of the Parliament made some 2 and half year ago.
The memorandum has also raised serious concern about the protection of women human rights defenders.