Representatives of family of the disappeared, civil society and major political parties expressed concern over the unsolved issues of disappeared persons in Nepal and urged the government of Nepal and the United Communist Party of Nepal(UCPN) Maoist to fulfill their commitments.
Speaking in a program jointly organized on 3 September 2010 in Kathmandu by Amnesty International Nepal and Group 21, 32 and 80 affiliated to the organization the representatives called Nepal Government and Maoist to fulfill their commitment made including in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and Interim Constitution. The programme was held on the occasion of International Day of the Disappeared which is marked every year on the 30 August.
Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Kedarnath Upadhyaya called on the government to demonstrate its commitment to accountability by ensuring the full application of the rule of law. He also informed to the participants that the dead body of Sanjiv Kumar Karna from Janakpur, who was disappeared by the state forces, will dig out very soon with the help of international expert.
On the occasion Parshuram Koirala the husband of Goma Koirala, disappeared by the Maoist in Dhading, Rajiv Karna the brother of Sanjiv Kumar Karna, disappeared by the state in Janakpur and Ram Kumar Bhandari Coordinator of National Network of Families of Disappeared and Missing People also expressed the views on behalf of the victim families. They questioned Nepal government “how long it will take to complete the work planned for 60 days?” According to the CPA, the whereabouts of the disappeared family will be publicized within the 60 days from the day of signing it. It has been almost 4 year of CPA signed, but nothing has been publicized yet.
Similarly, Spokesperson of Nepali Congress Arjun Narasimha KC accepted the weakness made by political parties and said – “The Disappeared Commission to discover the whereabouts of the missing and to compensate the families is still incomplete because of political weaknesses”.
In the program, UCPN-Maoist leader and CA member Ashok Rokaya, representative CPN (UML) Prakash Jwala and Regional Campaign Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific Programme of Amnesty International’s International Secretariat Robert Godden also emphasized to made public the whereabouts of disappeared persons. The programme was chaired by the chairperson of AI Nepal Hem Kumar Khadka.
On the occasion, Usha Khand, Convener of AI Nepal Women Group 21, Kathmandu, Surya Bahadur Adhikari, Convener Of AI Nepal Group–80 Kathmandu and Prabin Agrawal, Secretary of AI Nepal, Group-32, had also expressed their views.
At the beginning of the event a video produced by Amnesty International on the occasion of International Day of the Disappeared 2010 highlighting situation of the disappeared family also was screened.