BeyondHeadlines News Desk
At the Nepalese Maoists’ leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s (Prachanda) visit to India, Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) urged Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to take up the issue of accountability for past human rights abuses in Nepal.
ACHR also urged Dr Singh to discuss the indispensability of holding free and fair elections for durable peace in Nepal, with Prachanda, who is visiting India from 28 to 30 April 2013.
Mr. Suhas Chakma, Director of ACHR, warned of further violence in the upcoming elections in Nepal if accountability for past human rights abuses is not addressed.
“Unless accountability is addressed and cadres of the political parties especially the Youth Communists League of the Maoists (UCPN) refrain from using violence as the means to win the forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections, the chances of Nepal falling into further conflict are real,” noted Chakma.
“There has not been any accountability for killing of about 13,000 people, enforced disappearance of over 1,300 people and other human rights violations in the conflict between the Government of Nepal and the Maoists from 1996 to 2006.
“The violence in the forthcoming constituent assembly elections will only engulf Nepal into further conflicts.”
ACHR accused Maoists of “promoting the leaders who were involved in the murder of innocent civilians”, and also said that the Nepalese government failed to establish accountability concerning violations committed by the security forces.
The human rights group also expressed concerns about impending violence leading up to the Constituent Assembly elections. It recommended the Indian government to offer technical and financial assistance for holding free and fair elections in Nepal.
In addition, ACHR requested Dr. Singh to urge Prachanda to ensure compliance with the stay issued by Nepal’s Apex Court on “Truth, Reconciliation and Disappearance Ordinance”, which provides for general amnesty for serious human rights violations.
