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NEPAL: Ending impunity should be taken seriously by the government - UN

21 Dec 2006 17:15:16 GMT
Source: IRIN

KATHMANDU, 21 December (IRIN) - The Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal has expressed serious concerns over the lack of effective measures to address impunity in the country.

"There is still an opportunity for the government to demonstrate to the Nepalese people and the international community that it is serious about ending impunity by holding human rights violators accountable for their actions," said Lena Sundh, head of OHCHR-Nepal.

On Thursday, Sundh released a report on the torture and death of 15-year-old girl Maina Sunuwar at the hands of three Nepalese Army (NA) officers in 2004 on suspicion of working as a Maoist rebel.

After her arbitrary arrest from her village in Kavrepalanchowk, 80 km south of the capital, she was taken to the army training centre of Panchkhal in the capital where she was killed after nearly 90 minutes of severe torture, the report said.

Although the NA found the officers guilty in a court martial, they were subsequently given short prison sentences, something which OHCHR resolutely condemns as failing to provide any justice for the victim.

"OHCHR-Nepal maintains that the results of the court martial were wholly inadequate and rather than serving as a deterrent to future criminal acts by the security forces would likely encourage such abuses," said the report, which added that the NA had done everything to cover up the gravity of abuses.

The NA had constantly refused to provide OHCHR-Nepal with copies of documents associated with the court of inquiry board and court martial.

"OHCHR-Nepal does not believe that the NA investigations constitute an independent, transparent and complete inquiry, and continues to call for an independent investigation and prosecution of this case in a civilian court," the report said.

The report was published with the aim of illustrating the many obstacles that victims of human rights violations face while seeking redress, Sundh explained.

This particular case makes clear how impunity has yet to be addressed in any effective way by the Nepalese government, local human rights activists said.

Sunuwar's mother Devi has been trying to find justice for her innocent daughter. "I have constantly approached senior army officials [and asked them for] justice but they have always turned a deaf ear," Devi said.

Sundh said that it was essential for the authorities to ensure that justice was finally done in the case of the innocent young Sunuwar by reopening the case in a civilian court so that other cases of serious human rights abuses would not be similarly blocked from the civilian courts in the future.

Meanwhile, OHCHR-Nepal remains concerned about the apparent lack of political will on the part of the government to hold accountable members of the security forces suspected of involvement in human rights violations.

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Last updated:Thu Dec 21 17:16:12 2006