Kathmandu, 21 Dec 2006 (IRIN)
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.
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. Copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006 [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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