Nepal
in Crisis 2005: Human Rights |
February
1 2005 |
Amnesty
International/Human Rights Watch |
Nepal:
State of emergency deepens human rights crisis
|
King
Gyanendra of Nepal dismissed the Government, assumed direct power, and
declared a nation-wide state of emergency. This action plunges the country
deeper into crisis and puts the Nepalese people at even greater risk of
gross human rights abuses, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and
the International Commission of Jurists said today. Widespread human rights
abuses have taken place during the nine-year conflict in Nepal between
government forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) rebels.
Political
leaders have been placed under arrest and communications links within Nepal
and with the outside world have been severed. All independent Nepali media
have been closed down and state owned radio announced that a number of
rights - including freedom of movement and freedom of assembly - have been
suspended.
"The
international community must make it immediately clear to the King that
by assuming power he is directly responsible for protecting the people
of Nepal and safeguarding their fundamental human rights," the organisations
said. A number of countries, including India, have already expressed concern
at the situation.
The
organisations fear for the immediate safety of human rights campaigners,
political activists and members of the National Human Rights Commission,
who have recently faced increasing harassment from both security forces
and the CPN (Maoist).
The
organisations are urging the UN Commission on Human Rights to appoint a
Special Rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in Nepal when
it meets in Geneva next month.
Basic
human rights must be fully protected even in times of emergency. These
include the right to life and the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment,
as well as fundamental principles of fair trial and freedom from arbitrary
detention. The organisations are concerned that the steps being taken by
the King and the army, as described above, have been sweeping, arbitrary,
and excessive.
Nepal's
last state of emergency in 2001-2002 led to an explosion of serious human
rights violations, including increased extra-judicial killings, enforced
disappearances, arbitrary detention, and a breakdown in the rule of law.
Today's
move comes just one week after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Louise Arbour, met King Gyanendra in Nepal and strongly voiced her concerns
over the unfolding human rights crisis in Nepal. She noted a prevailing
climate of impunity for serious human rights abuses committed by both the
government and the CPN (Maoist).
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