Saturday, October 08, 2005

OHCHR to publicise Nepal report on Oct 11

Kathmandu, Oct 8-The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is to make public its report on the human rights situation in Nepal next Tuesday (October 11), reports said.

The Kathmandu Post daily quoted a senior OHCHR official as saying that its New York office got the report just recently from its headquarters in Geneva and preparations were underway to make the report public.

“The report on Nepal is now in the process of translation in New York,” said the official, preferring anonymity. “It is expected to be released on October 11.”

He said the report needs to be translated into six official languages of the UN – English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Russian – before it is made public.

However, the official said a copy of the report titled “Report of the High Commissioner on the human rights situation and the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, including technical cooperation, in Nepal” has been given to Nepal’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

There is a general practice of sharing the report with the concerned country to check for any factual errors.

“That’s why, it has been shared with the Nepal mission here,” the official said, adding that it has not been given to any other member states.

The report will be discussed and debated at the Third Committee of the United Nations, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural affairs. The session of the Committee started on October 3 and will come to an end on November 23.

Nepal had agreed to allow UN OHCHR mission to monitor the rights situation in the country early this year during the 61st session of the UN High Commission for Human Rights.

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