Thursday, December 14, 2006

43 people killed since April: NHRC

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on wednesday came up with data that 43 people were killed during the past six months of ceasefire.
“Fifteen persons were killed by the Maoists, 11 by the state, five by vigilante groups, another five in explosions of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), and another seven persons were found killed by the unidentified,” said Dhruva Nepal, officiating secretary at the NHRC.
The National Human Rights Commission received a total of 1,158 complaints during the period. According to the complaints registered during the past six months, 177 persons are reported to have been abducted by the Maoists, and 168 others were found to have been disappeared by the security forces. Most of the complaints, however, are related to the pre-ceasefire period.
Also the complaints on killings and murders, which but include the incidents prior to ceasefire, are bigger in number.
Altogether 109 cases of killing by the security forces and 58 killing of Maoists were registered during the past six months. 52 complaints are related to torture by the security forces, while 31 others are related to torture in Maoist hands.
15 complaints were related to the displaced by security forces, while 64 cases were related to the displaced by Maoists, according to the report prepared by the National Human Rights Commission in the past six months.
Eight other cases registered were related to the injured in explosions and three other complaints were related to the killing in crossfire prior to the ceasefire.
The NHRC has already suggested that the Maoists and the government take action like releasing or making public the name of those abducted.
“The Maoist leadership has expressed commitment to us, but the commitments have not been implemented in practice, rather in some of the cases they have not even given access to us for investigation,” said the officiating secretary of National Human Rights Commission, Nepal.The cases in which the Maoists have not given access to NHRC officials are related to the abduction in the name of justice providing by the people’s court.
He also said that the government, too, has not taken the recommendations of the NHRC seriously, as it has so far considered only 36 cases out of the 147. Most of the cases considered are related to compensating the victims, according to Nepal.
Asked if National Human Rights Commission officials are facing problems in the absence of chairperson and members, he said there were several matters which need policy-level decisions and are stuck in the absence of senior officials.
“Several administrative work and the decision related to providing recommendations to the government could not be done in the absence of senior officials,” he added.

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