Four years after the end of the conflict, there now appears to be a familiar pattern in the way in which the Maoists handles incidents where a member of party is charged with crime. This has most recently been revealed in the case of Kali Bahadur Kham ‘Bibidh’, who has been charged with robbery and running an illegal trade in the Himalayan herb Yarchagumba. First, a number of key party leaders state in public that the accused has no relation with the party at all, that none of the party leaders are aware of his whereabouts. Then, as the police begins its investigations, the party leadership states that it is willing to cooperate with any criminal investigations. As the process continues, however, and it becomes evident that the accused is in fact in contact with Maoist leaders, party leaders state that the accused is innocent of the crime he has been charged with and that the party has begun an internal investigation. The investigation then “confirms” the innocence of the accused and he continues to remain out of the arms of the law, under the protection of the Maoist party.
NEW DELHI: Former CJI and National Human Rights Commission chief K G Balakrishnan on Tuesday described honour killings as “cold blooded murder”, adding that more than a new law, awareness was needed in society against such inhuman acts. The statement comes at a time when the National Commission for Women and prominent women rights activists have been demanding a separate legislation to define honour crimes.
Balakrishnan was speaking at a seminar organised by the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) on honour killings. Underlining the deep-rooted problem, NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said the commission was dealing with 50 cases that had poured in the last two months.
Raj Kumar Siwakoti
Every year on July 17, the world celebrates International Justice Day marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). International Justice Day is a reminder of the urgency for all states committed to justice to ensure continued support to the Rome Statute’s international justice system to reaffirm its commitment to end the culture of impunity and take the necessary steps to ratify the Rome Statute.
On this day 12 years ago, the Rome Statute was adopted by an overwhelming vote of 120 states. Today, 111 states have joined the ICC, and the number keeps growing. The world is celebrating this day as a show of solidarity with victims of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. International Justice Day is an opportunity for the world community to celebrate the historic advances made in ending impunity for the worst crimes under international law.
Since 1993, 181 trials dealing with terrible crimes committed in 12 countries, have been held by six international and special tribunals. Similar trials for the gravest crimes are ongoing at the national level. As of the present, three trials are being conducted at the ICC, investigations have been opened in five countries, and 12 arrest warrants and three summons to appear have been issued. Allegations of crimes committed in many other countries are being considered by the ICC Prosecutor.
NEW DELHI — Global rights monitor Human Rights Watch urged the Indian government Monday to crack down on village councils and local politicians linked to a spate of recent “honour” killings.
The New York-based watchdog said the authorities should not only prosecute those responsible but also strengthen existing laws to prevent religion and caste-based violence.
Most “honour killings” in India target young couples who marry outside their caste, and are carried out by relatives in an attempt to protect the family’s reputation.
The murders are often sanctioned by village councils and prosecutions are rare because, critics say, local police and politicians choose to turn a blind eye.
“Officials who fail to condemn village council edicts that end in murder are effectively endorsing murder,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
The case of Sita Tamang shows the media needs to exercise caution when it comes to covering conflict-sensitive issues
CK LAL
Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative for children and armed conflict of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, brings her formidable qualifications to bear on a very delicate responsibility. As the erstwhile chairperson of the Human Rights Commission and the director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Sri Lanka, Coomaraswamy is one of few Third World citizens who stride through the global corridors of power with ease.
Of the 4,008 disqualified combatants discharged from temporary cantonments in Nepal, over 3,000 were children. The Maoists claimed the discharges were a result of their magnanimity, while the anti-Maoist coalition of Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal claimed it as the most remarkable achievement of its 13 months in office. UNMIN, too, feels it is a success story for the organisation. Unsurprisingly, Sita Tamang, alias Manju Gurung, was a prize catch for the Security Council, where she made an appearance on 16 June.
It is extremely unlikely that Coomaraswamy was unaware of the potential repercussions of making Sita narrate her story in the full glare of the media eye. The ‘Manju’ alias was tokenism more than anything else, as the ensuing footage and photos of Sita did little to protect the testifier’s identity.
In fact, the way media coverage of this teenage girl from Chitwan unfolded, it became clear that she might have been used as bait to trap the Maoists into fresh controversy. The ambush has been successful: the former insurgents tumbled into the trap when they quizzed and then reportedly threatened Sita last week.
Former child soldier Sita Tamang’s powerful testimony at the Security Council focused the world’s attention on Nepal’s Maoists
EKAL SILWAL
Sita Tamang, a former child soldier, was excited to go to New York. But the journey she embarked on last month was less to visit the country she had heard so much about since her childhood than it was to fulfill a historic mission.
Sita was invited to the 6341st meeting of the UN Security Council by the UN Special Rapporteur on Children in Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy.
On 17 June, Sita was seated next to Coomaraswamy in the Security Council chamber, where there was representation from 60 countries. Over concerns for her safety, she was introduced as Manju Gurung. Then she recounted her ordeal of abduction by the Maoists at age 11. She was forced to perform heavy labour, trained for combat, and threatened with the murder of her family if she spoke to anyone about the Maoists. She told the assembly about her escape and the discrimination she had to endure at the hands of her family and neighbours back in her home village. She also spent time in the Shaktikhor cantonment in Chitwan before she escaped and finally contacted a human rights organisation that aided her rehabilitation. The chamber was left shocked by her story.
Subash Shiwakoti
The war against trafficking must incorporate action against poverty and marginalisation
Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery and a serious crime that results in gross abuse of the victims’ human rights. Thousands of children, women and men become victims of human traffickers each year. We have also exposed human trafficking in Nepal, and we have discovered that Nepal is used as a resource country for trade in women and children mostly for the purpose of sexual exploitation and child pornography. The national reports of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for 2008 and 2009 show that around 32,000 children and women became victims of trafficking in those two years. The report stated, “Today, trafficking is not limited just to commercial sexual exploitation but to labour exploitation, organ transplantation and entertainment (circus and dance bars) purposes.”
This trade appears to be increasing, both nationally and internationally; and it is estimated that human trafficking has become the second largest illegal business in the world after the arms trade. Several thousand illegal organ transplantations take place each year. The trade gœs from poor countries to rich countries, from poor donors to wealthy recipients. This is a disturbing trend in countries that have little respect for or understanding of human rights. The government’s goal is to combat all types of human trafficking. It has stated this goal in different national declarations and plans of the action. Nepal has made an international commitment to prevent and combat trade in human beings by ratifying different international and regional conventions especially on women and children.
Human trafficking is a global, transnational problem. It is a serious form of crime that, in many cases, is organised by international criminal networks. These activities often take place as part of other serious, organised crimes, and are characterised by the perpetrators being involved in multiple crimes, i.e., they are often involved in drug trafficking and arms dealing across national borders. There are possibilities for making substantial profits while most of the victims are in a vulnerable situation due to poverty and repression. The networks are usually based abroad, often in the victims’ home countries. Consequently, the sufferers are often scared of providing information for fear of reprisal against themselves or their families in their countries of origin.
HETAUDA, July 14: A human rights activist has been abducted from Jitpur Ratopul of Bara.
Iswor Acharya, a teacher in local school and member of Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), was abducted in the evening at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, according to his family source.
The abductors took Acharya under control on the way while he was carrying cash amount to distribute salary to his colleagues and demanded ransom worth Rs. one million, said Acharya’s brother-in-law Rajan Mainali.
The abductors robbed Rs. 460,000 from him and threatened to murder if demanded ransom was not given, said Mainali.
AKANSHYA SHAH
KATHMANDU, July 14: After eight months of circumstantial investigations, the Nepal Army (NA) has given a clean chit to Major Niranjan Basnet, who was sent back from a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad last December for his alleged involvement in human rights violation in the Maina Sunar case.
The Army Court Of Inquiry has concluded that Basnet is “innocent” and that he was returned by the UN “against all international norms and regulations.”
It has been learnt that a decision to this effect was endorsed by the Defense Ministry recently. NA had sent a letter to the ministry two months back defending Niranjan and requesting that his case be withdrawn immediately.
NA has defended Basnet on the basis of the Military Act 1959 and the then Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance 2002 (TADA).
The latest murky cycle of violence in Indian-held Kashmir began late Monday in the Gangbugh neighborhood of Srinagar. Residents say paramilitary officers chased Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat, 17, and two 11th grade friends, possibly fired shots in their direction — the details were not clear. The frightened youths jumped into a drainage canal to get away.
Bhat, who could swim, failed to return home and the community mounted a search. At dawn, his body was found floating in the canal.
As word spread Tuesday morning of the drowning, angry residents gathered to protest. Within 24 hours, they say, two more people had been killed by security forces.
The Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir has been on a knife’s edge since June 11, when a 17-year old boy in Srinagar died after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired at close range by security forces. Between that death and Bhat’s drowning, thirteen more people have died at the hands of security forces, each sparking more protests and then more deaths.
The streets of Srinagar, the state’s summer capital, were largely deserted Wednesday after the Indian army was called in to enforce a curfew and quell the demonstrations. But the deaths underscore the volatile mix of armed force and public anger that continues to plague a region long divided between India and Pakistan.
As distraught residents gathered Tuesday to protest Bhat’s death, Fayaz Ahmad Wani, 28, was saying goodbye to his wife and two infant daughters as he headed off to his government horticulture job.