Kathmandu - The UN Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) Friday called on the Nepalese government to
investigate 170 cases of forced disappearances in a single district
in the western part of the country during the communist insurgency.
OHCHR in a report said it had documented 170 cases of
disappearances in Bardiya district, about 450 kilometres west of the
Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
Richard Bennett, representative of the OHCHR in Nepal said 156 of
the 170 disappearances were blamed on the Nepalese security forces,
between December 2001 and January 2003.
In a press release, The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi
Pillay called for an independent and credible commission to
investigate the forced disappearances.
'Ensuring justice and redress in these cases would not only
provide some relief to the victims, it would also constitute an
important step forward in Nepal's peace process,' Pillay said.
'It would be a significant breakthrough in the government's pledge
to end impunity, and its effort to build a new Nepal based on rule of
law and respect for human rights.'
The Maoists were blamed for the remaining disappearances and OHCHR
said the former rebels had admitted to killing 12 of the 14
people they abducted from the district during the insurgency.
OHCHR however said the fate of most of those who disappeared at
the hands of state authorities remains officially unknown.
But the UN office cites 'credible witness testimony' suggesting
that a number of detainees were killed while in custody, or shortly
after being removed by members of the security forces.
Bardiya was one of the Maoist strongholds during the decade-long
communist insurgency with frequent clashes between the security
forces and the Maoists.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, nearly
a thousand people remain missing across the country after security
forces arrests or rebels abduction.
The Maoist former rebels are now leading the government after a
strong showing during the constituent assembly elections in April
this year.
Nearly 14,000 people died in the communist insurgency which
formally ended after the government and the Maoists signed a peace
deal in November 2006.
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