Leading human rights activists and conflict victims have said restoration of democracy is the must to protect and promote human rights in the country.

Activists during an interaction programme organized by the International Human Rights and Duties Institution-Nepal (IHRADIN) in Kathmandu on Saturday. nepalnews.com/rh

Activists during an interaction programme organized by the International Human Rights and Duties Institution-Nepal (IHRADIN) in Kathmandu on Saturday. nepalnews.com/rh
During an interaction programme organized by the International Human Rights and Duties Institution-Nepal (IHRADIN) in Kathmandu on Saturday, human rights activist and lawyer Gopal Siwakoti ‘Chintan’ said protection of human rights could be guaranteed only in a democratic society. He added that cases of human rights violation would continue to increase unless the State took initiatives to punish the rights violators.

“National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) must be empowered to file cases against the violators at the court or fix compensation to the victims,” he added.

General Secretary of the NGO Federation of Nepal, Shanta Raj Mulmi, alleged that the State had been withdrawing from it’s responsibility of protecting people’s human rights in the name of privatization and globalization.

Senior vice president of IHRADIN, Major (Retd.) Purna Singh Khatri, said that human rights violation continued in the country due to negligence from both the State and the society.

Human rights groups and civil society leaders must put pressure on the state to make strong laws and take actions against human rights violators, he said.

Narrating the story of conflict victims, vice chairperson of Nepal Maoist Victims’ Association, Kamala Rai, said both the warring groups had turned irresponsible towards protecting rights of the people who were not directly involved in the war.

National and international human rights groups have said the rights situation in Nepal has become one of the worst in the world due to the decade-old armed rebellion. Rights groups as well as civil society leaders have been calling both the parties in Nepal conflict to give up violence and resume peace process to find a negotiated settlement to the insurgency.

Over 13,000 people have lost their lives in the decade-old Maoist insurgency.