Dozens of human rights activists, trade unionists and women rights activists in Thailand expressed solidarity with the movement for democracy, human rights and peace while marking the first year of King Gyanendra’s takeover of state powers in the Himalayan kingdom.
Shouting slogans like “Long Live International Solidarity”, the activists organised a peaceful demonstration in front of the Royal Nepalese embassy in Bangkok Wednesday morning. The participants denounced what they called the crackdown on democracy as well as the continuing gross violations of human rights in Nepal.
The participants held placards showing photos of alleged atrocities committed by the state against the people of Nepal, demanding immediate release of all political detainees, and the end of atrocities and violence in the country.
They also urged the international community to stop selling arms to the royal government in Nepal. The speakers also questioned the relevancy of the upcoming municipal election, given the planned boycott of it by all the major political parties in Nepal, adding that such an election should be conducted by a democratic government and not the royal one.
During the demonstration, representatives of the organisers handed over a joint appeal issued by some 48 NGOs, civil society organisations and trade unions around the world to Arjun K Mainali, deputy chief of the mission at the Royal Nepalese embassy in Thailand, for the purpose of bringing it to the attention of His Majesty King Gyanendra.
Demanding the immediate restoration of multi-party democracy and peace in Nepal, the participants set free some pigeons and balloons and also displayed anti-king banners, according to a statement issued by the organisers.
The speakers at the demonstration included Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, President of Alliance of Democratic Trade Unions (ADTU), Thailand, Supawadee Petrat, Coordinator for Mekong Region of 1000 Women for Nobel Peace Prize 2005, Nongluck Parnthong, Coordinator of Slum’s Women.
Network (SWON), Chalida Tajaroensuk, Consultant of FORUM-ASIA, Parat Nanakorn, Coordinator of Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Link (APWSL), Wilawan Chetia, Chairperson of Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, and Ji Ug-pakorn, lecturer at the Chulalongkorn University.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has said that it was carrying out investigation on the property of the kin and those working closely with former prime minister and president of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala, reports said.
“Since he has been Prime Minister four times, the complaints filed against him cannot be looked into individually. It is necessary to investigate his personal assistant, kin and those working closely with him,” reports quoted the CIAA investigation officer Cheta Nath Ghimire as saying.
He also revealed that the CIAA was carrying out a detailed study on the property of Koirala and his kin and close aides.
Speaking at a program organized in the capital to publicize the annual report of the CIAA, Ghimire also said that detailed investigation on the property of 31 people, including high level political leaders and former administrators was underway.
Koirala, who is leading the agitation of the seven political parties is yet to react on the latest move of the anti-graft body.
Earlier, Koirala had refused to be present before the CIAA in the case of investigation of the property.
There are reports of explosions in the far-western town of Dhangadhi Wednesday night.
According to reports, Maoist rebels and security personnel exchanged fire at Campus chowk in the town. There were no reports of casualties.
Security sources said the situation was under control.
The rebels also caused explosions at the house of two mayoral candidates in Tikapur municipality in Kailali district last night.
Details are still awaited.
Over 130 prisoners are still out of contact following the overnight clashes between security forces and Maoist rebels Tuesday.
Maoists simultaneously attacked army barracks, police post, district prison and district administration office in Tansen, the district headquarters of Palpa, Tuesday night.
Nine prisoners, however, have come into contact till late Wednesday.
Pashimanchal FM station was also destroyed during the gun battle between security personnel and Maoists.
The electricity supply and telephone lines in the area, that remained cut off from the incident resumed service from Wednesday afternoon.
However the district remains under state of fear.
At least 11 security personnel were killed in the gun battle that lasted for nearly seven hours. According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) four armymen and seven policemen were killed during the incident.
“A group of around 4,000 terrorists tried to make a consorted attack on security bases in the district headquarters at 11.00 p.m. on Tuesday. Following the attempted attacks on the bases, the security forces put up a strong resistance in the clashes which continued until 6:00 this morning and was successfully foiled by the security forces in the area,” the statement adds.
According to MoD, four bodies of Maoists were recovered from the incident site. It suspects heavy causalities in the rebels’ side during the fierce overnight battle.
“After having examined the nature of the clashes and based on accounts of eyewitnesses, it appears that the casualty figures on the terrorist’s side could have been very extensive,” the statement adds.
According to security sources, some security personnel are still out of contact after the rebels’ raid. Earlier reports said 143 police personnel were out of contact.. The camp had 230 policemen. Most of these policemen were sent to Tansen as part of security arrangement for polls and were without weapons, according to officials.
According to the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) of Royal Nepalese Army, the Chief District Officer and an Inspector of National Department of Investigation were also out of contact since the attack.
Injured security personnel have been taken to Pokhara and Kathmandu for treatment.
Defending Champions Nabil Three Star Club (NTSC) beat Jawalakhel Youth Club (JYC) 1-0 and Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) beat Friends Club (FC) 2-0 at Dashrath Stadium while Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) beat Rani Pokhari Corner Team (RCT) 4-0 and Mahabir Club (MC) and Boudha Football Club (BFC) played to a 1-1 tie at Halchowk Stadium in the ANFA Martyrs’ Memorial “A” Division League Football Tournament.
A solitary goal from Surendra Tamang of NTSC in the 63rd minute was enough to beat JYC to stay atop the league table with a two point lead over MMC.
In the other game at Dashrath Stadium, Manang Marshyangdi Club kept pace with NTSC beating Friends Club 2-0 to stay in second place. After a goalless first half, Nigerian import Imoh Daniel Ekong drew first blood for MMC in the 77th minute, utilizing the pass off Basanta Gauchan inside the six-yard box. Later, skipper Kumar Thapa doubled the tally off yet another Nigerian Nuyrudeen Salau’s pass to breathier in the title battle.
Elsewhere at Halchowk Stadium, TAC thrashed RCT 4-0, riding the crest on Raju Tamang, Shiva Chowdhary, Janamat Karki and Chun Bahadur Thapa
In the other match there, Mahabir came back from a one goal deficit to draw the match against Boudha FC. BFC scored early in the match through lanky Bikash Sapkota in the 6th minute. Jhapa-based mid-fielder Babu Lal Hasda restored parity for MC in the 73rd minute.
– By Jan Sharma
Despite the boycott by the Communist-dominated seven-party alliance and Maoist threat to sabotage, King Gyanendra firmly reiterated that the February 8 municipal elections will go ahead as scheduled.
In a televised proclamation to the nation Wednesday morning, the King vigorously defended his year-long direct rule, repeatedly stressed on “meaningful democracy” and promised “all popularly elected bodies will be active” by April next year.
“Patriotism is the only means of creating a democratic society,” he said in a 20-minute proclamation. “We, therefore, call upon all Nepalese to consign mutual recrimination to the bitter past and build a secure and prosperous future for the nation and people, while upholding democratic norms.”
Parliamentary elections were initially scheduled for November 13, 2002 but were postponed indefinitely. The term of local bodies – 58 municipalities, 3,933 village development committees, and 75 district development committees – last expired on July 16, 2002.
The proclamation comes amidst rumors that the king was to postpone the polls and open dialogue with the political parties opposing his direct rule in a fresh bid to restore peace and end the political and constitutional crisis.
It also comes a day after publication of an opinion poll survey that disclosed 42.9 percent of the respondents wanted to vote, 19.5 percent do not want to vote and 30.7 percent remained undecided.
The Interdisciplinary Analysts survey in January found 26.2 percent of those not going to vote was for security reason, 23.1 percent because they believed polls were unconstitutional and eight percent because the party they support had boycotted the vote.
The survey found nearly half the respondents had doubts whether the vote will be free and fair but 16.4 percent believed it to be so.
Elections are scheduled for 4,146 positions as mayors, deputy mayors, ward chairmen and ward members in 58 municipalities. Only 3,654 candidates filed their nominations on January 29. Over 600 of them withdrew simultaneously.
Mayors in 22 municipalities and deputy mayors in 20 municipalities were announced elected unopposed as no one challenged them. Yet, not a single contestant filed nomination in 174 wards out of a total of 806 wards in 58 municipalities.
This means a broad and responsible representation has a slim chance in the municipal polls. If the present trends continue, and parliamentary elections take place by April next year as promised, the same experience will be repeated.
Such quality of representation will further damage the democratic process. The blame for this must go to the “mainstream” media and the so-called civil society for inflaming prejudices among political actors instead of harmonizing them and forcing them to cohabitate.
The seven-party alliance leaders say they do not want any compromise with the king and want to bring about a “political tsunami” to achieve “total democracy” and “an end to absolute monarchy.”
The constituents of the seven-party alliance have serious differences on the interpretation of the concepts worked out as part of their 12-point “understanding” with the outlawed Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which also wants to sabotage the polls.
The Maoists have threatened to “reduce by six inches” anyone contesting or voting. The six inches refer to head measurement. This has scared many prospective contestants and voters wanting to exercise their franchise.
The Royal Nepalese Army said it was “firm to maintain peace and security during the elections and the security personnel will act like in the past elections if anybody tries to create disruptions by any means.” No army in the world can possibly cope with each and every hit and run assassins.
Campaigning has been quiet as Maoists killed one mayoral aspirant in Janakpur, and injured another in Lalitpur. In many places, candidates are not to be seen anywhere. Many voters do not even know the candidates.
On the eve of the proclamation, Washington urged the king to return to democracy by initiating a dialogue with political parties, which it described as “the best way” to address the Maoist insurgency and to build a brighter future for the Nepali people.
“The United States remains particularly concerned by the Maoist insurgency, which presents the most immediate threat to a peaceful and prosperous Nepal,” Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman at the Department of State, was quoted as saying.
As the countdown for the municipal polls nears to a close, there is still hope for a political leadership that could rise above short-term interests and provide the country democratic stability. It is turning into an agonizing wait.
(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])
Ian Martin (File Photo)
Chief of the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal, Ian Martin, met government officials to access human rights situation on January 26.
Martin is likely to present his final report on human rights to Geneva-based headquarters before the OHCHR’s 62nd plenary meeting begins on March 15.
Reports quoted sources as saying that Martin chiefly raised cases of disappearance, torture, hardship faced by internally-displaced persons and government’s restriction on opposition parties’ peaceful assembly on January 20.
The government officials are learnt to have appraised Martin of the improved record on cases of disappearance, torture, IDPs and other reformative commitments from the government side.
The government is in the process of preparing a human rights report to defend its case during the 62nd plenary meeting of the OHCHR.
The Himalayan Times quoted sources as saying that putting Nepal under Item-9 could not be ruled out if the government did not give satisfactory replies on human rights records in the plenary meeting.
If that happens, Nepal would be listed as one of the countries having high rate of human rights violations and the commission might also recommend economic sanctions against Nepal and ultimately ban the Royal Nepalese Army from taking part in UN peacekeeping missions.
Earlier, The Human Rights Committee (HRC) constituted under the coordination of Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey has raised serious questions about the performance and activities of OHCHR in Nepal. The HRC also questioned whether the UN human rights agency was carrying out its activities within its limitation.
Export of hand-knitted woollen carpet, has declined by 9 percent in terms of quantity during the first six months of 2005/06, reports said.
Hand-knitted woollen carpet
Hand-knitted woollen carpet
(Photo source : sooryacarpets.com)
However, according to a government report, the export of hand-knitted woolen carpet, the second largest foreign currency earning exportable commodity, declined by just over 3 percent.
Nepal exported 759,033 square meters of woollen carpet during the first half of the current fiscal year, against 834,485 square meters recorded during the same period of the last fiscal year.
“In value terms, the export totaled US$ 40.04 million during the period,” statistics of Carpet and Wool Development Board (CWDB) stated. Its export for the same period of the last fiscal year was recorded at US$ 41.31 million.
The decline was attributed by the concerned officials to the continued slump recorded in the key European markets including Germany, which is the largest consumer of Nepali hand-knitted woollen carpet, reports The Kathmandu Post daily.
The CWDB data shows that the commodity’s export to Germany plunged by about 16 percent in quantity and over 14 percent in value terms.
Nepal exported a total of 344,080 square meters of woollen carpet worth US$ 14.42 million to Germany in the first half of 2005/06. It had exported 407,892 square meters of carpet worth US$ 16.85 million during the same period last year.
Export to the US, the second largest market, also plummeted by 7 percent to 165,910 square meters during the period. Despite the decline, the export fetched 0.7 percent higher value. Nepal’s export to the US was valued at US$ 12.44 million, according to the CWDB statistics.
While export to Belgium increased by 11.8 percent in value terms and touched US$1.89 million, export to the UK increased marginally to US$ 1.88 million. The CWDB data further shows that export of woollen carpet to Turkey fell by over 20 percent to US$ 1.38 million. Subsequent to the decline in woollen carpet export, import of raw wool recorded over 29 percent decline in quantitative terms during the first half of the current fiscal year.
According to the wool import recommendation data of the CWDB, Nepal imported a total of 1,615 tons of raw wool during the period. Its import had totalled 2,288 tons during the same period of the last fiscal year.
In value terms, the import of raw wool declined by 33.53 percent and stood at US$ 4.63 million during the period as against the import value of US$ 6.97 million recorded during the same period of the last fiscal year.
One girl who was reported killed in the crossfire between security forces and the Maoists in Nepalgunj on Sunday was killed by the bullets of policemen, reports said.
Bhima Sunar, a policeman’s wife, living in a rented room near the District Police Office (DPO) had invited neighbour Mamata Barma, who was killed in the incident, to keep her company for the night, as the situation in the town was tense for the last couple of weeks.
Sunar, who was also injured in the firing said, “We were watching TV around 6 p.m., when policemen entered through the main gate, guns firing, and ordered us to open the door,” adding. “As soon as I opened the door, Mamata was hit by bullets.”
According to her, even as she was hiding her two children under a chair, policemen fired indiscriminately from outside.
When journalists and human rights activists reached the room on Monday morning, Sunar’s 5-year-old son Nabin, witness to the incident, showed them the bullet riddled door and a steel cupboard inside the room.
Security men in Nepalgunj have been using locals’ houses as cover during clashes. “It is against the Geneva Convention to use private houses or property, directly or indirectly, during warfare,” report quoted acting chief of regional office of National Human Rights Commission, Mohan Acharya.
However, Chief District Officer, Binod Adhikari, claimed that security men have been residing in locals’ houses for their safety.
Despite threats from Maoists and the call from seven political parties to socially boycott them, contestants for the mayoral posts in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City (LSMC) said they were unfazed by the rebel threats and risks in the run up to the municipal polls.
Speaking at a programme in Kathmandu on Monday, they said, “We have not been intimidated by the rumours being spread by the seven agitating parties that everybody was set to boycott the elections, neither do we fear the Maoist threat to life.”
Mayoral candidate of KMC Rajaram Shrestha said no one should bar people from exercising their right to vote.
“When the country is burning, it is our duty to douse the fire and not resort to unending bickering,” he added.
He further said the local bodies were not forums for engaging into petty politics but an important means to pursue local development and solve the problems faced by the local people.
“Those who have faith in democracy and the people should go to the polls.” He said that he wanted to develop KMC into a tourist destination so as to generate employment opportunities for the youths. Adding to the list of his agenda, he disclosed that he would work to set up hospitals and colleges in Kathmandu where the employees of KMC will obtain quality health care services and education free of cost and the city dwellers would receive the same at low cost.
Prachand Lal Shrestha, another mayoral candidate for KMC said he was vying for the polls to safeguard the fundamental rights of the people, which are enshrined in the constitution.
The development of health and education progarmmes and reform in the municipal administration topped his poll agenda, he said.
Prem Lal Maharjan, who is vying for the mayoral post in the LSMC, said that the local bodies should not remain vacant for a long time.
He said that he has no fear and is living at his own residence. “I am determined to contest in the municipal elections, as it is an integral part of democracy,” Maharjan said, adding that people, however, do have the right to boycott elections if they wish to.
Urmila Shrestha, who is contesting for mayor of Thimi Municipality, also expressed determination on vying for the post without any hesitation. “I am not interested in politics. I am contesting in the elections to serve the people,” Shrestha said.
She further said that she was contesting the polls in order to give momentum to development works at the local level.
Similarly, Madhu Shah, an independent candidate for the post of mayor in LSMC, said she had sought the cooperation from all in the poll as she had already served the society for more than two decades. “I will work for the welfare of the youths, women, the elderly and the needy,” she said.