Rights Activists have expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s passivity to take action over the report publicized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal.
A press statement issued by three former members of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Sushil Pyakurel, Kapil Shrestha, Dr. Gauri Shankar Lal Das said the recently published report by the OHCHR is also an exemplar of how the illegal activities increased in the security bodies after the king Gyanendra seized absolute power after sacking an elected government on 4th October 2002.
“It is however surprising to see how the present government formed in the spirit of bringing “democracy (Loktantra)” under the leadership of Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and other political parties in and outside the House of Representatives has remained quiet on the issue of the disappearance of those 49 people from the same place when the CPN (Maoists) and the SPA have both shown commitment towards human rights in their 12-point understanding,” the statement added.
The report published by OHCHR said that 49 people were illegally disappeared from the custody of the then Royal Nepalese Army.
“The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had already received the information regarding such activities involving illegal detention by the Bhairabnath Battalion based in Maharajgunj under the 10th Brigade during our tenure. At that time, when the commission had tried to investigate regarding the issue, the members of the commission were criticized as being ‘anti-army’,” the statement further said.
The statement also urged the government to immediately suspend the then commander of the 10th Brigade- Colonel Raju Basnet- along with the Chief of Army Staff, Director General of the Army mobilization department and the Director of the army intelligence department who were fully aware of these activities.
They also appealed the government to form a reliable mechanism immediately so as to investigate those 49 missing individuals and other cases of disappearances as cited by the OHCHR.