Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 9 – Nain Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), today said that the NCHR would be studying the events of the three-month-long emergency period. He also urged the government to call off the emergency as soon as possible.

The Chairman said that the country’s politics was responsible for the present crisis situation. “What the country needs now is peace based on justice,” Khatri added.

He was speaking at a talk programme on “Human Rights for Peace” organized by the NGO, Save the World, on the eve of the International Human Rights Day. The world has been observing December 10 as the International Human Rights Day every year since 1948.

On the activities of the NCHR, the Chairman said that his office is trying to its best to be independent and better managed.

Another speaker at the function, a justice of the Supreme Court, Laxman Prasad Aryal, said that the Nepali Constitution has ample provisions for guaranteeing human rights, but they have not yet been put into practise.

“Now is the time to practise rather than theorise about human rights,” said the Justice.

Aryal also lauded the judiciary and the press for being the only organs involved in promoting and preserving democracy in the country.

In his remarks, Sudip Pathak, Chairman of Nepal Human Rights Association, said that despite Nepal having signed 19 international human rights charters showing its commitment to human rights, none of them have been implemented.

Pathak blamed the Maoists for breaking away from the four-month cease-fire and resuming violence. “The Maoists are responsible for the state of emergency,” he said. He also made a plea to the Maoists to lay down their arms and get to the talks table.

Speaking on behalf of the organiser, Shiva Shrestha, Chairman of Save the World, said that his NGO will continue to work towards making civil society aware of human rights.