The United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal has renewed its call to the leadership of the CPN (Maoist) to state publicly and to all its cadres that it is against its policy to harm unarmed civilians, including electoral candidates, in violation of their right to life and physical integrity.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Representative of the UN OHCHR in Nepal, Ian Marin, said, “I regret that the Maoist leadership has been silent since I urged them to condemn the killing of Bijay Lal Das in Janakpur on 22 January. This silence calls into question the commitment expressed by Party Chairman Prachanda that physical action against unarmed individuals had been halted, and the assurance given to me recently that this would apply to candidates and officials in the municipal elections.”

Representative of the UN OHCHR in Nepal Ian Marin (File Photo)

Representative of the UN OHCHR in Nepal Ian Marin (File Photo)
In addition to the killing of Mr. Das, OHCHR-Nepal immediately requested information from the CPN (M) about the abduction on 25 January of Ram Kumar Tharu, prospective mayoral candidate in Gulariya, Bardiya District; no response has yet been received. “OHCHR-Nepal condemns the shooting of Dal Bahadur Rai, deputy mayoral candidate in Lalitpur, on Monday. It calls for the CPN (M) to state whether its cadres were responsible in each of these cases, which have occurred in the context of several threatening statements by local CPN (M) representatives, including the 28 January press statement by Prabhakiran on behalf of the CPN (M)’s Valley Bureau threatening “the most serious consequences” to those filing candidacy or participating in the elections, the statement said.

“The response of the CPN (Maoist) leadership to my request for clarification will be an indication of their commitment to respect international human rights and humanitarian law”, Ian Martin added.

OHCHR-Nepal also deplores all other violence or threats of violence against candidates aimed at coercing them to withdraw, or not withdraw, from the electoral process, the statement added.