The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal on Sunday clarified that its Nepal chief, Lena Sundh, didn’t offer to mediate for resolving the Terai crisis. The OHCHR said it had no mandate for mediation.

Lena Sundh

Lena Sundh (File Photo)
“In her meeting with journalists in Rajbiraj yesterday, Lena Sundh, Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, was asked why OHCHR had not accepted a request that it assist in getting talks started between the JTMM and the Government. The Representative responded that OHCHR had never received any such request,” a press statement issued by the OHCHR Nepal said.

The statement further said, “She also stressed that OHCHR did not have a mandate to mediate. Its mandate is human rights and that is where its competence lies.”

Within that mandate, OHCHR would continue to support co-operation between political parties and civil society which would help the protection of and respect for human rights, the UN rights body stated, adding, “If the United Nations were to be requested to assist political dialogue that would be a matter for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.”

Sundh had visited Siraha and Saptari districts on Saturday to assess the human rights scenario in Terai districts that saw unrest few weeks back. Over three dozen people had died and hundreds injured in violence during the protests organised by Terai groups.