Rights groups alert ICC

March 9, 2005
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Over a dozen human rights and academic groups in Asia have alerted the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and its state parties to what they called “grave human rights violations in Nepal that could amount to crimes against humanity”.

The court, whose purpose is to prevent such serious offences, should do whatever it can to help stop and avert any mass rights violations, the groups said. Nepal is, however, yet to ratify the ICC convention.

The statement was issued in Bangkok Sunday after a regional meeting on the ICC campaign, according to IANS news agency.

On Monday, the Hong Kong-based AHRC sent a letter to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague, to urge him to initiate appropriate action over the situation in Nepal.

People in the Himalayan kingdom, particularly political leaders, lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders, face daily threats and dangers in Nepal, the statement said.

“If the ongoing violations are to continue on a mass scale, which is very likely, they may amount to crimes against humanity; the very purpose of the ICC is to prevent such crimes,” the rights groups warned.

The groups demanded that the government of Nepal and the Maoist insurgents put an immediate end to arbitrary detention, torture and extra-judicial killings. They also called on the United Nations to intervene with the relevant Nepali authorities before the country’s situation reached a “catastrophic level”.

“We specifically urge for a UN envoy to be permanently present within Nepal so as to facilitate the return to democracy, and that the UN appoint a special rapporteur to constantly monitor the human rights situation in Nepal,” they said.

The rights groups include the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), FORUM-ASIA in Thailand, the Asian Network for the International Crimin! al Court, the Bangladesh Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Odhikar from Bangladesh, the Cambodia Human Rights and Development Association, the East Timor People’s Action, the Women’s Research and Action Group in India, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy in Indonesia, Minbyun – Lawyers for a Democratic Society in South Korea and the Pakistan Coalition on the International Criminal Court, according to the news report.