It was widely expected that Nepal’s conflict-time human rights violations would be addressed after the peace process began in November 2006. But, so far, there has been little progress made in this direction. A report on the state of impunity in Nepal prepared by the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum, a local human rights NGO, says that there has been minimal progress towards addressing conflict-time human rights violations.
In this context, myrepublica.com talked to Richard Bennett, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, on the overall human rights situation, state of impunity and OHCHR’s ongoing activities towards promoting human rights in Nepal.
Bennett, a New Zealander, has been serving as the Representative of OHCHR in Nepal since mid-August 2007. He has already worked in Afghanistan in the same capacity. In Afghanistan, he also worked as the Chief Human Rights Officer in the United Nations Mission. Besides, he has extensive experience in human rights protection. Bennett has served with the United Nations in senior human rights posts in complex operations in East Timor and Sierra Leone since 2000. He has also worked for many years with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Justice.
Excerpts:
Myrepublica.com: What are the ongoing activities of your office?
Richard Bennett: In addition to the protection focused OHCHR activities of the past, there are now four main areas of activities of my office. First, OHCHR has been working to strengthen the national human rights promotion and protection system, especially the national institutions and the civil society, including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Women Commission and the Dalit Commission.
Second, a theme of my office is to promote and support accountability and rule of law that addresses problems pertaining to impunity and the need for improved public security. Under this thematic activity, my office has been working on transitional justice mechanisms which is a very important part of the peace process. We are supporting the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction with TRC consultations through our Peace Through Justice project.
The third area of our work addresses issues of long standing discrimination, economic, social and cultural rights. In this respect, we look at marginalized communities including women, Dalits, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities and LGBTI people. Last but not least, my office has been supporting the constitution-drafting process of the country. In this regard, we are providing support both on the substance of the constitution on human rights and providing an assessment of best practices from other countries. We are also helping to take these discussions into local communities where we are supporting NHRC’s efforts to promote public participation in the process in particular.
Myrepublica.com: In your opinion, what are the major achievements of your office since its establishment in 2005?
Bennett: Well, at the beginning, a major achievement was the reduction of conflict-related human rights violations, such as disappearance, torture and arbitrary detention and I’m glad that the Government of Nepal acknowledged the impact of the OHCHR’s intervention. Second, our monitoring had a positive effective during the Jana Andolan of April 2006. We also carried out monitoring of the human rights situation at different times when there have been periods of strong demonstrations, including violence such as in Kapilvastu. My office made public a number of investigative reports, including those on violent incidents in Kapilvastu, conflict-related disappearances in Bardiya district, torture and disappearances at the Maharajgunj Barracks, incidents involving the UCPN-Maoist, the YCL and others. A major achievement has also been to raise the profile of marginalized groups in the context of human rights such as Dalits, Madhesi, women and indigenous people, groups of people with disabilities and LGBTI. These groups have gained confidence. We really wanted to promote their rights as part of the inclusiveness agenda of the government and in the constitution-making process. During the post conflict period, my office continues to monitor the human rights situation and support capacity-building programs in the country. Under our agreement with the NHRC, new cases of human rights violations are looked into by them.
There are commitments made by successive governments and prime ministers to protect human rights and to end impunity. But more needs to be done in practice. We do not see concrete evidence of a determination to bring about accountability.
Myrepublica.com: After the Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed, it was expected that Nepal would address conflict-time human rights issues. But little progress has been made in this regard.
Bennett: It is a big issue. There are challenges for the country: They are: To complete the peace process, write a new constitution, which will be the foundation of a new Nepal and third, it is also a challenge to respect human rights and to change the culture of impunity into a culture of accountability. This is proving very difficult and, as you said, not much progress has been made.
There are commitments made by successive governments and prime ministers to protect human rights and to end impunity. But more needs to be done in practice. We do not see concrete evidence of a determination to bring about accountability. We have seen some progress towards setting up a disappearance commission and a truth commission. We are working closely with the government, especially with the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry, providing support for consultations on the TRC and the draft legislation.
The Supreme Court has made a number of strong decisions that will help end impunity, end discrimination and provide access to economic, social and cultural rights. We are also engaging with the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force to ensure that these rules of law institutions respect human rights and are able to enforce the rule of law. We supported the development of human rights standing orders for the Nepal Police and a handbook on human rights for the APF.
But the fact remains that there hasn’t been a successful prosecution of a conflict-related case in a civilian court in. Quite frequently commissions of inquiry have been established to investigate incidents. As far as I know, the government has made none of these reports public. So, we do not know whether the recommendations have been implemented or even what they are. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement includes a lot of human rights commitments, both in relation to ending impunity and ending discrimination against marginalized groups and my office remains available to assist wherever appropriate.
Myrepublica.com: Recently, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum published a joint report painting a gloomy picture of impunity. Do you agree with the report?
Bennett: I think these NGOs are doing a good job. It is their role to monitor and report on the human rights situation. The role of OHCHR is complementary to theirs and our message is also that too little is being done to address impunity, to bring about accountability and to support the rule of law. It is regrettable that progress even in emblematic cases has not been made. And no one seems to be held accountable for failing to make progress on these cases and on implementing the rule of law.
Myrepublica.com: Who should be blamed for the little progress?
Bennett: I do not think it is my role to blame a person. Instead, I think my role is to point out what needs to be done and to encourage all the actors to achieve these goals. The current prime minister and government have made commitments, including in the UN General Assembly in September. The previous prime minister, who is also the UCPN (Maoist) leader, addressed the UN General Assembly in 2008 and made similar commitments to end impunity. So, all the major parties in Nepal have made commitments to end impunity and to promote and protect human rights but these commitments have to be translated into actions through some credible examples. The suspension of the Nepal Army officer charged in the Maina Sunar case, as directed by the courts, would be a good way to start. Similarly, the UCPN (Maoist) should cooperate with the Nepal Police investigations. In some cases, the leadership has already accepted responsibility. I think these are some steps that can be taken to send across the message that commitments will be translated into actions. They would also send a positive message to the victims that the government is actually doing something.
Myrepublica.com: You have already written separately to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal drawing their attention to some human rights violation cases. Has there been any progress at least in those cases?
Bennett: I think we received a fair hearing from the leadership of the government and the Maoists. They have continued to assure us that they are taking the concerns we raised seriously. We have offered our support and assistance. We would now like to witness real steps being taken. For example, it has been nearly one year since the release of OHCHR’s report on conflict-related disappearance in Bardiya district. That is more than enough time to consider the report and to start to responding to it. In my letter to the government, I also referred to the OHCHR’s investigation and report into arbitrary detention, torture and disappearance at the Maharajgunj barrack that we released in 2006 and called for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation. If a disappearance commission is established according to international standards, then that would go a long way. But the government should take action and not wait too long. Those incidents took place in 2003 and 2004 and none of the victims have been given any reason to be satisfied.
On the UCPN (Maoist) side, there are many things they should do. I included in my letter to the Maoist chairman not only conflict-related incidents but also more recent incidents. One of them is related to the killing of businessman Ram Hari Shrestha and another is the killing of journalist Birendra Sah. The point about these cases is that the UCPN (Maoist) has acknowledged its members are responsible. So, they now need to comply with the rule of law.
Myrepublica.com: There has been little progress in addressing impunity despite repeated commitments from successive governments and Maoists. How long should we wait to see these commitments implemented in practice?
Bennett: We accept these commitments in good faith. But, of course, if the commitment is made and accepted in good faith but there is no follow up, ultimately one must draw the conclusion that the commitment is less than genuine. We have not reached that point yet. But I think it is not the international community’s view that matters most; it is the ordinary people of Nepal who hear these commitments made and who fail to see any action. If commitments are not translated into actions, the trust of the citizens in the rule of law institutions will decrease further, which is not a good sign for Nepal or its peace process. On the other hand, if there are some positive examples, then the public will begin to believe that unlawful actions have consequences and someone is held accountable.
Myrepublica.com: According to your record, how many army personnel face human rights violation charge?
Bennett: I am reluctant to say how many because we do not know. There needs to be full investigations
[before reaching a conclusion in this regard]. We have undertaken human rights investigation into several incidents that involve serious crimes. There are numerous army personnel and in some cases police personnel who ought to be further investigated. We have even named a few because their names have been given to us many times by many different witnesses and there are records. But this is not a complete picture and the complete picture can be built up only through serious investigation and documentation, which has not been done yet.
Until those investigations have been completed, there will be a cloud of doubt hovering over the heads of many army personnel, some of whom may be innocent. For example, the entire Bhairavnath Battalion is suspected. There may be members of the Battalion who have nothing to do with human rights violations but unless there is proper investigation, we will not know who are responsible and who are not. So, in fact, a full investigation will also help to clear the names and reputation of those military officials who are not responsible.
Myrepublica.com: How many Maoists have poor human rights record?
Bennett: Again, a similar answer. We do not have the full picture. One reason is that we are not able to do full investigations without the Maoists’ cooperation either. We have not been able to interview all the relevant personnel and we have not conducted an investigation of all incidents during the conflict. So, it is difficult to say.
Myrepublica.com: Human rights organizations have started demanding that the Maoist combatants should be first cleared of their human rights violations charges before they are integrated into national security agencies. What is your stance on this?
Bennett: You might also check this with the representatives of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) since UNMIN has the mandate for discharge and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants. But our policy would be: No person who has committed human rights violations or serious crimes should join or remain in the national army.
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Here comes representative from the most incompetent organization to lecture Nepal, the third world nation about human rights. Well there is a conflict of interest. If there is peace in Nepal they (NGOs, INGOs, Career Diplomats) will lose their job. So do they really want peace in Nepal?
I hope the human rights abusers list starts in decreasing order of abuse, with the most severe abusers on the top. Of course the UN and Bennett will try to act in the reverse order. You lose your job if you start from the most serious of abusers, Prachanda, right? Unlike what the media makes out of it, the United Nations is one of the most corrupt dollor collecting agencies in this world. Everyone there is only trying to keep their lucrative jobs, including Bennet. Almost all people who go there
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Ritesh
"No person who has committed human rights violations or serious crimes should join or remain in the national army." That says it all. Hope it also includes politics, but in our case the saying would be "Only the person who has committed human rights violations or serious crimes should join or remain in the national politics."
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