Rights group calls for prompt action on involuntary disappearances

On the eve of the International Day of the Disappeared, the Advocacy Forum (AF), a prominent human rights group in Nepal, has reminded the government of its promise to disclose the whereabouts involuntarily disappeared people.

“The comprehensive Peace Accord signed between the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Communist Party of Nepal in November 2006, stated that the whereabouts of those who have disappeared would be made public within 60 days,” AF said in a statement Wednesday, adding, “Ten months have already passed but the Government has taken no meaningful initiatives in this direction.”

The rights group further said the government has failed to respect the rights of victims and the rights of their families. “These families deserve to know the truth. They also deserve justice and reparations,” it said, “AF denounces the Government for its failure to act and requests that the Government fulfill the promises it made to the people of Nepal in November 2006.”

Lack of political will to address the problem of disappearances and the lack of accountability are the major challenges families of disappeared persons and the human rights community face in their attempt to persuade the government to address these fundamental human rights violations, the rights group further said.

“Many writs lodged with the courts by families of disappeared persons have been quashed on the ground that there is no law to provide detailed procedural guidelines about the remedies the courts may provide in respect of these cases. Nevertheless, the continuous fight of the families of disappeared persons and the human rights community has led the Supreme Court of Nepal to voice its concern about the problem of disappearances in Nepal.”

Though there is no reliable record of involuntarily disappeared people, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said more than 850 people were forced-disappeared during the Maoist insurgency, especially after the mobilisation of the army in 2001. nepalnews.com mk Aug 29 07