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House committee asks govt to seal suspected burial site in Shivpuri

The parliamentary Human Rights and Social Justice Committee Saturday asked government authorities to seal off some areas inside Shivpuri National Park, which human rights organisations suspect were used by the army for cremation of people said to have disappeared from the Bhairabnath Battalion.

Following a meeting, the committee asked Ministry of Defence, Home Ministry and Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation to protect the sites marked by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), so that the no evidence gets obliterated.

The committee members also discussed the issue with NHRC member Gauri Pradhan and secretary at the Home Ministry Umesh Mainali.

Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who was summoned for clarification over the government’s position to the calls made by the rights bodies, remained absent.

During the discussion, Pradhan complained that the government had not sufficiently cooperated in protecting the marked sites in Shivpuri.

On Friday, a team of investigators marked some areas inside the forest. NHRC officials said they were coordinating with the OHCHR-Nepal for roping in forensic experts from abroad to help in the investigation.

NHRC officials, representatives of various human rights activists and kin of disappeared persons had combed through the dense forest on Wednesday, recovering materials like pieces of clothing, sacks, charred wood and plastic bags which could provide important lead to the fate of 49 Maoist cadres whose whereabouts remain unknown since their detention in Bhairabnath during the Maoist insurgency. nepalnews.com mk Dec 22 07