Security Break Down
The UN rights agency points at breakdown of security system during the Gaur carnage last month.
By A CORRESPONDENT
In its findings based on field investigations, the OHCHR-Nepal has stated that most, if not all, of the killings in Gaur could have been prevented.
The UN human rights agency has stated that the incidents highlighted the weaknesses of law enforcement agencies who, aware of the potential for clashes and other violence, were grossly ill-prepared to ensure effective crowd control.
“The Nepal Police (NP) and the APF failed to prevent the violence from happening by persuading the organizers to move or postpone the rallies. They failed to stop the violence when it broke out. They failed to protect those who came under attack, and they failed to carry out any arrests. The mechanism to coordinate security and law and order, the district security committee chaired by the Chief District Officer, broke down and failed to function on the day of the rallies,” it states.
A prime obligation of the State is to carry out immediate and thorough investigations into killings. “To date, no First Information Report has been filed for these killings and to OHCHR’s knowledge criminal investigations into the killings have yet to be launched. The high-level commission of inquiry set up by the Government had not, as of 19 April traveled to Gaur to begin its investigations. While this commission is important, its work cannot in any way substitute for criminal investigations and prosecutions to bring those responsible to justice. Any investigations must look not only into individual perpetrators, but whether the violence and killings were pre-planned and by whom, as well as any omission by the State authorities.”
The incidents in Gaur emphasized once more the need to fundamentally strengthen and reform law enforcement, it states. OHCHR has noted that on 2 April, the Home Minister announced that local authorities and security forces had received instructions to use all means available within the law to deal with armed groups and acts of violence which disturb peace and security, particularly in the context of the elections. However, OHCHR believes that additional immediate measures need to be taken in the short term to enable the State to guarantee security, protect life, freedom of assembly and expression in the context of the peace and electoral process.
The report is the culmination of more than 170 interviews by OHCHR teams in and around Gaur and in Kathmandu with eye witnesses, human rights defenders, journalists, medical personnel, government officials, security forces personnel, CPN-M cadres, political party members, representatives of the MPRF (Madheshi Janadhikar Forum), the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) (Jwala Singh faction), detainees in police custody, and others.
The 27 individuals, most of them linked to the CPN-M, who died on 21 March were killed in a brutal manner. The report, however, states that it did not find women were raped before they were killed – as reported by some rights activists.
“Many reports have claimed that some or all of the five female victims were raped and/or sexually mutilated before being killed. In the course of its many interviews with witnesses and others, OHCHR found no evidence of rape or sexual mutilation. According to medical experts, there were no external signs of rape on any of the female victims. OHCHR is concerned that the public diffusion of such allegations without proper verification only served to augment the anguish of the victims’ relatives,” the report states.
