End the strikes

It is a good thing that the Home Ministry has forwarded a proposal that will include public utility corporations in the category of vital services. This was a move long overdue and it is to be hoped that the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs will not take too long to grant approval.

The ongoing strike at state owned corporations and banks which started last week has inconvenienced the people greatly. Strike at all state owned banks has paralysed most economic activities, in fact, brought them to a grinding halt resulting in loss that can be put at millions of rupees. If this is to continue, the country could be pushed into the brink. Apart from this, the impact of strikes at other service related government corporations such as Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) and a host of other public utilities on every day life cannot be estimated.

The apparent reason behind the strike is that while the new pay scale has increased salaries, it has done away with all other allowances and perks. In a number of these corporations, these allowances comprise a fat chunk of the take-home-packet. Hence, the discontent and strike notwithstanding the fact that corporation employees were already enjoying much better salaries than employees in other government sectors. The government, which ought to have acted promptly was too preoccupied with the political struggle within the ruling party.

Still, the move to ban strikes in service sectors like power supply, communication and banking must be endorsed mainly because the employees of this sector have no right whatsoever to hold the government to ransom and in the process, to make the lives of the people miserable.

The government must resolve this problem immediately. How can the economy run smoothly if Nepal Rastra Bank which holds most of the money in the country is closed indefinitely on account of a strike. It is indeed absurd that the government should have taken five days to make a move to even do something about the strike. It seems that the Home Minister is not too keen about negotiating with strikers to resolve the problem since there has been no indication of this. One thing is however clear; whether the government chooses to come down heavily on striking corporation and bank employees or negotiates with them, the strikes must end at once. And to this end, the government better act before the situation deteriorates any further.

Nepal and UN peacekeeping : Then and now

Not surprisingly, Nepal's positive contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping efforts has been recognized, among other things, by appointing a high-ranking Royal Nepalese Army official to head an UN Mission in Cyprus and repeated requests from the Secretary-General of the United Nations for providing both troops and police from Nepal whenever new missions are deployed. The latest of such mission was when Nepal dispatched a few military observers to the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE ). Since 1958, Nepal has been contributing towards the maintenance of international peace and security by responding to the call of the United Nations to provide peacekeepers. She first sent a few military personnel in Lebanon as observers.

Nepalese peacekeepers have been deployed in Lebanon most of the time and in greater numbers. In Lebanon, the current strength of Nepalese troops is 750 approximately. It won't be an exaggeration to mention here that Nepal's name is almost synonymous with UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). Following the passage of UN Security Council resolution 425 in 1978 that led to the deployment of UNIFIL, Nepalese Battalion has been shouldering peacekeeping duties in South Lebanon continuously save for a short interruption in the early 1980s due to unavoidable circumstances.

UN peacekeepers from Nepal have been immensely popular in the area of deployment of the UN mission , an outstanding example of which is the latest decision of UN authorities to deploy Nepalese troops along the Lebanese-Israeli border in the area from where Israeli forces withdrew in May 2000. Not unexpectedly, these peacekeepers have been welcomed by the local populace in South Lebanon which should create conducive environment to fulfil the UN mandate successfully.

Any discussion of Nepal's contributions to the cause of global peace and security in the context of involvement in UN peacekeeping cannot in all fairness be made comprehensively without having reference to the participation of our police in UN CivPol activities, which , however, started since early 1990s only. Though a late starter, Nepal police has its history of dispatching quite a sizeable member of its personnel to various UN missions like UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Force) and UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia), among others, their strength was a little bit curtailed in the last few years, the reasons for which are varied . Nonetheless, Nepal police is increasingly involved in a number of UN missions especially in the African continent where they were hardly deployed until last year.

There are police officers surving with United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) who have been deployed by the United Nations as police trainers. Previously, Nepalese police personnel had the experience of providing their services as civilian police monitors. It should not be construed that currently Nepal police personnel are not civilian monitors , the latest batch of whom is serving with United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as monitors. In East Timor some police officers have served from the beginning of the UN's involvement in the UN territory when they were dispatched even before the holding of UN-conducted referendum in August 1999. The latest available statistics supplied by the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operation (UNDPKO) suggest the increasing trend of Nepal's participation in UN peacekeeping. This fact is substantiated by the high number of troops, military observers and police.

The participation has been more diversified. Royal Nepalese Army officers now serve as many as three missions in Africa alone, those being UNAMSIL (UN Mission in Sierra Leone), MONUC (UN Mission in Congo), and UNMEE (UN Mission in Ethiopia Eritrea). Notwithstanding the above reality, a few constraints seem to obstruct our sincere pursuit to enhance Nepal's participation in UN peacekeeping both quantitatively and qualitatively .

One of these is the non availability of UN funds to pay reimbursements to Nepal as a troop contributing nation in time. Little wonder that UN will continue facing this paucity of financial resources unless the rich developed country pays its peacekeeping arrears in full., on time and without conditions. This scenario presents a clear paradox of a situation where poor, developing troops contributing nations are unfairly made to bear the brunt of UN peacekeeping deficit budget which is not their making.

Additionally, UN has been asking member states willing to contribute troops and police personnel to multidimensional missions like UNMIK, UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) and UNAMSIL to come on a self-sustained basis. Self-sustainment requires on the part of contributing nations to supply not only man power but all needed equipment including armoured personal carriers, transport vehicles and communication sets etc. For a developing country like Nepal this criteria has proved obstructive in her sincere desire to keep making contributions to UN peacekeeping by providing trained and qualified military and police personnel. To avoid the situation of a marginalised country, we should make every effort to explore the possibilities of loaning equipment needed in a specific UN mission from the desirous supplier. UN members may agree to provide such equipment on the basis of an agreement entered into between the supplier and recipient troop contributing nation. In view of worldwide recognition Nepal has been given because of her active participation in UN peacekeeping , such endeavours are worth-undertaking and must be made with all earnestness.

Mister Simple among the smugglers

By Sajag Rana

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's assertion that parliament has been "invaded by smugglers" is less surprising than the fact that it took him ten long donkeys' ears to make this discovery. No doubt, it's always better late than never. But for once, it became difficult to disagree with the bunch of Girija apologists who know him as a very saral maanchhey.

Sure, they ought to know him better. Besides, there is also something in this "Simple Man" theory. Tanakpur demonstrated tons of the 'simple' in him. Thank God Mr Simple did not make any blunder the size of Tanakpur in his recent visit to India, though it must have been simplicity that made him get himself under the Indian vehicle deal. Mr Simple was only trying to make Nepali businessmen less SAD. Better sad than embarrassed. He was too simple to think of this.

Push a simple man against the wall and turn the tables on him and do you know how he will respond ? In a simple way. To make a simple reading of his statement that smugglers had invaded parliament, let us ask a few simple questions that might help a simple harassed man to defend his words. For example, if we begin by asking why as party president, Koirala gave tickets to contest elections to smugglers, we may end up with a complicated answer that sees Mr Simple as not really that simple. But readings of simple men must be simple. So this piece does not take up complex variables such as the probability that he could have, with simple honest arithmetical calculations, weighed the contributions of smugglers and who knows, even rewarded some of them with ministries.

If we take the 'Simple Man' theory to its logical conclusion in relation to Girija's statement we will arrive at the conclusion that his allegation was in fact a moment of epiphany for him, a moment of satori. It was a moment that transformed the simple leader into an enlightened one. Just the other day, he made another enlightened statement: the open border is the main factor responsible for the deteriorating politics in the country. This can indeed be seen as an upalabdi (fruitful gain) from his pilgrimage to the Mecca for Nepali politicians. Prior to that, he was simply too simple to know.

Another proof of the 'simple' is that only the simplest man would stick out his neck at a time when almost every one-from old adversary Bhattarai and adversaries such as Sher Bahadur Deuba and Khum Bahadur Khadka plus the gang led by Leader of the Opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal-is waiting to take a swipe at the saral maanchhey amidst a bevy of 'smugglers'.

It's certainly difficult to resist temptation, especially when it is the prime minister's neck that is inviting the swipe. At the extreme end of far-fetchedness, an MP has, with adroit logical fallacy, concluded: since parliament is 'invaded' by smugglers and since Girija is MP and also PM, he is the chief of the smugglers. Why not create the post of Prime Smuggler instead of Prime Minister ? While most MPs who made a statement on Girija's statement were indignant, the more sensible ones demanded he point out the smugglers to show that he is not Don Girija. Besides, we can't have a prime minister who knows which smugglers have invaded parliament but refuses to tell. See, his simpleness has trapped him into not only revealing names but also proving his allegation. The simple man will probably find a simple way out of it. He will probably explain, clarify, qualify his statement or apologise.

A sizeable chunk of the silent majority/minority are still silent. Most of them are silent out of habit. They have nothing to say. Not even when they are called smugglers. Some of them are silent because of allegiance to Don Girija. Yet some MPs are silent because Girija has shut them up for good. They stand in fear of their names being revealed. The most conspicuous, most eloquent and at the same time perhaps most meaningful silence this time around, has been that of Khum Bahadur Khadka's.

Seen in simple terms, these problems are not really problems. Of course, ignoring variables such as human fallibility, it simply takes a simple man with a simple mind doing things in a simple sort of way to tackle these simple things. But now that Girija has become enlightened, he is no more Mr Simple like Lokendra Bahadur Chand is no more Mr. Clean, it is therefore doubtful he will be able to rid parliament of smugglers.

Prison management : Time to act

By Madhu P Regmi

The issue of prison management is ever talked abut but never implemented agenda in Nepal. The biggest irony is that political leaders of the time, who spent their youth in the dark rooms of prisons, remain indifferent towards improving conditions in prisons.

Most prisons of Nepal lack the bare minimum essential physical facilities. The rooms are overcrowded and not properly ventilated. Many prisons have to accommodate more inmates than capacity. The walls and roofs are cracked and there is lack of drinking water and sewerage facilities.

Most prisons are situated at urban centres and this creates disturbance for both inmates and general public. In many prisons, inmates with infectious diseases are placed with general prisoners. Similarly, juvenile delinquents and dependent children are also kept with adult prisoners. This is likely to have an adverse impact.

Inmates do not get proper health care and medicines. Radio, television and newspapers are luxury items for them. Sports and other physical activities are not available. Moral and value based education for prisoners has not got proper attention. In this situation, prison management has become a nightmare. No doubt, prisons are often considered of little benefit to society. That is why prison reform has received least priority.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal has considered protection of human rights as its basic feature. But abuse of human rights is frequent in most prisons. Overcrowding, unhygienic conditions, lack of proper food and medical care, the spread of infectious diseases and deaths in custody, violence and corruption are common.

Apart from this, a majority of inmates are awaiting trial. The Report of the Bhandari Task Force, 2053 stipulates that the ratio of inmates awaiting trial and those sentenced for jail is 60 percent and 40 percent respectively. This is how the human rights of prisoners are violated. There must be fair trial under due process of law. The Muluki Ain clearly stipulates that the court should furnish its verdict within the time stipulated by it. At the same time, Section 18 (4) of the Prison Act, 2019 B S directs the Chief Judge of the Appellate Court to inspect and keep himself informed about inmates in the prisons under his jurisdiction. The Act also provides for freeing a prisoner, if he has been imprisoned for more than the time period specified by the law. But such provisions have seldom been exercised.

Consequently, the notion of Justice delayed, justice denied has become a rule rather than an exception. To worsen the situation, the legal provisions regarding compensation are also not very effective. Many inmates have very little or no access to adequate legal assistance. This is another instance of Human Rights violation.

Another aspect is that imprisonment is taken as attempt to deal with the problem of drug abuse in society. This has contributed to the increase in the number of prisoners dramatically. In the same way, insane persons are also imprisoned. It is a well-known fact that drug addicts and insane people are not criminals. Their problems are social and psychological. Drug abuse is better dealt with inside the social welfare care system rather than the criminal justice system when there is no violence involved. But imprisonment is taken as an easy way to get rid of such problems.

Imprisonment is the last resort to punish criminals. A great number of offenders who are at present detained in custody are likely to be dealt with in the community. There are several ways to improve the conduct of accused persons that are widely adopted now a days. Probation, parole etc are such ways through which the accused persons are allowed to live in an open environment to improve their conduct. But they are seldom adopted in Nepal.

The situation has further deteriorated due to a grave imbalance between the crime and the punishment. Nepal lacks a fair system in which the penalty is determined according to the crime committed. Hence, in most cases, penalties depend on the discretion of judges.

All these facts clearly unveil that prisons in Nepal are not functioning as reform houses. Rather, they are torture houses. This is in no way conducive to the principles of penal reform. It is well accepted that the environment of the prisons should be such that the offenders can improve their character and attitude and can rehabilitate themselves as moral citizens in society. Prison management should also endeavour to enhance entrepreneurship among detainees so that they will no more become a liability to society once they are released. But all these things have remained a distant dream in our context.

Probably, it was for the first time in 2005 BS that a Prison Reform Commission was constituted under the convenorship of late Subarna Shumsher. Since then, Nepal has witnessed at least nine such commissions and task forces for the same purpose. But, on the contrary, the condition in prisons continues to deteriorate. At this point it must be said that our political leaders must understand that penal reform is also an essential part of good governance.

Various studies have mentioned that the political leadership lacks commitment to significantly improve the criminal justice system and the conditions of prisons in Nepal. Take for example, the Bhandari Task Force which repeatedly speaks of the lack of political will as a major impediment to improving the conditions of prisons. The situation is further worsened in the absence of a committed bureaucratic team.

There is need to create awareness among policy makers and people in general that penal reform cannot proceed without changes in the criminal justice system as a whole and that crime prevention in civil society is essential for the success of penal reform. Enrichment of the formal judicial system with informal and locally based dispute resolution mechanisms which meet basic human rights standards should also be considered as an essential part of the penal reform agenda. Similarly, there should be insistence that the court use imprisonment as an exception rather than a first option. It should always be kept in mind that detainees are human beings in the first place. Hence, there should be respect for their human rights in the criminal justice system. The state should make all efforts to ensure that everyone, especially the poor and marginalised, has equal access to the justice system.

The prisoners of good conduct should be left on probation and parole. Rehabilitation centres should also be promoted to be developed them as a productive manpower. Dependent children should be provided with education opportunities. The provisions of remission should be made more objective.

Finally, the human dignity of prisoners must be respected. Prisons cannot remain beyond our social structure. However unpopular they may be, prisons are must in order to keep our social and moral norms and values intact and maintain law and order in society. It is the ideal of penal reform, which aims not only to penalise the criminal, but also to make his conduct socially acceptable and morally appreciable. For this, prisons should become reform houses instead of torture houses.