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Kathmandu Friday January 25, 2002 Magh 12, 2058.
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Govt probing reports of ‘innocents’
deaths
PM pledges new directives on emergency
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Jan 24: The government today gave a
slight hint that some innocents might have been killed in the security operations against
Maoist rebels since the emergency was declared two months ago.
Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka, speaking to
reporters today, said the government was investigating whether innocents had been killed
as is being reported from various quarters, mainly by human rights groups and leftist
political parties.
On a related front, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur
Deuba has also pledged to a parliamentary committee that the government would soon issue
new directives under Article 115(7) of the constitution on the "do’s and don’ts"
to the public for the duration of the emergency.
Home Minister Khadka, meanwhile, said that the
government was probing reports of innocent deaths. "We are trying to find out if the
reported deaths occurred during skirmishes or cross-firing. We are taking corrective
measures," said the Home Minister. However, he added that in the absence of any
concrete information, "it was but natural to be suspicious" about innocents
being killed.
Khadka was speaking after emerging from over two
hours of grilling in the parliamentary State Affairs Committee (SAC). This is the first
time a senior Cabinet minister has hinted that innocents might have been killed. The
government so far had refuted such claims, a point driven home again today by Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who also appeared before the committee today to testify.
According to SAC members, PM Deuba assured the
committee that the government would ensure that no human rights violations occur during
the emergency and that no innocent people killed. Reacting to the members concerns about
the reports of custodial deaths, Deuba said that the government had issued "strict
orders not to kill those who have been held".
He stressed that the civil administration was
"still alive" as it was only an emergency and not martial law, committee member
Pradip Gyawali of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) quoted the PM as
saying.
During the course of deliberations, the Prime
Minister revealed that the government had already allowed the Red Cross to inspect the
jails throughout the country.
Meanwhile, PM Deuba also announced to SAC today
that the government would "soon" issue directives under Article 115 (7) of the
Constitution, detailing the "do’s and don’ts" for the public for the
duration of the emergency. Committee members told The Kathmandu Post that Deuba also vowed
that directives would not bar political activities like gatherings and public meetings.
While testifying before the SAC, Home Minister
Khadka revealed that altogether 10,312 people have surrendered since the imposition of the
emergency, 5,136 were arrested out of which 2,834 were released after investigation, 1,039
were being prosecuted and 1,263 were in custody and nine were under house arrest. As far
as deaths were concerned, 200 Maoists, besides 14 army men and 17 policemen have lost
lives since the declaration of emergency, with losses touching Rs 80 million.
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