National 2 (Spotlight Weekly)

Probe Pledge

An international conference on the plight of persons missing during armed conflict has a direct bearing on the current situation in Nepal

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Just as an international conference organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was under way in Geneva last week to discuss the plight of millions of families bearing the pain of their members missing during armed conflicts, Nepalese families going through similar grief had some respite, with a senior government minister promising to form a judicial commission to probe the "disappearances".

"Once the process of the peace talks with Maoists kicks off, the government will form a judicial commission to probe into the cases of disappearances," said Narayan Singh Pun, Minister for Works and Physical Planning and the chief government negotiator in the impending government-Maoist talks. He said the government has already instructed district-level authorities to give details about those in the list of missing. "Only after we get the reports from the districts can we be in a position to make any statement regarding the missing persons," he said.

Pun's promise has been welcomed by human rights activists as well as families of the victims. They have called for full implementation of his promise without undue delay.

The government's decision to form a judicial commission is also in keeping with the demand by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, whose recent report stated, "The Special Rapporteur was disturbed by the large number of cases of alleged disappearances brought to her attention by several sources in Nepal. She recommends that a judicial inquiry at the level of the Supreme Court be set up as a matter of priority to investigate current and past cases of disappearances."

"The pain of having someone missing in your family with no knowledge whatsoever whether he or she is dead or alive is unbearable and can be felt only by the dear ones," wailed Ekraj Bhandari, whose son Bipin has been missing since last June.

"Since that day in June, I have not heard from my son. It is true that my son was involved in political activities in his college, but I believe the state should have initiated legal action against him and not make him disappear. My only concern is that he should not be killed," said Ekraj Bhandari. A legal practitioner, Bhandari has already knocked the doors of every organ of the government, judiciary, human rights organizations, Amnesty International, foreign diplomats and other agencies requesting them to put pressure on the government to make his son's whereabouts public - but to no avail.

Udaya Rai's son, too, has been missing for the last eight months. The Bhandaris and Rais are only two among scores of families who are bearing similar grief as a consequence of the escalation in the armed conflict in the country.

"A disturbing pattern of 'disappearances' and long-term unacknowledged detention in the context of the 'people's war' has emerged. Between 1998 and mid-2001 Amnesty International recorded more than 130 'disappearances'. During the state of emergency between late November 2001 and late August 2002, Amnesty International recorded 66 cases of 'disappearances'. It is suspected that many of those recently reported as 'disappeared' may still be alive in government custody. Others are feared to have been killed in custody and their bodies disposed of in secret," Amnesty International's Report on Nepal 2002 states.

According to the report, among those reported "disappeared" since November 2001, eight are women and six are children. There are 11 farmers and 15 students among them. The highest number of "disappearances" (29) has been reported from the mid-western district of Banke. The government, on the other hand, has been denying that it is responsible for such disappearances.

Amnesty International has so far submitted 199 cases of "disappearances" reported in the context of the "people's war" to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), 108 of which were communicated to the Government of Nepal by late 2001. According to the report of the WGEID to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2002, there were 87 outstanding cases; only three cases had been clarified on the basis of information provided by the government.

Startled rights activists, too, have been speaking against the rising cases of ìdisappearances". "We have seen that the state upon knowing that it may not get a favorable verdict from the court of law, has resorted to either killing the detainees in the extra-judicial manner in the name of encounter or simply making them 'disappear'," said a rights activist. He called on the Maoists as well as government to include this kind of rights abuse in the agenda of their forthcoming peace talks.

The pattern of "disappearances", however, is not unique to Nepal. In many countries around the world engulfed in internal conflict, the cases of "disappearances" have been rising. At the last week's Geneva conference, some 350 experts from about 90 countries gathered in a bid to draw attention to the largely forgotten plight of thousands of families around the world who simply do not know what has happened to a loved one. Rights activist Subodh Raj Pyakurel and member of National Human Rights Commission Dr. Gauri Shankar Lal Das are participating in the conference from Nepal.

The ICRC hopes that the event will revitalize efforts to find out what has happened to missing persons. One aim is to provide practical guidelines for preventing disappearances in the first place. The experts will discuss procedures used by states and organizations and will look for ways to meet the material, legal and psychological needs of the families.

"We are driven in our efforts by the clear awareness gained over the years and all around the world of how desperate the families of missing persons are when they are unable to find out what has happened to their relatives," said ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger. "I call on governments and everyone else involved to take urgent and effective steps to spare other families from enduring this pain."

According to an ICRC press release, no one knows how many people around the world are missing owing to armed conflict and internal violence. "In the twentieth century alone there were millions of cases. These include more than 22,000 people still unaccounted for in the former Yugoslavia, over 100,000 in Rwanda, and reportedly more than 6,000 in Peru. In many countries, families have been waiting for years and even decades for news of their loved ones."

As the plight of families of missing persons continue to deteriorate, all concerned should give adequate attention to bring succor to them and prevent the repetition of such inhuman tragedy in future.

Prayers For Peace

Hundreds of expatriates in Kathmandu took to a silent vigil to pray for peace in the world. Around 500 foreign nationals, including Americans, Australians, Britons and Canadians, took part in the silent peace vigil at the revered Bouddhanath Stupa in the evening of February 23.

As a show of their concern over the growing threat of war in Iraq, they lighted 50,000 traditional oil lamps making the symbol of Mandala in the premises of the Bouddhanath Stupa, an ancient Tibetan Buddhist Shrine.

Lord Buddha, who was born in Lumbini, Nepal, is regarded as the champion of peace all over the world. By choosing the shrine of Buddha, the participants gave a highly symbolic gesture for peace in the world.

"This Buddhist stupa was chosen for the vigil as it is an easily recognizable symbol of peace in Nepal and around the world," Lisa Choegyal, organizer of the protest was quoted in newspapers. "We want to send a strong message to the world that even in this relatively remote Himalayan Kingdom, we are concerned about peace an the welfare of the people in Iraq."

The peace vigil in Kathmandu comes a week after massive protests in various cities around the world.