National 3 (Spotlight Weekly)

Noble Initiative

The National Human Rights Commission unveils its guidelines for the Maoists urging them to abide by rights norms

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

In view of the increased incidents of rights abuses by the Maoists, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has unveiled its 13-point ‘minimum guidelines’ urging them to abide by the international humanitarian laws and human rights accord.

The Commission has asked the Maoists to form ‘command structure’ to ensure no extrajudicial killing, abduction, extortion, rape, murder or looting is carried out. The Commission had publicized the guidelines keeping in view the recent Maoist commitment to uphold Geneva Convention.

A bus shattered by explosion : Mindless destruction

This is the first time the NHRC has come out with a separate comprehensive guideline for the Maoists.

Of late, the Maoists have stepped up their violent activities killing scores of unarmed civilians, abducting thousands and restricting public movement. On May 30, the Maoists exploded a powerful bomb inside a passenger bus en route to western district of Baglung from Kathmandu killing one and injuring twenty others. In a statement the Maoists claimed they targeted the bus because it had plied during an earlier bandh (strike) called by them. Likewise, on May 27, a vehicle belonging to Annapurna Post daily ran into a landmine laid by the Maoists near Ghansikuwa VDC of Tanahun district in western Nepal. The explosion killed the driver Kanyaras Gurung and injured two others.

On May 9, the Maoists opened indiscriminate fire and hurled grenades at a civilian bus near Mainapokhari of Dolakha district in central Nepal killing seven civilians and eight security personnel. Moreover, fifteen civilians and six security personnel were injured in the incident. The security personnel had boarded the bus upon receiving the information that the Maoists had felled trees and obstructed the road near Charikot area of the district.

In another incident on May 20, a four-year-old kid died after a bomb hurled by the Maoists at a public place in Kohalpur chowk of Banke district in far-western Nepal exploded. Dipendra Thapa, 4, died on the spot whereas his elder brother Bijaya Thapa was seriously injured. On May 18, three persons including a school-kid was killed after a banner-bomb put up by the Maoists exploded.

Similarly, the Maoists have stepped up their abductions of teachers, students as well as common civilians. On the third week of May, they abducted hundreds of civilians from four villages in the eastern region of Kailali district of far western Nepal. Locals who managed to escape their clutches said after their arrival in Dhangadhi that hundreds of armed Maoists abducted people from Pahalmanpur, Udasipur, Masuriya and Gadariya villages. The Maoists took along with them people irrespective of their age, sex and the state of health for the party’s people’s marching program.

From east to west, the Maoists have engaged in a spree of abductions. In the last week of May, they abducted 200 people from mid-western district of Bajura and around 200 teachers from various villages of eastern district of Udayapur. The Maoists said they will release the teachers after five days. Consequently, about 70 schools of the area have closed down for the five days.

These apart, the frequent strikes, bandhs and blockades by the Maoists, too, have resulted in the restriction of movement of people and goods. The Maoists have, at times, even targeted the ambulances from plying in the road during their strikes. In Siraha district of south-eastern Nepal, Maoists hurled socket bomb at an ambulance of the district health office on May 20. The ambulance was returning to the district office after transporting a patient to a hospital in Janakpur city. During their three-day May 18-20 Nepal Bandh (general strike), the Maoists also exploded bombs damaging two taxis and a minibus in Kathmandu city.

“These incidents compel us to ponder whether the Maoist leadership has control over its cadres or not. While the Maoist leadership talks about abiding by the international humanitarian laws and Geneva Convention, the cadres are engaging in blatant acts or rights abuse,” said Sushil Pyakurel, a member of the NHRC.

Rights watchers say that the NHRC guideline could have been released at this juncture given the heightened activities of the Maoists. “Definitely, the increased Maoist activities could have pushed the commission to come up with the guidelines, which I think are most relevant,” said Dr. Gopal Krishna Shiwakoti, president of International Institute for Human Rights, Environment and Development (INHURED) – a Kathmandu-based rights organization.

“The Maoists, as non-state actor, cannot go on doing whatever they wish,” said Nayan Bahadur Khatri, chairman of the NHRC. The commission has asked the Maoists to respect people’s liberty of movement as well as women’s and children’s rights and see that children are not used in armed conflict. “They must ensure that no child under the age of 18 is recruited in their force under any circumstances,” states a provision of the guideline. The Commission has also asked the Maoists to respect educational institutions as zones of peace and refrain from indiscriminate use of landmines and ambushes.

“The minimum guidelines issued by the NHRC has two main objectives; one is to urge them to publicly accept and recognize the commission’s monitoring authority and another is to remind them to stick with their own commitment towards the international humanitarian laws and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention,” said Bipin Adhikari, a human rights lawyer, who is also associated with the NHRC.

According to Adhikari, the 13-point guidelines include provisions that should be followed by non-state actors. “Earlier, the commission used to issue press release deploring individual incidents. Through this guideline, we want to draw the attention of the Maoists to their comprehensive human rights responsibilities,” he added.

The commission has warned the Maoists that they could also face the International Criminal Court (ICC) in future if they fail to heed its recommendations. “Well, the commission has stated that the door to take the rights abusers to the ICC is open. Although Nepal has not yet ratified the Rome Statue of 1998 (which formed ICC), in future it will which will pave the way for such action,” said Dr. Shiwakoti.

The minimum guidelines by the NHRC comes at a time when the London-based Amnesty International (AI) in its Human Rights Report 2004 has termed that the situation of human rights in Nepal as being in a grave crisis stage. It has stated that due to conflict, rights abuses incidents like disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, child soldiers and so on have sky-rocketed in the country. “Nepal is currently in a human rights crisis status,” said Raju Sarkar, director of AI-Nepal.

Since the Maoist conflict started in February 1996, around 10,000 people have already lost their lives. Domestic as well as international human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized both Nepal government and the Maoists for the rights abuses across the country. In the Human Rights Yearbook 2004 – a comprehensive report prepared by Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), it is stated that during the year 2003 alone 646 people were killed by the Maoists and 1217 by the state.

“The observance of the guidelines will be a litmus-test for the Maoists to see whether they will observe them or not. If they claim to be a political entity, they cannot escape from the observance of international humanitarian laws and Geneva Convention,” said Dr. Shiwakoti.