E-Paper
Nepal criticised for human rights record
The Human Rights Watch has criticised Nepal government for its refusal to seek any foreign mediation on insurgency.
The Human Rights Watch has criticised Nepal government for its refusal to seek any foreign mediation on insurgency and also for the human rights conditions prevalent in the country.
"The government of Nepal has refused any international or foreign mediation of the civil war against the Maoists and resisted strong pressure to allow a joint national and international commission to monitor human rights conditions in the country," the report said.
According to the watchdog in its World Report 2005, the most significant international actors in Nepal are India, the US, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
"Whereas India has opposed a larger international monitoring or mediation role in Nepal, the US has continued its policy of refusing to negotiate with Maoist organisations and has cast them as enemies in the war on terror," it said.
The UK has continued its long tradition of military cooperation with Nepal — a relationship strengthened by the recruitment of Nepali Gurkha soldiers into the UK military, the report said.
The European Union has issued a demarche to the Nepali government urging it to take the deteriorating human rights situation seriously, it said.
Gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault and trafficking into forced labour and forced prostitution, remains pervasive and deeply entrenched in the country despite some positive legislative changes, it added.
