Nepal Army still protecting killers: UN

Friday, December 22, 2006

http://www.indiaenews.com/nepal/20061222/33354.htm

The United Nations' human rights office in Kathmandu Thursday said Nepal's army was still protecting soldiers and officers guilty of gross abuse and torture, leading to death of detainees, covering up such incidents and refusing to share details with it or police.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Thursday released the results of its investigation into the death of a 15-year-old girl that had become a cause celebre two years ago, with international rights bodies and foreign governments appealing to Nepal for justice in the case.

In February 2004, soldiers of the then Royal Nepalese Army raped and killed a woman, alleging she was a Maoist guerrilla and when the murder was witnessed by another woman, raided the latter's house to stop her from speaking out.

However, since the eyewitness was not at home during the raid, soldiers arrested her daughter, 15-year-old schoolgirl Maina Sunuwar, and took her away to an army peace operations training centre.

Later, when Maina's relatives went to the army barracks soldiers denied any knowledge of the arrest.

Much later, the army claimed she had been killed while trying to escape.

But investigations by Amnesty International, the army itself and now, the OHCHR, found the teenager was severely tortured in the presence of seven army personnel with electric shocks administered to her hands and feet, then left blindfolded and foaming at the mouth to die without medical treatment.

When mounting international condemnation forced the army to 'investigate' the death, an internal inquiry found three officers only guilty of negligence and let them off with a light sentence.

The OHCHR said 'justice has not been done' and the army was sheltering guilty personnel, not only in Maina's case, but in several other incidents.

'The horrifying details of Maina Sunuwar's torture and death suggest that the army's refusal to provide such documentation directly to OHCHR was part of an attempt to cover up the gravity of the abuses.'

Saying that the results of the court martial were 'wholly inadequate' and instead of deterring future criminal acts by the security forces would likely encourage such abuses, the UN agency is asking for an exhumation and re-opening of the case.

It is also asking for abuses to be tried in civilian courts instead of military tribunals that are not transparent.

The credibility of the multi-party, 'democratic' government and the army, that claims to have reformed itself, remains linked to Maina's murder, the UN rights body said.

'There is still an opportunity for the government to demonstrate to the Nepali people and the international community that it is serious about ending impunity by holding human rights violators accountable for their actions.

'The Chief of Army Staff has given his assurance to OHCHR-Nepal that he is committed to cooperating with the Nepal Police in this matter. It is essential that he fulfil this commitment and that the authorities ensure that justice finally take its course in the Maina Sunuwar case, and that other cases of serious human rights abuses will not be similarly blocked from the civilian courts.' It said

The UN report comes close on the heels of another investigation by a team of parliamentarians that found the army behind the death of a popular communist MP, Hem Narayan Yadav.

However, the army has not taken action against those found guilty of the killing by the investigation, saying it was just an allegation and that they were conducting their own investigation.

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