Miscellaneous
Campaign for ensuring conflict victims’ rights
Civil society groups Advocacy Forum, TRIAL and REDRESS have launched a joint campaign “Real Rights Now” to demand justice for conflict victims.Civil society groups Advocacy Forum, TRIAL and REDRESS have launched a joint campaign “Real Rights Now” to demand justice for conflict victims.
The joint campaign has been launched to mark the 10th year since the end of 10-year-long insurgency.
At least 16,000 people were killed, 1,400 disappeared, an estimated 20,000 were tortured and over 25,000 people were internally displaced during the decade-long armed insurgency launched by then CPN (Maoist) in 1996.
The armed conflict ended in 2006 after the Maoist party signed a peace deal and joined mainstream politics. But even after 10 years since the end of the insurgency, victims are still awaiting justice.
The campaign aims to provide the floor to the victims’ stories, highlighting their fight for truth and justice, which organisers hope will pressurise the government to act on UN Human Rights Committee’ decisions and acknowledge the victims’ rights and needs.
Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2006, the NGOs have filed 25 complaints at the UNHRC on behalf of Nepali victims, as the Nepali state did precious little to register their cases in the country.
The UNHRC has already decided on 11 cases so far. The UNHCR has decided disappearance cases of Surya Prasad Sharma, Yubaraj Giri, Mukunda Sedhai, Deb Bahadur Maharjan, Subhadra Chaulagain, Gyanendra Tripathi, Jit Man Basnet, Tej Bahadur Bhandari, Chakra Bahadur Katuwal, Ang Dorje Sherpa and Manau. Eight of them were disappeared.
The UN rights body has urged the Nepal government to carry out investigation into these cases.
As a member state, Nepal is obliged to keep its promises to protect and promote human rights by ensuring victims’ right to truth and justice.
Nepal is supposed to investigate extra-judicial arrests, torture and enforced disappearances and prosecute the perpetrators and compensate the victims. However, the government has said that it has communicated the UN message to respective family members.
“I had lost all hope of receiving justice,” said Yashoda Sharma, whose husband disappeared after he was arrested by the Nepal Army in 2002. “However, after I lodged my case with the UN Human Rights Committee, there was a glimmer of hope that I will get justice. The committee gave the decision I was expecting: it recommended that my husband be located within 180 days and family be compensated. But I am yet to get justice.”