Human
Rights monitor
Nepal:
State of emergency deepens human rights crisis
Royal
takeover prompts fears for safety of critics
King
Gyanendra of Nepal dismissed the Government, assumed direct
power, and declared a nation-wide state of emergency.
This action plunges the country deeper into crisis and
puts the Nepalese people at even greater risk of gross
human rights abuses, said Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists
. Widespread human rights abuses have taken place during
the nine-year conflict in Nepal between government forces
and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) rebels.
Political
leaders have been placed under arrest and communications
links within Nepal and with the outside world have been
severed. All independent Nepali media have been closed
down and state owned radio announced that a number of
rights -- including freedom of movement and freedom of
assembly -- have been suspended.
"The
international community must make it immediately clear
to the King that by assuming power he is directly responsible
for protecting the people of Nepal and safeguarding their
fundamental human rights," the organisations said.
A number of countries, including India, have already expressed
concern at the situation.
The
organisations fear for the immediate safety of human rights
campaigners, political activists and members of the National
Human Rights Commission, who have recently faced increasing
harassment from both security forces and the CPN (Maoist).
The
organisations are urging the UN Commission on Human Rights
to appoint a Special Rapporteur to monitor the human rights
situation in Nepal when it meets in Geneva next month.
Basic
human rights must be fully protected even in times of
emergency. These include the right to life and the prohibition
of torture and ill treatment, as well as fundamental principles
of fair trial and freedom from arbitrary detention. The
organisations are concerned that the steps being taken
by the King and the army, as described above, have been
sweeping, arbitrary, and excessive.
Nepal's
last state of emergency in 2001-2002 led to an explosion
of serious human rights violations, including increased
extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary
detention, and a breakdown in the rule of law.
Today's
move comes just one week after the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, met King Gyanendra in
Nepal and strongly voiced her concerns over the unfolding
human rights crisis in Nepal. She noted a prevailing climate
of impunity for serious human rights abuses committed
by both the government and the CPN (Maoist)
Source:
Amnesty International.
