KATHMANDU, SEPT 25: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal (OHCHR-N) has asked the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) to instruct its members, including Kali Bahadur Kham, to surrender before authorities and fully cooperate with ongoing investigations by authorities into their alleged responsibility for human rights abuses.
In a letter addressed to UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the UN rights body has also expressed its concerns over lack of progress in investigations into killings of Ram Hari Shrestha, Birendra Sah, Arjun Lama and the deadly June 2005 bus bombing in Madi, Chitwan. The letter was sent to Dahal on July 24 but was made public on Friday, when the Dashain holidays have already begun.
“These cases are among those for which there is substantial evidence of Maoist responsibility and that OHCHR following closely,” OHCHR-N said in a statement on Friday.
UCPN-M cadres were allegedly held responsible for the murder of businessman Shretha inside the Third Division of the Maoist combatants on 27 April 2008. The police have not arrested Kham as the Maoists have not cooperated with the police for Kham´s arrest.
Similarly, journalist Sah was murdered on October 5, 2007 in Bara and four Maoist cadres were accused in the case. But none of them have been yet arrested due to pressure from Maoists. Lama was killed on 29 April, 2005 allegedly by Maoists but the accused in the case have not yet been arrested. Among the accused in the case include Maoist Constituent Assembly member Agni Sapkota.
The Madi bombing is one of the major human rights violations of the conflict time committee by the Maoists. Altogether 39 people were arrested and 72 other wounded when Maoist blew off a passenger bus in Madi, Chitwan district. Though the Maoists have owned the responsibility, the identified perpetrators are yet to be brought to be justice.
“The Chairperson [Dahal] and other senior Maoists leaders have made repeated commitments to OHCHR that they would fully support efforts to hold human rights abusers accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, they have yet to make good on those commitments,” OHCHR-N Chief Richard Bennett said in the statement.
Bennett also said asked the government to direct police to aggressively pursue these cases. “Nepal Police have, for its part, has showed little willingness to pursue these cases citing lack of cooperation by the UCPN-M as a major obstacle,” OHCHR said in the statement while expressing slow progress in the investigation into these human rights abuse cases.
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