A Day after the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its 233-page Nepal Conflict Report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) denounced the report which chronicles some 30,000 documents and cases of rights violations during the insurgency. MoFA believes the process of preparing and releasing the report is incompatible with international practice as no prior consent of the government was sought.
“Therefore, the government of Nepal strongly objects to the contents of the report,” the ministry said in a statement, which has raised doubts over the implementation of the report’s recommendations. The ministry had gone as far as officially inviting envoys of EU member countries and OHCHR officials to request them not to release the report.
That there were hundreds of cases of human rights violation from both the Maoists and the State during the insurgency period is indisputable. But there are apprehensions that the report has come at an inopportune time, just days after the integration of former Maoist combatants came to a close. There have also been questions over the integration process, with the breakaway faction of UCPN (Maoist) even terming it a sell-out. We agree that the recently-completed process was more a recruitment process rather than integration of two armies envisaged by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Be that as it may, we need to be mindful that integration was only one component of a multi-faceted peace process, which also envisioned establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission and the commission on enforced disappearances, which are yet to be set up. This would not be possible unless the country’s major political forces agree on power-sharing and constitution-making.
Though Nepal is still in transition, it has come a long way since the Maoists signed the 12-point understanding with the then Seven-Party Alliance, including NC and CPN-UML. From a feudal monarchical system to a federal democratic republic, Nepal is now on the verge of formulating a constitution that would ensure equal participation of people from all caste, ethnicity, gender and regions in state affairs. Yes, there have been difficulties in addressing contentious constitutional issues and people have been frustrated by their leaders. But things have definitely improved since the end of insurgency.
One cannot deny that the Maoists have contributed a lot to bring the nation to this point. But a lot also need to be done. It is no doubt frustrating to see political parties failing to come to consensual solutions to bring the peace process to a logical conclusion, but a one-sided report from a world rights body like OHCHR would certainly not help the process. We agree that justice must not be denied to conflict-era victims but healing old wounds is never easy.
Thus, we call upon both the United Nations and the Maoist-led government to refrain from further straining their relations. All stakeholders should instead focus on finding solutions to bail the country out of the current quagmire and build consensus on national government to hold fresh CA election. Only this will create an atmosphere for formation of the two vital commissions, which would ultimately help heal the wounds of conflict-era victims.
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