A press statement issued by AI Secretariat, London on Tuesday, said that it stands by its human rights work in Nepal over the past year.
Nine officials of the AI Nepal chapter had tendered resignation and two former chairmen of the chapter --Krishna Pahadi and Krishna Kandel -- have decided to put in their papers arguing that AI mishandled both the issue of Adhikari and Raut and should correct the mistakes.However, AI has rejected their arguments. "Amnesty International is saddened by the resignation of nine board members of Amnesty International Nepal over the weekend, but stands by its human rights work in Nepal over the past year," stated AI in the press release.
"While respecting the opinion of the individuals and their right to disagree with Amnesty International, the organization refutes their accusations that our work on two particular cases in Nepal should have been handled differently," it said.
AI has stated that it is concerned with upholding the human rights of every individual, regardless of their political leanings. "With regard to the case of Madhesi activist CK Raut and his supporters, Amnesty International called on the Nepalese authorities to respect their rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention," clarified the AI secretariat. "This does not imply an endorsement of CK Raut's political opinions," the organization added.
The London-based organization said that it had expressed concerns about Nanda Prasad Adhikari through media campaigning activities and meetings with authorities. "Amnesty International has always supported the call for accountability for the killing of Nanda Prasad Adhikari's son Krishna, and for the thousands of other victims of Nepal's armed conflict," stated the AI.
In its annual report 2014/15, AI had mentioned Raut as a vocal proponent of independence for the Tarai and objected his arrests time and again. Citing the arrest, AI, then, had said that dissenting voices were at risk in Nepal. AI Nepal officials, who resigned objected on the very point with AI secretariat.
In January, some of the European Union envoys had also faced fierce criticism after having a meeting with Raut. The government had taken strong exception to their clandestine meetings with Raut in January. During a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, the envoys had said that they had met Raut on human rights ground and the meeting was in no way their endorsement of the campaign Raut was leading.
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