KATHMANDU, Dec 10: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the government is committed to respecting human rights and that non-state actors also should show equal respect for such rights.
Speaking at a function organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday, PM Oli alleged that the political parties involved in the ongoing protests are not showing respect for human rights principles. Though he did not mention the Madhes movement, he indicated it and criticized the incidents of violence during the protests.
"Eight policemen were killed recently simply because they were in the service to the state. Such incidents of human rights violation in the name of protests launched by organized groups or other people are increasing in number," said PM Oli.
"The attack on the NHRC monitoring team proves that the organized groups do not respect human rights principles. The attack took place only because they wanted to hide the rights violations that they have been committing," he added.
Prime Minister Oli also said that his government is committed to ending impunity and would take action against the perpetrators in cases of human rights violation by state actors.
"I assure NHRC and the international community that the government is fully committed to respecting human rights. If any state actors are proved guilty in cases of human rights violation, legal action will be taken to end the impunity," he said.
"However, no one should argue that policemen should accept death rather than act in self-defense when some organized groups attack them with weapons and petrol bombs," he added.
At the function organized to mark the 67th International Human Rights Day, NHRC Chairman Anup Raj Sharma said that the human rights situation has deteriorated despite the country having endorsed a new constitution.
"The country has now endorsed a new constitution that envisages sustainable development, good governance, development and prosperity through a federal democratic republican governance system. Yet the pervasive transitional problems linger and this poses a huge challenge for the country," said Sharma.
"Following the promulgation of the new constitution, the worsening humanitarian crisis and deteriorating human rights situation remain unaddressed still, given the difficulties lying ahead due to the blockade at the Indo-Nepal border," he added.
Sharma urged the government and political parties to play a positive role and make sincere efforts to bring such difficulties to an end.
"The commission has publicized the status report upon conducting monitoring and investigations on the incidents before and after the promulgation of the new constitution. I would also like to remind you all that the commission has drawn the attention of the national and international communities, the agitating parties and the government toward the current situation of the country, including the burgeoning humanitarian crisis that Nepali citizens are facing," he said.
"The life of the general public is extremely hard due to the shortage of fuel following the agitation in the Tarai-Madhes and the cold weather. In this regard and sensing responsibility toward addressing the problem of the earthquake-affected, the commission has been monitoring the emerging human rights violations and abuses by establishing human rights mobile camps in the 14 districts most badly affected by the massive earthquake," said Sharma.
"The commission has also drawn the attention of all concerned toward expediting legislation for setting up the National Reconstruction Authority," he added.
At thefunction, NHRC awarded the Dayaram Pariyar Human Rights Defender Awards to Bidya Laxmi Rajbhandari of Bhaktapur and Matrika Prasad Devkota of the NGO Koshish, which has been working in the field of mental health.
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