But the rights watchdog said that its investigation could not establish whether sub-standard food caused the deadly diarrhea and cholera. Diarrhea and cholera had claimed some four hundred lives past summer and affected thousands in Rukum, Rolpa and Jajarkot districts.
“It cannot be said that the food [distributed by WFP) was the only reason that caused diarrhea though the food (rice and pulses) were found polluted and reaching to the people as uneatable food,” NHRC said in a report released at a press conference on Wednesday.
NHRC carried out the investigation into the cause of diarrhea and cholera and the quality of the food after some NGOs blamed the WFP-ditributed food for the epidemic in the remote districts in the midwestern and farwestern regions in the country.
“It has been found that uneatable food was distributed in the epidemic-affected places, no matter whatsoever the reason of the outbreak of the epidemic was,” said NHRC Commissioner and Spokesperson Gauri Pradhan reading out the finding of the investigations.
But Heather Sutliff, communications officer at WFP who was also present at the press conference, said the investigation conducted by Natural Resources Institute in London, an international expert in quality assurance, has found WFP supplied food safe for human consumption. She further said on the basis of the investigation that there is no scientific evidence to support allegations that WFP food supplies contributed to the diarrhea outbreak in Nepal.
In the meantime, NHRC has recommended the government to form an independent judicial commission to investigate the cause of the cholera and diarrhea outbreak and the quality of the food distributed in the epidemic-hit areas.
“This case should be investigated independently and the guilty should be punished,” NHRC Chairman Kedar Nath Upadhyaya said.
The NHRC has also recommended the government to ensure monitoring of the food to be distributed by donors, including the WFP. It further said that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - GM food - might have been distributed in the affected areas though the distribution of such food is not allowed in Nepal.
“The government should investigate whether the food was GM food and make public the facts,” NHRC said in the 40-page report.
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