The army officer, who faces suspension order from the Kavre District Court for his alleged role in the extrajudicial killing, is returning from the UN peacekeeping mission in the central African country after the Department of Peacekeeping Operations reportedly expelled him from the duty last week.[break]
“He is leaving Chad tonight [Thursday night],” a highly-placed source informed about the matter told Republica on Wednesday. Basnet is arriving in Kathmandu on Friday.
A senior army official also confirmed that Major Basnet is returning. "There is possibility that he might leave Chad Thursday night [Nepal time]."
In New York, Alain Le Roy, the chief of the UN Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), said on Wednesday that Major Basnet was being repatriated within the “next 48 hours”. Talking to New York-based Inner City Press, Le Roy further said, “… that all the remains is to make the plane ticket.”
The United Nations said that Basnet was expelled from peacekeeping mission due to serious human rights violations charge against him.
“With regard to this specific case, due to the serious nature of the allegations against Major Niranjan Basnet, who was deployed as a member of the Nepalese contingent, a decision has been made to repatriate him immediately,” New York-based Inner City Press quoted Marie Okabe, the deputy spokesperson to the UN Secretary General, as saying to journalists on December 4.
The status of Basnet, the only serving co-accused in the murder, was unknown after the Kavre District Court order till Republica in its November 27 edition broke the news of Basnet serving the UN peacekeeping mission.
Maina´s case is one of the major human rights violations allegedly committed by the Nepal Army during the Maoist army conflict. National and international human rights community, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), have viewed the Maina case an emblematic case and have attached high importance accordingly.
Army sources told Repulica that Major Basnet was the commander of an army patrol team that had arrested the 15-year old girl in Kavre district in February 2004. Accordingly, an army court of inquiry had given clean cheat to Basnet though three other co-accused -- Boby Khatri, Sunil Prasad Adhikari and Amit Pun -- were punished. Basnet was nominated for the UN peacekeeping mission. He joined the Chad mission
Amidst questions over the UN vetting process in the aftermath of Basnet case, the UN has also denied its failure to see Basnet´s poor human rights record despite the fact that the case was raised by the OHCHR. The global human rights body has pointed its finger to Nepal for sending Basnet to its peacekeeping mission despite pending court order against him.
“DPKO vets all senior appointments to its missions. However, with more than 115,000 personnel currently in the field, it is impossible to vet each and every peacekeeper deployed. Therefore, the United Nations relies on its troop-and police-contributing countries -- which ultimately have the mandated responsibility for the good conduct, order and discipline of their forces -- to screen all contingent members nominated to take part in peacekeeping operations in accordance with international norms and standards,” Okabe said in New York, according to Inner City Press.
In the meantime, national and international pressure is mounting on the government and police to arrest Basnet as per the court order upon his return from Chad Friday. Global human rights watchdogs like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have already asked the government to produce Basnet before the Kavre District Court where the murder case is sub judice.
On Thursday, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) urged the government to demonstrate its commitment to ending impunity by arresting Major Basnet upon his return from Chad.
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