Issuing a statement in Geneva, chief of the UN rights body said that OHCHR has agreed to the government´s request to reduce its presence in Nepal through the closure of its field offices outside Kathmandu as soon as possible. [break]
According to the statement, the Nepal government has assured the OHCHR that it would continue to have its mandate to independently monitor and report on human rights situation in Nepal besides having full access to places of detention and interview detainees in private.
As per the agreement, the UN rights body will have access to all sectors of government and to obtain official documents as required.
Speaking at a press conference in Kathmandu, OHCHR-N chief Richard Bennett said that his office would start planning to phase out field offices from Friday.
He said that closure of the offices is likely to have an impact on human rights monitoring and promoting human rights outside Kathmandu. But he added that his office would monitor human rights in the field in a different way.
Meanwhile, the United States welcomed the agreement between the OHCHR and the government.
"There are few issues as fundamental for Nepal´s future as human rights. OHCHR plays an important role in promoting and protecting human rights by investigating allegations of abuses and working with the National Human Rights Commission and other Nepali human rights institutions," the US embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement.
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