A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

2006 Nepal News: June – November

Reported by the Advocacy Project

August

Nepal's Dalits Demand Equal Voice

August 8, 2006, Kathmandu: In a statement before the UN Working Group on Minorities, Jagaran Media Center Program Manager Pratik Pande called for the UN to put pressure on the government of Nepal to ensure Dalits and other minorities equal representation in a new Nepal. The working group met for its 12th session from August 8 to 11. It is part of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which assists the new Human Rights Council.

 
Nepal Government, Maoists Reach Agreement

August 9, 2006, Kathmandu: The government of Nepal and the Maoists have agreed to lock up their weapons, restrict their troops to quarters and resume the peace talks that have been on the verge of collapse. The UN is expected to monitor both sides’ arms, as well as the elections to the Constituent Assembly next year. The Cease-fire Code of Conduct National Monitoring Committee recently reported 250 violations of the code of conduct (May 2006) against the government and the Maoists.
 

July

Advocacy Project Addresses Nepal Diaspora

July 7, 2006, Washington, DC: AP Director Iain Guest addressed a human rights panel at the annual meeting of the Association of the Nepalis in Americas (ANA) in Newark New Jersey on July 1, 2006. The audience expressed an interest in supporting civil society in Nepal, and requested more information. The Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), an AP partner, is reviewing different options.

 

Maoists Reject Nepal's Annual Budget

July 12, 2006, Kathmandu: The Maoists said they would not accept the 2006-2007 annual budget that was announced by the finance minister Wednesday. Maoist leader Dev Gurung said the budget was created without consulting the Maoists and violated the eight-point government-Maoist agreement reached in June.

 

Women Activists in Nepal Demand Citizenship Rights for All

July 14, 2006, Kathmandu: Women’s rights activists are demanding the new constitution include citizenship rights based on ancestry, not on whether the child’s father is known. Large numbers of minority women face daily problems without citizenship, including access to government jobs, migration and property rights. The all-male committee drafting the interim constitution has neglected its promise to include a woman and is scheduled to complete its work by early next week.

 

Nepal's Interim Constitution Committee Adds Four Women

July 18, 2006, Kathmandu: The previously all-male committee drafting the interim constitution has added nine new members, including four women. The committee also expects to add a Dalit. The government has extended the committee’s deadline to July 30.

 

Nepal Talks Delayed

July 21, 2006, Kathmandu: The second round of summit talks between the government of Nepal and the Maoists scheduled for Friday was postponed. The two major areas of disagreement are disarming the Maoists and forming an interim government. Leading civil society groups threatened to protest if talks were not held today.

The mood in Kathmandu has shifted to one of frustration. Read AP intern Nicole Cordeau’s blogs from Kathmandu.

 

Civil Society Protests Nepal Talks Delay

July 27, 2006, Kathmandu: Hundreds of activists held a peaceful sit-in protest Wednesday to demand the dissolution of parliament and a date for the Constituent Assembly elections. The protestors also called for action against senior army officers responsible for suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations. Similar protests took place in 30 districts.

Read Lori Tomoe Mizuno's blog on the protest.


June


UN Expected to Monitor Nepal Ceasefire

June 1, 2006, Kathmandu: The government of Nepal and the Maoists have asked the UN human rights monitoring mission to monitor the ceasefire. Peace talks began last Friday and produced a 25-point communiqué.

 

Civil Society Faces Challenges in New Nepal, Warns Expert

June 1, 2006, Washington, DC: Notwithstanding its central role in restoring democracy, Nepalese civil society is being excluded from the political process, according to Karon Cochran-Budhathoki, a leading member of the Defend Human Rights Movement in Nepal. Speaking at the US Institute of Peace, Ms Cochran-Budhathoki said that civil society needs to present a common position on transitional justice and prepare for monitoring elections to the new Constituent Assembly. This will require outside assistance, perhaps from international civil society, she said.

 

Maoist Rally Calls For King to Leave Nepal

June 2, 2006, Kathmandu: A Maoist rally today attracted 200,000 people in Kathmandu and called for King Gyanendra to leave the country. This poses a challenge to the political parties that favor a constitutional monarchy. The rally ended peacefully.

 

Nepalese Dalits Lose Education Funds

June 2, 2006, Kathmandu: Thirty Dalit students in Chitwan district have lost their scholarship money to non-Dalits, according to AP partner Jagaran Media Center. Area schools have also forced students to sign papers saying they received the scholarship in cash when they were given clothing and notebooks instead. For more information read JMC Bulletin 16

 

Nepal Talks to Continue

June 5, 2006, Kathmandu: The government and the Maoists have agreed to hold a second round of negotiations by next week, following a peaceful Maoist rally on June 2 that called for King Gyanendra to leave the country. The first round of talks on May 26 resulted in agreement on a 25-point code of conduct.

 

Nepal's Parliament Banishes Untouchability

June 5, 2006, Kathmandu: The Nepalese House of Representatives unanimously agreed to declare Nepal free from untouchability on Sunday. Mr. Narendra Bikram Nembang, the new minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, promised to introduce a bill to this effect as soon as the new constituent assembly is elected. This will give Nepal’s Dalit a legal basis for challenging discrimination that they have long demanded.

 

King's Ministers Free

June 5, 2006, Kathmandu: The government of Nepal has released three of the five former ministers who were arrested for suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations. The three are Ramesh Nath Pandey, Shris Shumsher Rana and Nikshya Shumsher Rana. The detention was criticized by human rights groups because the government jailed the ministers under the same security measures invoked by the king.

 

Nepal Maoists Threaten Return to Violence

June 9, 2006, Kathmandu: The Maoists have told the government of Nepal to immediately dissolve parliament and hold elections for a constituent assembly or risk a resumption of the war. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala called the demand “irrelevant.” This is the most serious threat to face the new government since the restoration of democracy and ceasefire.

 

Detained Nepal Maoists to be Released

June 11, 2006, Kathmandu: More than 350 Maoists will be released by the new government of Nepal. The decision is seen as a concession by the Council of Ministers. The Maoists were held under a controversial antiterrorism law established by the King, which allowed security forces to detain those with Maoist links for a year without trial.

 

Nepal Maoists Released

June 13, 2006, Kathmandu: More than 150 Maoist supporters were released from jail today. Another 160 rebels are expected to be freed soon. The men had been charged under the now obsolete antiterrorism law. All charges have been dropped, and the released men will be able to run for office as well as vote in the forthcoming elections.

 

Nepal Seeks UN Help to Monitor Human Rights

June 15, 2006, Kathmandu: The Maoists and government of Nepal agreed today to seek UN assistance in monitoring human rights. They also appointed a 31-member committee to monitor the November 25, 2005, 12-point understanding and the recent 25-point Ceasefire Code of Conduct. Point 12 of the 12-point understanding calls for perpetrators of human rights abuses to be brought to justice.

 

Civil Society Takes Issue with Nepal's Prime Minister Over King's Role

June 16, 2006, Kathmandu: Civil society in Nepal has reacted angrily to a statement by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala that King Gyanendra should retain his powers. Students burned effigies of the prime minister in protest. Suvash Kumar Darnal, Chairman of the Jagaran Media Center, said that in addition to establishing a republic, there must be land reform, affirmative action and free education. (AP/Reporting by Stacey Spivey and Nicole Cordeau in Nepal)

 

Nepal Maoists to Join New Government

June 16, 2006, Kathmandu: The Maoists and government of Nepal agreed today to dissolve parliament and form an interim government that would include the Maoists. The Maoists have agreed to relinquish control of their areas in the countryside once the interim government is in place. Constituent Assembly elections are also expected to take place before April 2007.

 

Army Vigilantes Continue to Cause Violence in Nepal Countryside

June 19, 2006, Kathmandu: The Asian Human Rights Commission has urged Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to disband vigilante groups that were set by the former Royal Nepalese Army to help combat the insurgency. Vigilantes recently killed the three-year-old son of a Maoist cadre in Kapilvastu district. (AP/Reporting by Stacey Spivey and Nicole Cordeau)

 

Women Activists in Nepal Arrested After Staging Sit-In Protest

June 19, 2006, Kathmandu: More than two dozen women activists were detained for three hours Sunday after they staged a sit-in protest in front of the Singha Durbar, the country’s main government offices. The women are demanding one-third representation in the interim government. They defied a restricted area and blocked a three-way intersection. The protest follows a decision Friday by the government and the Maoists that established an all male five-member committee to draft a new interim constitution. In May the government of Nepal had said that it would reserve 33 percent of all seats in government agencies and institutions for women. There are only two women on the newly-formed 31-member Ceasefire and Code of Conduct National Monitoring Committee and only one woman in the prime minister’s 20-member cabinet.

 

Women to Join Nepal Interim Constitution Committee

June 23, 2006, Kathmandu: According to the Jagaran Media Center, the all-male committee drafting the interim constitution has bowed to protests from women’s groups and decided to include a woman member. Urmila Aryal, the only woman in the prime minister’s cabinet, threatened to quit Tuesday if a woman was not invited onto the committee. Women’s rights groups protested outside political party offices every day this week. (AP/Reporting by Stacey Spivey and Nicole Cordeau)

 

Dalits Demand Say in Interim Constitution in Nepal

June 26, 2006, Kathmandu: Dalit advocates met on Sunday outside the Singha Durbar, the country’s main government offices, to demand representation on the interim constitution drafting committee. The protest was organized by the Ethnic NGO Federation. The committee began work Monday, and is expected to complete the interim constitution in 15 days.

 

U.S. Criticizes Maoists in Nepal

June 29, 2006, Kathmandu and Washington, DC: U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty accused Maoist rebels of killings while they are pledging commitment to the peace talks. Ambassador Moriarty warned the Maoists on Thursday to give up violence before joining the interim government or else Nepal would likely be ineligible for U.S. aid.

 

Nepal's Maoists Oppose International Monitors

June 30, 2006, Kathmandu: Despite expressing support for international supervision earlier this month, Nepal’s rebel chief Prachanda said Friday that Nepal does not need the UN to monitor disarmament of the Maoists or the government prior to the elections. Prachanda said he would step down once the interim government is formed and that the two armies should join under the same command. According to the UN, Maoists are responsible for at least nine deaths and several kidnappings since the ceasefire was implemented in May.