E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, DEC 05 -

Acting under pressure from other major political parties—the Nepali Congress (NC), the CPN-UML and the Madeshi Morcha—the UCPN (Maoist) has agreed to give a nod to the term extension of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal (OHCHR-N) for “one last time”.

In a meeting of the major political parties on Sunday, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal told the other leaders that his party supports the term extension for “one last time” to allow the UN rights body to wrap up operations here.

Though it was not clear whether the extension would be of three or six months, the decision will bar OHCHR-N from introducing new programmes.

“Earlier, Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai were vehemently against the term extension,” said Laxman Lal Karna of Nepal Sadbhawana Party. “However, during discussions today, the other major parties strongly objected to the idea of the OHCHR-N immediately withdrawing, urging that the UN rights body was needed until the peace process concludes.” Dahal responded positively after listening to the three parties, he said.

“We and friends from the UML have made it clear that we need the OHCHR’s help until the peace process concludes,” NC leader Minendra Rijal said. “We noted that the human rights situation in the country still needs to be improved.”

Maoists fear that the cases of rights violations that have surfaced in recent times could prove to be politically costly for them, Rijal added.

In his meeting with OHCHR-N chief Jyoti Sanghera on Friday, NC President Sushil Koirala assured her of his party’s support for the term extension.

Lauding the role played by the OHCHR-N in improving the human rights situation in Nepal, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently wrote a letter to PM Bhattarai, urging a year-long term extension for the UN body, according to a senior government official.

The government is also under intense pressure from the donor community, diplomatic missions, including the OHCHR’s head office in Geneva and human rights defenders to give the UN body another extension.

 “Our position on the term extension is very clear—the NHRC should be strengthened and the OHCHR needs a six-month extension to wrap up its mission,” said Milan Tuladhar, the Foreign Affairs Advisor to former PM Jhala Nath Khanal. Senior OHCHR officials from Geneva held talks with Khanal on Sunday and apprised him of the practical problems that the mission would face if it has to wrap up immediately, Tuladhar said.

The OHCHR-N, whose term expires on December 8, is lobbying for a one-year extension, arguing that its mandate is to stay until the next elections. It has already submitted its exit strategy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) as directed when its term was renewed in June.

Clause 9.1 of the Compressive Peace Accord of 2006, which states that “both the parties agree to give continuity to the task of monitoring of the human rights provisions mentioned in this agreement by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal,” is a major binding force for the political parties for the UN body’s repeated term extension, sources said.

Posted on: 2011-12-05 05:22

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