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‘Make progress on peace or let UNMIN go’
- envoys-pm talks
KATHMANDU, MAR 30 -
Frustrated by the lack of progress in the peace process, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has said it is not bound to extend the term and mandate of UNMIN yet again—if the process continues to fail to deliver tangible results.
The Security Council has also asked Nepal government to take a quick call on the fate of UNMIN, whose term expires on May 25, according to government officials.
The UN concern was jointly conveyed on Tuesday by Kathmandu-based EU ambassadors and the US Deputy Chief of Mission to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal at a meeting.
“If the peace process cannot deliver tangible results and fails to make any progress, the UNSC will not grant another term extension to UNMIN,” the prime minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Rajan Bhattarai said after the meeting.
The envoys also asked the prime minister to inform the UN on time — if it does decide to extend UNMIN’s term.
“In response to the envoys’ concerns the prime minister said his government was trying its best to bring out the constitution before May 28,” Bhattarai said.
The envoys were also concerned about the fate of another Nepal-based UN body, OHCHR. They have reportedly asked the government to extend its term by another two years, allowing time for the peace process to complete and the new elections to take place. The current mandate and term of the UN rights body expires on June 9.
“As the human rights situation in the country is not good and the National Human Rights Commission still lacks competence, the envoys felt it was logical to extend OHCHR’s term until the new elections,” a senior government official, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said. “There were serious concerns about lack of progress in drafting the constitution within the deadline and consequences of failure.”
The envoys were of the opinion that OHCHR should be around to monitor the situation at least until the next elections.
The prime minister said the government was preparing an exit strategy for OHCHR. “We have concluded that OHCHR will get a reduced mandate though no decision has been taken on its term extension. Even when there was no OHCHR, there were other concerned groups that raised issues of human rights violations,” an official quoted the prime minister as responding. “The prime minister, however, hinted he was positive about extending OHCHR’s term with a reduced mandate.”
Posted on: 2010-03-31 07:46
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