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OHCHR may stay on for six more months
KATHMANDU, MAY 07 -
The ruling parties have tentatively agreed to extend the term of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal (OHCHR-N) for another six months. Its current term expires on June 9.
This will be the fifth term extension of the UN rights body since its establishment in 2005.
During a recent consultation with the ruling parties, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had hinted that the government would extend OHCHR’s term for another six months with revision in its current mandate. The UN body will assist and strengthen the National Human Rights Commission. However, its right to access to the archive of the judiciary, parliament and prisons would be curtailed.
OHCHR’s field offices will also be closed. Nepali Congress has asked the government to shut down the UN rights body’s four offices outside the Capital. “It is the decision of the Nepali Congress. I am waiting for the government response to it,” Richard Bennett, OHCHR-Nepal representative said at a press meeting on Friday. NC, unhappy over the government’s decision to extend UNMIN’s mandate, has directed its ministers to table a proposal to trim the OHCHR-N wings, said a government official. The upcoming Cabinet meeting is likely to take the decision in this regard. “The ruling parties have tentatively agreed to extend the term for another six months,” Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala told the Post on Friday evening.
“As instructed by the political leadership, we held talks and exchanged the proposal of the revised mandate with the UN body. We have urged the OHCHR to agree on the exit policy within its new mandate,” said a senior government official. Currently, OHCHR has sub-offices in Janakpur and Dhangadi and field offices in Nepalgunj and Biratnagar. The UN body has already endorsed its yearly budget before the term extension, while the UN headquarters has asked for a two-year extension.
Posted on: 2010-05-08 08:30
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