Top Stories»
UN rejects NA plea to okay peacekeeping training centre
KATHMANDU, JUL 16 -
Nepal’s participation in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions has hit a new hurdle. The UN has rejected Nepal Army’s (NA) request to renew the recognition of its UN peacekeeping training centre at Paanchkhal in Kavre district.
The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) took the decision on the grounds of human rights violations, including in the Paanchkhal centre, an official at the UN Headquarters in New York told the Post.
Paanchkhal centre is the only institution in Nepal authorised by the UN to impart pre-mission trainings to NA soldiers.
Though it already had UN recognition, NA applied for a renewal of the centre as per new requirements outlined in the latest UN Peacekeeping Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) Stan-dards, which ask each troop-contributing country “to receive a new official UN training recognition for their military and/or police PDT courses.”
However, NA Spok-esman Ramindra Chhetri said, “NA had written to the UN for recognition of the Pre-Deployment Training, and not the training centre. We are yet to receive a response.”
Sources told the Post that the decision follows the Army’s “failure” to address impunity over the murder of a teenager Maina Sunuwar, who allegedly died due to torture while in detention at the Paanchkhal centre.
“If this is what it is, the UN has given a strong message that it does not compromise on human rights issues,” said a rights defender based in Kathmandu. “Though it does not mean that Nepal is barred from joining peace missions, it will create problems for the NA.”
Earlier in December 2009, the DPKO had expelled Maj. Niranjan Basnet from a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad after confirming that he was accused in the Sunuwar murder case.
According to UN rules, the DPKO takes such decisions only after making a thorough “review” to find out whether the troop-contributing institution meets the latest UN PDT Standards.
The standards state that each request—new or old—shall be addressed through a process that involves six steps, including “desk review”, and “on-site course assessment”.
The review, according to the UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines, takes human rights issues seriously.
It says that no personnel with tainted rights record can join the missions. To ensure this, the country is asked to go through a human rights vetting of all Army personnel during the PDT. Since it started in 1958, a total of 70,757 personnel have participated in 34 UN missions across the globe.
Posted on: 2010-07-17 09:19
Headlines
Advertisements
