New Delhi
19 April 2006
Within hours of landing at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International
Airport by a Jet Airways flight, Special Envoy Dr Karan Singh was on Wednesday
afternoon closeted with Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala. He was to
continue the political consultations with Nepali Congress (Democratic) President Sher
Bhadur Deuba and others through the evening.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and India's Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shanker
Mukherjee accompanied Dr Karan Singh to the meetings. Mr Saran, who is a former
ambassador to Nepal, reached the capital of the Himalayan kingdom earlier in the day
on a Druk Air flight from Bhutan where he had had an audience with King Jigme Singye
Wangchuck as part of the regular bilateral consultations.
Nepalese media reports quoted Dr Singh as saying, "I am not an astrologer, I am a
politician .... I hope some solution will come out after I meet the King tomorrow."
(Incidentally, Opposition parties have called for a huge demonstration in Kathmandu on
Thursday.) For his part, he said he was "optimistic" about the talks. "I came here with
India's good wishes to the Nepalese people," Dr Singh added for good measure.
While in New Delhi, Dr Karan Singh told this newspaper that he would not want to
speculate about the likely solutions to the crisis in Nepal. He said he was not going with
any readymade solution but would only attempt to facilitate a solution. He was
categorical though that the Maoists would need to be involved "in due course" but not
before the Nepalese political parties have got their act together.
"First the political parties have to restart the process with certain credibility," he
elaborated. "It is important that the drift into chaos is halted quickly. India is committed
to parliamentary democracy and would want to facilitate entente."
As the political parties gear up for Thuesday's showdown, the representative of the
Kathmandu-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Mr
Ian Martin, has criticised the security forces for the "excessive use of force" against
demonstrators and questioned the "arbitrary detention" of politicians and pro-democracy
activists alike.
"[We] observed a pattern of severe beatings by police of individuals after they have
been brought under control and when they pose no physical or other threat. Police have
been seen attacking bystanders, charging into houses, engaging in indiscriminate
beatings and causing some gratuitous damage to property. Women and children have
been among the many victims," Mr Martin told this newspaper.
"We have seen over three thousand arrests in the past 10 days, with many hundreds
being admitted to hospital for treatment of injuries suffered at the hands of the police.
[We] have witnessed police firing rubber bullets into crowds of demonstrators, as well as
police using lathi (long sticks) charges, often aiming at the head and sometimes causing
serious injury. In some cases police have charged peaceful demonstrations," he said.
The UN official said the OHCHR has prepared an analysis of the human rights situation
in Nepal, which will be considered by the new Human Rights Council. It would release
another report soon detailing its "major concerns about the conduct of both the RNA
(Royal Nepalese Army) and the armed fighters of the CPN (Maoist) since the end of the
unilateral ceasefire in January." The report, Mr Martin observed, would show that both
the RNA and the armed wing of the CPN (Maoist) were in breach of their legal obligations.
In Geneva, where the Swiss Government hosted a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the
human rights situation in Nepal, three organisations -- Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists -- sought "targeted sanctions"
against the monarchy so that King Gyanendra and his senior officials and top military
officers are refused entry to other countries and have any personal assets outside the
country frozen.
The organisations said the sanctions should target those directly responsible for setting
or implementing abusive policies, including King Gyanendra; his deputy the Vice
Chairman of the Council of Ministers Tulsi Giri; his Home Minister Kamal Thapa; his
Justice Minister Niranjan Thapa; and his Information Minister Srish Shamsher Rana.
"The sanctions should also cover top security officers such as Chief of Army Staff
General Pyar Jung Thapa, Inspector General of Police Shyam Bhakta Thapa and the
Inspector General of the Armed Police Force Shahabir Thapa," they said, adding that
"foreign militaries, particularly in India, the United States and United Kingdom, should
make it clear that they will not have normal dealings with the Royal Nepalese Army until
there is a dramatic improvement in its human rights record."
The organisations urged the major donors like India to work together to implement the
sanctions immediately.
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