US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU591

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, NP, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: NEPALI PRIME MINISTER VOWS BETTER IMPLEMENTATION 
OF HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITMENTS 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 432 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  On March 26 Prime Minister Surya Bahadur 
Thapa issued a reaffirmation of the Government of Nepal's 
(GON) commitment to constitutional and international human 
rights standards.  Among the numerous obligations the Prime 
Minister says the GON commits to fulfil are the right to 
habeas corpus and provisions to safeguard detainees under the 
Geneva Convention.  The statement also calls for increased 
"external" assistance to the National Human Rights Commission 
(NHRC) but stops short of accepting a separate UN Human 
Rights Commission office in country.  The GON released the 
statement as part of an effort to turn off a possible 
resolution on the human rights situation in Nepal at the 60th 
Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.  We 
welcome the GON's reiteration of its human rights 
obligations, and will press the GON to follow up this 
enunciation with enforcement.  End summary. 
 
2.  (U)  As indicated Ref A, on March 26 Prime Minister Surya 
Bahadur Thapa issued a public reaffirmation of Government of 
Nepal (GON) human rights commitments affirmed both in Nepal's 
own Constitution and in various international treaties and 
agreements.  (Note:  A draft of the statement has been faxed 
to SA/INS.  End note.)  In part, the statement commits the 
GON to issue "immediate instructions . . . to implement . . . 
the provisions of the Geneva Conventions"; to pursue steps 
"to prevent illegal or arbitrary detention and forced 
disappearances"; to instruct its agencies to honor writs of 
habeas corpus; and to ensure free and fair trials for 
suspects "within a reasonable period of time in accordance 
with law."  In addition, the GON will "continue to provide 
cooperation to the ICRC, including access to all places of 
detention."  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will 
be empowered to investigate violations, inspect prisons, move 
freely throughout the country, and set up a "monitoring body 
to determine whether human rights commitments are being 
respected and to verify any violations."  The GON will seek 
"substantial external asssistance, including through the UN" 
to develop the NHRC and will establish a Human Rights 
Protection Committee "to facilitate human rights monitoring 
and investigations by the NHRC and to help implement its 
recommendations." (Note:  What authority, if any, the 
Committee will exercise over the security forces was not 
outlined.  End note.) 
 
3.  (U)  On March 26 EU Heads of Mission issued a press 
release cautiously welcoming the PM's statement as "a 
much-needed first step" but emphasizing the need for the GON 
to give the NHRC "sufficient national and international 
technical, financial and logistical support" and to ensure 
"full cooperation of all State institutions to allow (the 
NHRC) to perform its task."  Absent such enforcement 
mechanisms, the PM's statement may be of "limited practical 
value to the people of Nepal," the EU release warns.  The 
last paragraph of the EU statement contained an 
uncharacteristically strong condemnation of recent Maoist 
atrocities. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Comment:  The GON prepared and issued this 
statement in an effort to defuse a possible resolution on 
Nepal's human rights situation at the 60th Session of the UN 
Commission on Human Rights (Reftel).  Its release is 
tantamount to an acknowledgement of persistent human rights 
lapses, and should thus be recognized as a positive step 
forward.  But a reiteration of long-standing human rights 
commitments is not in and of itself terribly reassuring.  The 
GON will have to follow up its pledge soon with some 
indication of how these commitments will now be enforced. 
Creation of yet another "high-level committee" to replicate 
the work of the existing NHRC will do little to improve the 
situation unless the committee has real authority or 
influence over the security forces.  We will continue to 
press the GON to demonstrate it has the political will to 
enforce its pronouncements. 
MALINOWSKI