Photo: Overlooking Kathmandu Valley from a Buddhist temple in the Nagarjun Forest
In many ways, the city of Kathmandu serves as metaphor for the political situation in Nepal: it is chaotic, disorderly, and polluted. But there’s also something captivating about it. Nepal has always attracted international visitors who come looking for adventure, enlightenment, or maybe both. Now, in equal measure, it is attracting international human rights activists who are attempting to help deal with the legacy of Nepal’s civil war that pitted the Maoists, political parties, and the monarchy (which was closely aligned with the army) against each other. The war, which lasted from 1996 until 2006, left about 13,000 people dead and many more disappeared and tortured. It also turned the world’s only Hindu kingdom into an officially secular democracy.
Since the war’s end, the political situation in Nepal could be categorized as anything but stable. And this is still the case. The most recent coalition government was formed by twenty-two parties. There are almost daily protests somewhere in the country – whether it is an ethnic group calling for autonomy or a political party frustrated with the lack of progress. Whenever influential groups are particularly upset or enraged, they call for bandhs, or strikes, which close all businesses, schools, and roads. Sometimes things turn violent. Regionally, Nepal plays hosts to thousands of Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees. About the only thing that can be relied upon with any certainty are the scheduled daily power cuts that occur because demand is greater than supply (twice each day there are two-hour cuts; this is much improved from several months ago when there was no power for up to eighteen hours each day).
Dealing with this situation and leading the human rights charge is Advocacy Forum (AF), a local NGO formed in 2001 with whom Marc and I are interning this summer. AF works to promote the rule of law, collects information on the human rights situation, represents victims of human rights violations, and uses international law to confront the culture of impunity. It is one of the most well-respected human rights organizations in Asia and its executive director, Nepali lawyer Mandira Sharma, has received Human Rights Watch’s annual prize.
For my part, I am working in the transitional justice department. Transitional justice (TJ) encompasses the processes and mechanisms through which a transitional society – one going from war or authoritarian government to peace and democracy - addresses past human rights violations. Mechanisms employed for this purpose might include truth commissions, reparation programs, prosecutions, and institutional reform. Like in many other situations, the needs of marginalized and minority communities are often overlooked in transitional justice programs. As such, I am writing a guide that will be used to teach human rights defenders about how to ensure that women victims receive justice during this transitional time.
Despite its lackluster legacy with respect to human rights and its current precarious political position, Nepal is a fascinating place – and a safe one to visit. Having been here for only a month, I can see why people for centuries have trekked here from around the world. And there is hope that with continued pressure from organizations like AF, Nepal will rid itself of a culture of impunity and truly respect the human rights of all people.
Photo: Durbar Sqaure, Patan
Marc Zemel:
The country seems to have changed quite a bit since I spent five months here in 2005. At that time, the king enjoyed absolute control with the pretense of fighting a Maoist insurgency that the democratic parties proved inept at controlling, cell phones were banned and the palace in Kathmandu was a forbidden fortress, symbolizing royal supremacy. Now, the monarchy is powerless, I have a mobile phone, the palace is a museum for all to enter and the Maoists are the largest party in the legislature. But the peace agreement signed in 2006 seems quite fragile. The Maoists’ arms are superficially locked up at UN supervised sites and the army is resistant to incorporate the Maoist fighters into its ranks (a provision of the peace agreement). There is also a deadline to draft a new constitution by May 2010, which seems unrealistic considering the difficulty with which the new government is appointing a cabinet and the fundamental disagreement regarding the powers of the Prime Minister. But only time will uncover the result of this struggle. Stranger things have happened.
As for my work, I am currently doing research on Human Rights Committee (the treaty body of the ICCPR) jurisprudence surrounding adequate compensation/reparations for enforced disappearances and drafting a letter to the Committee in response to the Nepali government’s interim relief offer in the first ever case brought before the Human Rights Committee from Nepal. Advocacy Forum represented the widow of a disappeared person who took the case to the Human Rights Committee after she failed to get reparation in Nepal. In response to this first “decision” (officially termed a “View” because of its non-binding nature) from the Committee in October 2008, the Nepali government offered a pitiful sum of money and a promise to have the case investigated by a special commission for disappearances which the government has failed to establish since promising it as part of the peace agreement of November 2006. I have also been working a bit on a project aiming to incorporate human rights into the Nepali police-training curriculum and compiling a summary report on police torture of children destined for the Special Rapporteur.
Photo: Tika stand outside Pashupatinath Temple
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