Activists Cite Flaws In Nepal's Peace Deal

Pact Called Weak On Rights Issues

Human rights activists on Wednesday welcomed an agreement designed to end a 10-year war between the government of Nepal and Maoist rebels but said it failed to ensure that perpetrators of abuses underlying the conflict would pay for their crimes.

Mandira Sharma, a leading human rights advocate from Nepal, said the country was "moving in the right direction" by consolidating a cease-fire agreement with the new accord and committing to dialogue. But from a human rights perspective, she said, the agreement "is weak."

"It mentions a truth commission but does not give a time frame," said Sharma, who is currently touring the United States. "The approach and mind-set is to move forward. The government thinks if we start delving into all the extrajudicial killings and disappearances, that will hamper the peace process."

Nepal's civil war has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths. Peace negotiations began seven months ago after an uprising by civil society groups, which ended King Gyanendra's autocratic rule.

The king's Royal Nepalese Army is accused of killing noncombatants, torturing prisoners and illegally detaining more than 1,200 people, according to Human Rights Watch. The Maoists, in turn, have publicly executed people they deemed enemies, tortured individuals suspected of treason and forcibly recruited thousands of child soldiers.

Many of the children never return to their families. "All the parents can do is escape with the rest of the children. The big test is for the Maoists to stop recruiting and start releasing some of these kids," said Sam Zarifi, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, adding that the accord did not address the issue.

Sharma praised plans for an interim government that could include insurgent representatives and preparations for the election of a constitutional assembly what would decide the fate of Gyanendra, who handed over power to Nepal's political parties.

Sharma, a lawyer, in 2001 helped to establish the Advocacy Forum, a nongovernmental organization that defends the rights of civilians caught in the brutal war.

"Not a single case has been prosecuted," she said. "Police say we don't register complaints because we don't have clear instructions from the leadership. Well-trained forensic teams with technical support are ready to help the police in their investigations, but the army has not given them access."

She added: "You can see there is a culture of impunity. Without addressing this, we cannot move forward."

Sharma described the case of Maina Sunuwar, a 15-year-old who was dragged out of her bed by government troops Feb. 17, 2004, and held in a cowshed after her mother witnessed the killing of two young girls in her village of Kavre. The teenager was raped and moved to an army barracks. Her father searched for her but was told she was dead.

In June 2004, Sharma met a female prisoner who had been transferred with Maina to Nepal's central prison. The woman said the teenager had been tortured but was still alive. In October 2005, the army said Maina had been found dead in the barracks. Family and human rights groups demanded an investigation, but no one has been prosecuted.

"Where is the body? Where are the perpetrators?" Sharma asked.

Zarifi said the peace pact called for several commissions but has no clear strategy for dealing with the past. "The agreement is very carefully crafted to talk about reconciliation, not justice. There is no mention of actual accountability," he said.

"Nepal has had a whole series of commissions that identified perpetrators. They have not been punished, and when the king took over, he brought them all into his government," Zarifi said.

On Monday, a high-level commission found the king responsible for some of the killings that occurred during democracy demonstrations last spring and named members of his privy council as being directly responsible for deaths and injuries. The king has not responded to the allegations, Zarifi said.

Sharma joined her country's democracy movement in 1990. "I saw what happened to so many people. My teachers would be detained and tortured," she said. "After their release, they returned as completely changed men, their personalities totally destroyed. That somehow affected me."