NHRC of Nepal: amidst the ruins

At the eighth annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions concluded in Kathmandu on 18 February 2004, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal stood tall amongst many of its peers from the region because of its interventions for promotion and protection of human rights in the ongoing-armed conflicts between the Maoists and the government of Nepal. Over 8,000 people have been killed, about a thousand have disappeared, thousands have been orphaned and widowed, and hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced since the Maoists began their 'people's war' in 1996.

As the conflict continues to intensify by the day since the collapse of the peace talks between the Maoists and the government on 27 August 2003, human rights institutional mechanisms notably the Supreme Court of Nepal (SC) and the NHRC have been facing contempt from the government and its security forces. The workload in 19 hilly district courts dropped drastically with less than 50 cases recorded in a year according to a recent report of  the government's Judicial Council. Maoists have their own form of crude justice and threaten government judges.The Supreme Court has also failed to inspect the Appellate and District Courts in the country during 2002 and 2003 "owing to bad law and order situation" though it is required to inspect the subordinate courts every year as per the Judicial Administration Act of 1991 and SC regulations. The police and army often refuse to accept court orders to produce detainees, and re-arrest detainees immediately after the courts order their release.There would seem to be little difference between the security forces and the Maoists when it comes to observance of the law.