Friday, June 09, 2006

OHCHR to keep HR violators out of peace missions.

Senior human rights advisor at the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, David Johnson, said Thursday that the office will make sure Nepalese security officers involved in rights violations do not get into UN peacekeeping missions.
"We are taking steps to ensure no officer involved in rights violations will benefit (from UN peacekeeping opportunities)," Johnson said, speaking at a multi-stakeholders roundtable on prospects of democracy and peace in Nepal, organized in the capital by INSEC.
While Johnson hoped that the conflict is finally over now, he stressed that rights monitoring would go on. He also noted that violations are continuing and this will eat like a cancer into the hopes of the Nepalese people. Speaking at the same program, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said that no officers involved in rights violations, including those from the army, police and armed police, would be spared this time.
"No one will be spared this time. The mistakes of 1990 will not be repeated," he said, adding that the high-level commission formed by the government to probe rights violations will see to that.
Nepal also said that contrary to the Maoist demand, parliament should not be dissolved. "We will have no legitimate weapon or institution with us (if parliament is dissolved)," he said. Nepal highlighted the need to form an interim constitution to provide a legal basis for house declarations. "The interim constitution, in turn, would be replaced by a constitution drafted by the constituent assembly," he said.
Nepal noted that there is some crisis of confidence between the Maoists and the political parties. "The Maoists, due to their historical experience, are suspicious whether the constituent assembly elections will take place at all. On the other hand, the parties are suspicious of Maoist sincerity about laying down arms," he said.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

House wants king out of parliament.

A meeting of the House of Representatives Wednesday unanimously endorsed a proposal to consider sweeping amendments to the HoR Regulations, leaving the king totally out of House proceedings.
The Regulations, once endorsed formally by the House most likely on June 10, will allow lawmakers to discuss matters related to the royal family, any matters under consideration in a court of law, and anything done by a judge in the course of discharge of his duties, among other things.
These new provisions will come into effect as the new regulations propose to omit the 11th point in the old regulations that specified topics which, as per Article 56 of the Constitution, can't be discussed or debated in the House.
The new regulations have also made amendments to the Constitution as simple as amending a bill, as per the spirit of the HoR proclamation. Under Clause 136 of the new regulations, any amendment to the Constitution - as long as it's for "resolution of the violent conflict and establishing lasting peace" - can be effected by the House.
Presenting the 77-page draft of the Regulations for consideration in the House, lawmaker Narayan Man Bijukche, head of a committee formed by the House on May 22, said the Regulations were prepared keeping in mind that the HoR is the sovereign body and all state powers can be exercise through it.
Announcing that the proposed regulations were unanimously endorsed for consideration, Speaker Subas Nembang set Thursday as the date for lawmakers to register any amendments, if any, with the House Business Committee. The House is set to approve the Regulations at its next sitting on Saturday.
The Regulations have also changed the Preamble of the old regulations, replacing the phrase "Sub Clause (1) of Article 63 of the Constitution" with "Clause 1.4 of the HoR Proclamation 2006", making it clear that House businesses will henceforth be guided by the HoR Proclamation, not the Constitution.
The draft regulation was discussed and finalized at a series of meetings of top leaders of the ruling Seven-Party Alliance.
Unlike in the past, a House session can be summoned by the prime minister (PM), and the speaker - under the PM's recommendation - can prorogue the session.
The Regulations also propose to form special committees as required. At present, it has finalized at least three such committees - on security, on implementation of the HoR Proclamation and on House hearings.
The 19-member Special Committee on Security, that comprises the prime minister, the speaker, the defense minister, the home minister, the foreign minister and the leader of the opposition, among others, enjoys full authority for mobilizing the Nepali Army.
Likewise, the Regulations propose enacting a separate law on proclaming the heir to the throne or a regent or a council to announce the regent. According to lawmakers, the government is preparing to table a bill in this regard "soon".
The Regulations deny the king authority to place his royal seal on bills passed by parliament and authorize the speaker to take charge here.
The Regulations have scrapped all clauses related to the "Upper House" and "His Majesty the King". The prime minister, not the king, shall present the government's annual policies and programs during the budget session of parliament.
The Regulations make the government answerable to the House for each and every action or decision it makes. Earlier, it was obliged to inform the House only of those decisions deemed to be of public interest.
The Regulation also provide for garnering public opinion before passing any bill. The Appropriations Bill (except for the clause related to taxation) will now be discussed at the Finance Committee of the House before it is presented before the House.
The new regulations also make provisions for a Hearings Committee in the House that will grill in person would-be chief justices and justices, commissioners of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the auditor general, the chairman and members of the Public Service Commission, commissioners of the Election Commission and Nepalese ambassadors-designate for diplomatic missions abroad.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Nigerian arrested with 1.1kg white heroin.

Police have arrested a Nigerian national with 1.1kg white heroin from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

Acting on special information, a police team from the Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit arrested Ozol Michel, who landed at the TIA on Monday from the Q.R 352 flight of Qatar Airlines.
64 pieces of plastic-coated white heroin weighing 1.1kg was taken out of his body 33-year-old Nigerian citizen after a surgery at the Birendra Police Hospital where he was taken for medical checkup.
Michel, a footballer of Nigerian club Enyimba National Football Club said that he came to Nepal to play professional football in Nepal. He landed in Kathmandu via Afghanistan-Dubai-Doha route.
Police investigation into the case in underway, a statement issued by the Unit said Tuesday.
White heroin seized from four Nigerians few days earlier: Photo Source NDCLEU
Four Nigerian nationals, Merdith Chukwdi, Rome Nnadozine, Hens Kelechi and Ifanyi Chukwadi, were arrested two weeks earlier with the 2.4kg white heroin and US$10,000. A case has been filed against them at the Kathmandu District Court, according to the Unit.
In another haul on Friday, police arrested two Italians named Chiefa David, 29, and Carolina Walker Gamboa, 23, were with 900-gram hashish.
The anti-narcotics unit has said five Indians and two Singaporeans are also facing investigations currently over drug trafficking charges.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Madi blast victims languish in hospitals, homes..

One year after the gruesome Madi incident that saw the death of 39 civilians and three security personnel traveling in a bus that was blown apart in a Maoist-laid mine blast, the victims are still languishing in hospitals and at home, thanks to government apathy and "hollow promises".
The June 6 incident -- so far the biggest rebel onslaught on a civilian target -- had drawn national and international condemnation, while the rebels said it was a "serious mistake". Another 72 were seriously injured in the blast.
Though the then government had committed itself to providing "free medical treatment" to all the victims, the latter claim that they have received only preliminary treatment so far.
"Apart from first-aid help, the government has given us nothing. We even submitted our medical bills to the Chief District Officer but there was no response," said one of the victims, Krishna Adhikari, 34, of Ayodhapuri-2. Adhikari lost both his legs and sustained a major spinal injury in the incident.
Adhikari, who is confined to a wheelchair, says he has already spent more than Rs 100,000 for his treatment. He is now planning to sell his house and only piece of land to pay for further treatment. He used to be the only breadwinner of the family.
Another victim, Dhankumari Poudel, 50, whose body was severely burnt below the waist, said she has already spent Rs. 70,000 for her treatment. "Seems like there is no rescue for me," Poudel laments. Likewise, Durga Maya Magar, suffering from a spinal injury, is also in dire straits.
The victims have been demanding that the identities of the real culprits should be made public and they should be brought to book.
Also, the concerned authorities should make proper arrangements for the livelihood of the victims' families, they demand. "We should be allowed to meet Baburam and Prachanda," one of the victims said.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Nepal “untouchability free” country.

In yet another major announcement, the reinstated House of Representatives on Sunday unanimously endorsed a proposal to declare Nepal a country “free of untouchability and all kinds of discrimination.”
The legal and constitutional status of the proposal, however, remains unclear.
Moving a proposal of “urgent public importance,” a lawmaker of the CPN (UML), Parshuram Neghi Gurung, called on so-called dalit community—that constitutes 16 percent of the country’s 27 million population—in all processes of making new constitution and ending all sorts of discriminatory policies and practices including so-called untouchability.
The proposal calls for mobilization of special economic programme for education, health and employment for dalits and those under the absolute poverty line to their status.
The constitution of the kingdom of Nepal 1990 prohibits all types of discrimination against citizens on the basis of caste, gender or religion. But activists said a number of discriminatory provisions and laws were still in practice.
Addressing the House session on Sunday, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Narendra Bikram Nemwang said untouchability was a social crime and that the government would introduce a new bill soon to make necessary amendments in the existing Act.
Earlier, the House of Representatives has already declared Nepal a secular state and asked the government to formulate laws so as to issue citizenship certificated to children in the name of their mother. Earlier, the certificate could be issued in the name of father only.