Jha leaves for Geneva to lobby for actions against extrajudicial killings of Madhesis
KATHMANDU, Nov 1:
Supreme Court Advocate Dipendra Jha is traveling to Geneva, Switzerland to attend Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Nepal on November 04, 2015.
Jha, who also leads Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Alliance, will present cases of serious human rights violations, including recent brutal killings of unarmed civilians (Madhesis) by state security personnel in Tarai.
Jha has been actively documenting cases of human rights violations across Tarai region. He is leaving for Geneva to attend the UPR for Nepal scheduled for November 4, 2014. [Also Read What is UPR and How Does it Affect Nepal?]
Before the Nepal UPR takes place, he will have meetings with different human rights agencies and participant countries’ representatives to informally discuss about the brutal killings of Madhesis in Nepal.
On Nov 4, the UN Human Rights Council’s UPR Working Group will examine Nepal’s human rights records. As per the Working Group, the reviews are based on: 1) National report – information provided by the State under review 2) Information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, Human Rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) Information provided by other stakeholders including National human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.
According to Human Rights activist Jha:
There are three human rights reports — reports of Human Rights Watchdog (HRW), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and THRD Alliance — which present clear evidence on excessive use of force by law enforcement and extrajudicial killings of Madhesis during protests against the country’s new constitution.
He conceded that Nepal Police and Nepal Armed Police Force have violated Local Administration Act-2028, Clause (6), sub-clause (b). This clause prohibits security personnel from shooting at civilians during crowd control above knee, in accordance with Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“The police, however, have not followed these procedures. The way the law enforcement has killed Madhesis proves that the state is racist, ” Jha told Madhesi Youth.
As per him, the questions about serious human rights violations have already been included in the different countries including Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and United Kingdom. Read a partial list of here advanced questions asked by the UN member nations listed above.
Nepal is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 2 to 13 November.
This is the second time that Nepal’s human rights record is going to be examined. Nepal’s first UPR took place on 25 January 2011.
The delegation headed by Mr. Agni Prasad Kharel, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is representing Nepal for the UPR.
The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Nepal are: Latvia, Morocco and Qatar. The webcast of the session will be telecast at http://webtv.un.org
The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Nepal at 17.30 on 6 November.
The investigation of extrajudicial killings of Madhesis and excessive use of force by law enforcement in Madhes through an international level commission will be sought as one of the recommendations in the UPR.
Also, watch the video below to learn about the UPR.
