NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION WORKING

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000896 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER NP SUBJECT: NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION WORKING REF: A. KATHMANDU 752 ¶B. KATHMANDU 863 ¶C. KATHMANDU 690 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). NHRC Going Door to Door on Disappeared -------------- ¶1. (C) In a March 31 meeting, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Khatri and two other Commissioners thanked the Ambassador for USG support of the Commission, and detailed the NHRC's activities, especially its work to resolve old disappearance cases. While Nepalis had not reported any new disappearance claims to NHRC so far in 2006, there were many outstanding disappearance cases from previous years. The NHRC was conducting a door-to-door campaign gathering information on old cases to update case files. Khatri noted that it was difficult to know the true scope of disappearances, as many people had fled to India or joined the Maoists and were not in government custody. The NHRC was now fully operational nationwide, having recently opened its fourth and final regional office in Dhangadhi (far-western terai),joining regional offices in Pokhara (west), Biratnagar (east) and Birgunj (central). To better cover the whole country, the NHRC also had smaller contact offices, consisting of one officer and two support staff, in Jumla (far-west hills),Rolpa (west-hills),Janakpur (east-terai), Butwal (west-terai) and Khotang (east-hills). The NHRC had a new internally displaced persons (IDP) desk to focus on the issue and was pleased that the government had recently issued an IDP policy (ref A). NHRC "Cordial" Relationship With Government -------------- ¶2. (C) Khatri noted that the NHRC had a "cordial relationship" with the government and had unimpeded access to detention facilities. However, he was skeptical about security forces punishing their own human rights violators, saying that security forces had a "tendency to cover up," which was "very bad." He explained that it was difficult to verify claims by the police that they had punished 109 human rights violators (ref B) due to the security force's lack of transparency. He "very much doubted" that information. Stressing that the NHRC was an independent body, he noted the NHRC had not been consulted in advance and was surprised when the government listed it as one place that Maoists could surrender under the government's March 13 "Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy" (ref C). As NHRC was not equipped to handle arms, it had publicly refuted the government's citing it as a place of surrender. Khatri stated that to date no Maoist had shown up wanting to surrender at any NHRC office. He acknowledged that there was an underreporting of Maoist human rights abuses. He noted, however, that the NHRC had no capability to recommend that the Maoists take any action, explaining that the best the Commission could do was to recommend that the government try to address the concerns of victims of the Maoists, such as paying compensation. Funding Concerns -------------- ¶3. (C) Khatri expressed concern that international donors were not assuring the NHRC of continued support, and thus it was difficult for the NHRC to plan for the future. He worried that the European Commission (EC) project that funded 62 Nepali staff expired in June, and the expected follow-on grant would not begin until January 2007, a period in which the NHRC had no way to pay the 62 staff. (Note: EC Officer Bryan Fornari explained to Emboff that the funding gap was the result of a bureaucratic issue, and did not represent a political decision to stop supporting the NHRC. End note.) The Ambassador assured Khatri that the U.S. had no intention of cutting funding to the NHRC. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) The NHRC appears active and engaged in promoting and protecting human rights. The commission appears to be acting independently of the government. MORIARTY