KATHMANDU, AUGUST 15

The National Human Rights Commission has urged the government to bring guilty persons involved in the Saptari incident to justice and take action accordingly.

The constitutional human rights body has urged the government to pay attention to the security of rights activists in the incident by taking action against the guilty.

Issuing a press release today, NHRC Spokesperson Tikaram Pokharel also asked service recipients to show decent behaviour towards the service providers while receiving service.

It may be noted that police personnel serving in the District Police Office, Saptari, had beaten and misbehaved with human rights activist and journalist Manohar Pokharel on the office premises on July 31 when he reached there as a service seeker.

The NHRC has drawn serious attention to the continuous protests by local journalists and other social organisations against the incident.

In this connection, the NHRC's Madhes Province Office has moved forward with the investigation process by receiving a complaints.

According to the NHRC's Guideline on Human Rights Defenders, 2012, it is the responsibility of the state to protect and save human rights defenders.

Likewise, Human Rights Defenders' Security and Protection Order, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Home, noted that the state agencies or office-bearers should provide information and details about human rights violation incidents, place special cautionary measures to check mental or economic loss and take legal action against individuals or office-bearers causing loss and damage.

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, 1998, also obliges the state to make special arrangements for the protection of the rights of human rights defenders.

Despite these arrangements, there is no environment for human rights defenders to work in a free and fair manner in Nepal, the NHRC report noted.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 16, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.