KATHMANDU: Expressing its concern over the use of children in protests carried out by organisations of private schools today, the National Human Rights Commission said the act violated national and international laws of child rights.

Protesting against the violation of rights caused by the ongoing Tarai/Madhes agitation and the unofficial blockade imposed by India, Private and Boarding Schools’ Organisation Nepal (PABSON), National Private and Boarding Schools’ Organisation Nepal (NPABSON) and student unions had organised a human chain demonstration along the 27-kilometre ring road.

"Using children in programmes like bandhs and strikes is against the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 and the Children's Act, 1992," the NHRC spokesperson Mohana Ansari said in a statement today.

Though the organisers had expressed a commitment not to mobilise children below the eighth grade, such children were also seen in the programme, she added.

The national human rights watchdog has appealed to all concerned not to use children in programmes of political nature and ensure child rights.