Kathmandu, April 9:

True to the trend of recent years, both the government forces and the Maoists were found to be involved in gross human rights violations last year, according to the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) annual report.

The State allegedly engaged in serious rights abuses in the name of quelling the Maoist insurgency while the latter were involved in grave human rights violations themselves, thereby violating international humanitarian laws, according to the report. Such rights violations led to complete destruction of many democratic institutions, the report said.

“After the February 1 royal proclamation, the State completely neglected the rule of law. Prospect for dialogue and consensus was slammed shut with military might,” said INSEC’s report titled “Human Rights Yearbook 2006” released here today. The spate of killings and violence has continued after February 1, except at the times of ceasefire, it said.

The ongoing conflict claimed 1,524 lives in 2005, of which the security forces were responsible for killing 815 persons while the Maoists killed 709, the INSEC report said. Furthermore, the “State-backed defence committees” killed 39 individuals, it said. Around 85 individuals were killed by the State and 24 by the rebels during the latter’s unilateral truce. Maoists abducted 32,857 people last year, many of whom were school children, according to the rights watchdog’s report. According to the report, following the February 1 move, regression had become more pronounced as was evident from government activities after the move.

The report also roundly criticised the judiciary for failing to take an initiative for constitutional remedy during the state of emergency. The absence of security institutions in rural areas gave a free hand to criminal groups, the INSEC report said, adding such groups were responsible for the death of 371 persons.

Ian Martin, chief of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Nepal, while inaugurating the yearbook, called on the government to refrain from suppressing peaceful protests. Emphasising the need to bring rights violators to book, he said the government was yet to implement proper human rights guidelines.

Criticising the government for imposing curfew, Subodh Pyakurel, chairman of INSEC, said the curfew was aimed at curtailing civil liberties. Demanding that rights violators be tried at international tribunals, he urged the OHCHR to play an active role on the human rights front in Nepal.