Birgunj, October 3:

Notwithstanding a Maoist-called unilateral ceasefire, both the Maoists and the state have been violating human rights across the country, an official of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said. The Maoists have been abducting civilians, forcing the closure of schools and compelling people to make donations, Ganesh Aryal, a member of the NHRC monitoring team said at a press conference organised here today.

Post-ceasefire, the Maoists act of collecting donations from local businessmen has suddenly gone up, he said. The Maoists have forced the closure of four schools in the district of Rautahat and a school in Thori village development committee, Parsa district, it was stated at the press meet. The NHRC has been studying the incidents of human rights violations in different districts, said Basudev Bajgain, the protection officer at the NHRC.

Both the Maoists and the state have violated human rights, he said. “We have evidence to prove that RNA personnel have been mentally and physically torturing the people placed under custody,” he said. The NHRC monitoring team also accused the government of misusing the state mechanism to abduct people.

“While at least 32 persons of Rautahat district have been taken into non-judicial custody, the whereabouts of nine persons is not known yet,” the NHRC monitoring team said. Stating that the Maoists had abducted six persons before the announcement of the ceasefire, the NHRC team said the whereabouts of one abductee is not known yet. The NHRC monitoring team also accused security personnel of continuing to travel in public vehicles in Rautahat with arms.

The NHRC monitoring team accused the government of victimising civilians in the district of Parsha. “Plain clothes security personnel terrorise localities,” the NHRC monitoring team said, adding: “Security personnel have been blamed for mobilising civilians to spy against the Maoists.” The state has not yet made the whereabouts of two arrested civilians public, the NHRC said. With the objective of monitoring the situation of human rights, a five-member NHRC monitoring team had arrived in Birgunj a week ago.