Kathmandu, December 23

Only 12.5 per cent of a total of 856 recommendations made last year by National Human Rights Commission were fully implemented by the government.

According to NHRC Secretary Bed Bhattarai, nearly 48.3 per cent of the recommendations were implemented partially while 39.2 per cent were not implemented at all.

Bhattarai also said even the recommendations that were implemented were limited to cash compensation and relief. “Overall, we can say that the recommendations have not been implemented,” he said. Also, policy recommendations made by the rights body were implemented only partially by the government.

Bhattarai also said human rights violators had gone unpunished as the government paid fine on behalf of violators. He also said the concerned government agencies tend to limit victims’ pleas for justice to compensation and treat human rights violation as a trivial matter.

He said lack of political is the main reason for non-implementation of the recommendations. He added that the government had perceived the recommendations differently. Bhattarai further said lack of strong legislation against human rights violation, delay in implementation of the Supreme Court’s verdicts and influential positions of violators were the major challenges in implementing the recommendations.

Director General of SC Verdict Implementation Directorate Hari Raj Karki was of the opinion that poor implementation of SC verdicts had bearings on rising impunity in the country.

Human rights activist Subodh Kumar Pyakurel told THT that the concerned government agencies, including the Nepal Police, had tendency to brush human rights violation probes under the carpet. “Police keep on saying for years that  investigation into rights violation cases are under way, without any progress,” he said.