Pokhara, March 24:

A provision should be made so that soldiers accused of human rights violations can be tried in civilian courts, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal, Kiran Doyar, said at an interaction held at the OHCHR office in Pokhara today.

“The OHCHR was established in Nepal with objective of curbing the incidences of human rights violation here and sending the report to the office of the United Nations,” said Doyar, calling on the journalists and local human right activists for cooperation.

‘We should make it clear to both the Maoists and the army men that action will be taken against them if they violate rights,” Doyar said, adding that the same rule applies to the civilians.

Quoting a message from the chief of the OHCHR in Nepal, Ian Martin, Doyar said “arbitrary arrests of people taking part in peaceful demonstrations is against the rule of law.”

The Maoists and the Army have not stopped abducting, arresting and disappearing the people in Nepal, Doyar said.

The OHCHR has been probing into the recent Maoist-launched attacks in Chhore Patan and Chipledhunga of Pokhara, he said.

OHCHR staffers in Pokhara, Kathmandu and Biratnagar offices have been probing into cases of violation of international law in the country since January.

A team of the OHCHR has been carrying out an on-the-spot investigation into the March 9 ‘clash’ in Baluwa of Kanakpur village development committee, in which army men had killed four Maoists and a civilian, since this morning, a reported from Rautahat quoted team members Karla Kovaruyubean and John Olhegen as saying.

According to the Maoists, a team of army men deployed by the security base camp (Chandranigahapur) had killed the four cadres, who had gathered at the Baluwa-based Janasamudaik Primary School, by encircling them from three sides at 12:30 pm on March 9.

Four Maoists, namely Bhola Yadav, Awadhesh Singh, Dipendra Shah, Kamal Mahato, and a civilian, Surendra Thakur, were killed in the incident.