Kathmandu, September 1 :

The Nepal Police recently released a detailed report of the status of individuals who were on the disappearance and abduction lists of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The report has made the status of 55 missing persons public, the NHRC said.

The report claims that the security forces have released 47 individuals who were on the commission’s disappearance list, an NHRC official said. Three individuals are in custody at detention centres while five were killed in clashes between Maoists and security forces, the official said.

According to the report, the Maoists have already released 214 individuals who were on the abduction list, he said. Likewise, the report claimed that nine individuals were killed in Maoist captivity while one died in a clash between the Maoists and security forces. Out of the 73 abducted by unidentified groups, 14 have already been released. Nepal Police submitted the report to the NHRC after the latter sought information regarding disappearance and abduction.

Although the commission had officially called on the Nepal Army, the government and the Maoists to disclose the details of individuals on the disappearance and abduction lists, the commission is yet to get the details. Nepal Army is mum on the issue despite committing to provide details to the NHRC, the official said. However, Nepal Army authorities could not be contacted for comments.

“Following the announcement of a ceasefire in April, the Maoists have been extremely cooperative with us. They have been verifying the status of those in their captivity during our field visits to various parts of the country,” he said. However, they are yet to furnish the details to the NHRC in writing.

“Since we have been receiving fresh complaints everyday, there are still about 600 unresolved disappearance and 100 abduction cases with the commission,” he said. He lauded Nepal Police for its hard work and cooperation with the NHRC. “It is evident that Nepal Police has done a lot of research for the report and we expect the same from the army,” he added.