Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 10:

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned over the mob violence in Kapilvastu where 30 people were lynched on suspicion of being Maoists and 700 houses were torched subsequently. The incident occurred on February 23 in a village in Kaplivastu. AHRC has condemned the violence, emphasising that “these acts constitute crimes against humanity.” Calling for an international probe into the incident, it also voiced its disquiet over authorities preventing the National Human Rights Commission from boarding a domestic flight so as to visit the site. “The extent or the manner of the violence occurring at Kapilvastu is no surprise,” AHRC said in its statement. It warned that a human rights catastrophe of colossal proportions was likely to erupt in Nepal soon and that the Kapilavastu incident was only “the beginning of further and much greater violence that will occur throughout the country.”

“Nepal has now passed the threshold of a country engulfed in violence and counter-violence. There is no internal force capable of restraining such violence.”Despite government claims that the Maoists are the target of operations, the incident proves that civilians and their property are equally vulnerable, according to AHRC.