The Amnesty International (AI), a leading rights monitoring body, has called upon the international community to “play a critical role to protect the human rights of the people of Nepal.” The AI statement issued the other day in Kathmandu noted that the ten-year long insurgency and the political instability have turned the human rights situation in Nepal into one of the worst in the world. The AI has requested the international community to review the compounding restrictions on civil liberties and press freedom imposed by the royal regime. Given the poor human rights record of the Nepalese Army, Nepal’s participation in future UN peacekeeping operations may also be affected. The AI secretary general, Irene Khan, has urged the world to keep the pressure on the Nepal government and also the Maoists to respect human rights of all, and, if need be, impose an arms embargo until the rights situation improves.

In April last year, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ramesh Nath Pandey signed an agreement in Geneva allowing UN monitoring operations in Nepal on the sidelines of the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights on condition that there would be no resolution against Nepal under Agenda Item 9. Instead, a resolution was passed under the milder Agenda Item 19. Resolution under Item 9 means that the UN appoints a resident Special Rapporteur to investigate rights violations and suggest measures to be taken by the international community to bring about greater accountability. This process, which enforces intrusive international monitoring, could lead to heavy sanctions that would ultimately hurt the poor Nepalis. The government should, therefore, note that since the rights situation has deteriorated further with the rise in the number of the killings, torture, disappearances and internal displacement, all of this could easily induce the international community to impose severe political and economic penalties under Item 9 this time around.