Demonstrations totalling hundreds of thousands of Nepalese citizens have continued unabated since April 6th, 2006, defying curfews and shoot-to-kill orders given to the security forces. The movement to rid Nepal of its autocratic monarch has become more and more determined throughout this time. At least 14 persons have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested as the result of the excessive use of force and repression by the security forces, including the firing with live ammunition on crowds of demonstrators. On April 21, 2006 the massive demonstrations protesting against the February 1, 2005 coup by King Gyanendra, forced the increasingly isolated King to make a last ditch televised bid to create the impression that he is willing to retreat to the position of constitutional monarch, based on the 1990 constitution. He called upon the seven party alliance opposition parties, who have been at the forefront of the demonstration movement, to put forward the name of a prime minister to whom he will hand over executive power. This is an obvious move to buy further time in an attempt to divide the opposition and to dilute the protests on the streets of Kathmandu and elsewhere around the country.
Once again, Gyanendra has misjudged the will of the people. The opposition protesters have pledged to continue holding rallies after dismissing King Gyanendras promises as being too little, too late. Opposition leaders have stated that these promises have not addressed the demands of the people and that they are nothing more than a ploy to fool the people and to secure the future of the monarchy. Demonstrations are scheduled to continue today and a new curfew has been called. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) sincerely hopes that there will be no further loss of life as a result of further excessive force on the part of the authorities.
Central to the demands of the demonstrators, who come from all walks of life and a broad range of sectors in Nepal, is the creation of a constituent assembly that will re-write the constitution of Nepal through a democratic process and enable the abolition of the monarchy through popular consent.
King Gyanendra has no legitimacy to remain as a constitutional monarch, as he is a coup leader who overthrew the legitimate and elected government, dissolved parliament and took autocratic executive control, without any legal basis to do so. His ouster can only be seen as a just resolution of the coup. Further to this, King Gyanendra should be brought to justice under the principle of command responsibility for the plethora of human rights abuses and violations of humanitarian law that have occurred under his rule. Nepal has been the stage of one of the worst human rights calamities in the world the UN Human Rights Commission had named it as being the country with the greatest number of forced disappearances in the world in recent years. Torture, extra-judicial executions, rapes, mass arrests and detentions, and wide-ranging curtailments of many other rights have been perpetrated against the people of Nepal during King Gyanendras rule. He must be held accountable for these acts. The future of the country, which has suffered too long, must be built on the foundations of justice, democracy and accountability.
The demands of the people need to be met. The demonstrations have been spontaneous and based on a groundswell of legitimate political resistance to abuse. This has given them the resilience needed to carry on against the repressive acts committed by the authorities. The demonstrators must continue to push until their legitimate demands are met, including the establishment of a democratic republic. In remaining steadfast in their resolve, the people of Nepal can bring about the changes required to put an end to the internal conflict that has caused over 13,000 casualties in the country, to the gross human rights violations and to the despotic regime that have crippled the country socially, economically and politically.
The AHRC calls upon the international community to urge the coup leader to abdicate from the throne and to support any moves by the people of Nepal to bring him to justice in line with international norms and standards.
Moments for decisive change appear very rarely. Such a moment is now upon Nepal. It is the responsibility of everyone in Nepal and outside to support all efforts to get rid of the systems and individuals that are responsible for the human rights disaster in the country. AHRC earnestly hopes that the dreams for democracy manifested by the people in the streets and those that have paid with their lives will not be betrayed.
