KATHMANDU, 27 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Abductions, torture, brutal beatings, killings, extortions and other serious human rights abuses by Maoist rebels have not stopped despite their engagement in the ongoing peace process, according to a new report by the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal.
OHCHR officials criticised rebel leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), saying that despite their commitment to end human rights abuses, serious violations have continued in the districts and villages.
"The CPN-Maoist must show that is serious about its commitments by ending these abuses and ensuring that those cadres responsible are brought to account," said David Johnson, officer-in-charge of OHCHR-Nepal.
Several agreements have been made between the Maoists and the interim government during a series of peace talks which began in May, and both sides had agreed to a peaceful political resolution and to promoting a peaceful environment by ensuring security for civilians.
Following an end to the absolute rule of the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra, the seven national parties formed a new interim government in May and declared peace with the Maoist rebels to end the decade-long violent conflict.
The Maoists, who had been waging an armed rebellion against the Nepalese state, reciprocated with an indefinite ceasefire and willingness to involve in the peace process.
But over the months, people have continued to be abducted, tortured and killed as reported by OHCHR staff. Between May and June alone, around eight people were killed following actions by the rebel-run 'People's Courts'. Most of them were killed while under Maoist investigation.
The report gave shocking accounts of how the abductions and rebel investigations have led to a number of deaths, including that of a 13-year-old child and a pregnant woman in August. The young boy Shiva Bahadur Khadka committed suicide after his abduction.
"OHCHR believes that independent and impartial investigations need to be carried out to establish the circumstances which led to each suicide or alleged suicide, including whether treatment while held by the CPN-M was a contributory factor," the report said.
It recounted that the pregnant woman, Phula Devi Yadav, and her husband had returned from India to their village in east Nepal after they heard of the end of armed conflict. Yadav was punished for remarrying following the death of her first husband and she was brutally beaten by the Maoists in public. Eventually, she was dragged to a nearby house in the village where she fell sick apparently due to poisoning, the report said.
It added that nearly 184 people have been abducted by the rebels since the ceasefire and several of them were killed or have committed suicide.
Even children continue to be used by the Maoist militias and cultural groups and when taken are often forced to be messengers or informants.
But the UN agency also raised serious concerns about a particular group of 50 children, including some as young as 12 years old, who had been taken away by Maoists and are receiving military training with weapons.
Such allegations of child recruitment came from various districts in the east and west of Nepal, OHCHR said.
OHCHR was particularly concerned about the failure of the Maoist leadership to take action against the cadres involved in serious rights violations.
In 2005, the country witnessed with shock the killing of 35 civilians, including women and children, in Madi village of Chitwan, nearly 300 km south of Kathmandu, after the Maoists bombed the public bus. The rebels who were responsible for the gross killings were freed after two or three months by the Maoist leaders, the report said.
