Human Rights Watch releases report of Nepal killings
The situation in Nepal made the New York Times yesterday, and the headline was: Report on Nepal Protests Details Grisly Violence You read it all here, on DailyKOS, first, as it happened over the past six weeks, though it's been going on for a lot longer than that....
This week is Dasain, the big religious festival and I'm trying to pair up heartwarming photos of family customs. We all hope the new government will make progress behind the scenes with India and with the protesters. So far, the Kathmandu government has dug in it's heels and allowed anti-India nationalism. But when the New York Times prints the HRW report, the moral high ground goes to the protesters.
Near the beginning, the NYT piece gives two examples.
In Tikapur, a city in Nepal’s far west, protesters armed with spears and with bamboo sticks spiked with nails beat eight lightly armed police officers to death, including one who shared an ethnicity with his attackers and begged them to take mercy, the report says. Another officer’s 18-month-old son was shot in the head after the initial clash, according to the report, which was released Friday.
In the southern town of Birgunj, the police dragged a 14-year-old protester out of the bushes, threw him to the ground and, while one officer stood on his legs, shot him in the face at point-blank range, eyewitnesses said, according to the report. Doctors who examined the boy’s body said his injuries were consistent with the account.
see more at:http://www.nytimes.com/...
Who is Human Rights Watch?
Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization made up of roughly 400 staff members around the globe. Its staff consists of human rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Established in 1978, Human Rights Watch is known for its accurate fact-finding, impartial reporting, effective use of media, and targeted advocacy, often in partnership with local human rights groups. see more at: http://www.hrw.org/...
The
press release on their webpage reads:
(New York) – Nepali authorities should immediately investigate and bring to justice those responsible for killings and other violations during ongoing protests over the constitutional debate, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
At least 45 people were killed during the protests in August and September 2015. The violence included the use of arbitrary and disproportionate force, and extrajudicial killings by the police against protesters; killing of children; and murders of police officers.
“While the drafting of a rights-respecting constitution is an emotional issue in Nepal, disagreements cannot be resolved by committing serious human rights abuses,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The government has the responsibility to ensure there are impartial and effective investigations and cannot simply look the other way.”
And the
entire 44-page report is on their page as well. It's titled "Like We are Not Nepali" - referring to the racist overtones of riot police behavior.
The report includes descriptions and eyewitness testimony of many of the deaths in the Terai during the "Madhesi Morcha," the name for the protest movement. In many cases, there is graphic video to accompany, available to anybody with YouTube. For me, I've seen them as they were uploaded, and generally not linked to them, on the basis that they amount to "snuff porn." But like the recent use of video in USA (the Freddy Gray case and many others) it is more difficult to dispute the evidence when there is a video.
I would be remiss if I did not emphasize that the triggering event for the widespread deployment of riot police in the Terai was due to the cold-blooded murder of police in Tikapur August 24th. I diaried about it at the time and predicted things would escalate.... which they did.... the "collectivist culture" took over......the question now is how to de-escalate... and that means, giving the Kathmandu government a graceful way to change course.......
See that orange squiggle? it's the Human Rights record of the Kathmandu government - laying in shreds. Click on the "continue reading" button - I promise there will be no graphic photos -
There is news from The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The home ministry has decided to beef up security on the Indo-Nepal border after intelligence agencies warned of increased activities by Jehadi elements and smugglers of fake currency and drugs and human traffickers as the Himalayan nation grapples with internal crisis.
Sources said home minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation with security forces and intelligence agencies at a meeting after which it was decided to put in place a multi-layered security along the 1751-km long border with Nepal. Sources said multi-layer security rings will be set up within 15 km from the border areas in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.
Officials said security infrastructure and intelligence network along the border would be enhanced in the next six months.... read the rest at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...
.
The Jehadis to which the ToI refers?
PITHORAGARH: A high alert has been sounded at the border posts in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts, having a 241km long border with Nepal, in the wake of a terror attack in Gurdaspur district of Punjab today.
"We have sounded an alert in the district and at all the border posts along the porous India-Nepal border, keeping in mind the possibility of terrorists sneaking in from Nepal border into Indian territory. continue reading at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...
Making longterm plans
This is the first published concrete assertion that Nepal is now a staging ground for terrorism. Given the undeclared petrol blockade, it does seem to me as though India would need justification for tightening up security that does not point directly to the Nepal government; but - now they have found it. Regardless of the justification, there is a clear message being sent: India is in this for the long haul.
Twittersphere reaction to HRW report
The initial tweets were from people in Kathmandu who have supported the government, calling the HRW report biased. As I expected them to do. For the past month, as the petrol shortage has grown worse, there have been voices from Kathmandu asking "Where is the International community? Why won't they help us, we're being bullied by India?" The Human Rights Watch report narrows the possible rangeof replies to this question.
It should be noted that the Army and Armed Police Force have been largely sent back to the barracks, and during the height of the over-reaction, there was a formal ceremony in Kathmandu for the retirement of the overall Army commander after many years of distinguished service to Nepal. The killings documented here took place in August and September, and have abruptly stopped since the blockade.
Also, at the end of the report is a list of recommendations. I felt as though I could have added more, and I think I will blog on my other diary this weekend about steps that hospitals, doctors and ambulance personnel can take. The International Committee of the Red Cross has various monographs on the subject of "Health Care in Danger." One of the incidents detailed in the HRW report was the use of firearms inside a hospital compound in Birgunj. On the planetary scale of things, this is nowhere as egregious as the recent bombing in Kunduz or the ongoing targeting of health care workers in Syria, but it is a life-or-death matter for the person at whom the shotgun is aimed.
Other news?
The blockade continues, but seems to have been eased just enough to allow more people to leave Kathmandu, getting on a bus to their ancestral village, wherever that may be. The government has used the additional petrol to ensure an adequate supply of goats for religious purposes during this holiday. The new Prime Minister has formulated a committee to meet with the protest leaders from Terai, and sent his deputies to India and China. There has been some eloquent writing about the fight for human rights and dignity, posted on pro-Madhesi web pages. I decided to focus on the Human Rights Watch report instead of these.
In USA we would serve Turkey at Thanskgiving. In Nepal for Dasain, it's mutton. Last week they were predicting Kathmandu would be 20,000 goats short of what was needed. Now, the situation is better.
I have learned that DailyKOS readers love to click on the polls. I am sometimes at a loss to come up with something cutesy.... I am dead serious about this one, though....
8:14 AM PT: UPDATE: On my other blog, I gave a specific critique of the HRW report's recommendations, adding some of my own. find it by clicking here: https://joeniemczura.wordpress.com/...