I know sajha's poll on 'king G's move on Feb 1" has drawn overwhelming support. I am sure you would not like the truth about how much human rights crises in Nepal after the Feb 1, 2005. I apologize if you despise the result of the international Crisis Group posted on http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/218607/111174231887.htm . It seems how much Nepalese are supporting Feb 1 move will have a big time grave consequences on the ordinary people who live out side of Kathmandu valley. Someone said individuals who oppose king's G Feb 1 are kind of people who do things at random whatever the leaders command them. But unfortunately what is happening with the overwhelming support seen from the polls conducted like of sajha that those who support with hope for peace or under the notion of fear of the authority are acting rather without seeing the grave consquence especially commited on the innocent poor people of Nepal who live out of Kathmandu valley. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please read this study conducted by the International Crisis Group: International Crisis Group - Belgium Website: http://www.crisisgroup.org Kathmandu/Brussels, 24 March 2005: Effective international action on Nepal's deteriorating human rights crisis -- beginning at the UN Human Rights Commission (CHR) now in session -- is vital to forming a substantial peacebuilding process in the war-ravaged country. Nepal: Dealing with a Human Rights Crisis,* the International Crisis Group's latest report, describes the appalling situation, especially since the royal coup of 1 February, offers practical policy recommendations for tackling it by all relevant players, and explains how such measures would contribute to the longer-term conflict resolution effort. "The international community now finds itself confronted with what it fears the most -- a no-party state that has decimated democracy and kills people at will", says Robert Templer, Crisis Group's Asia Program Director. "At this point, international action to end the human rights crisis and support to resolve the ongoing conflict go hand in hand". Even before the king seized power, jailed many mainstream politicians and civil society figures, and muzzled the media, Nepal was suffering as the nine-year-old Maoist insurgency intensified. Using extortion and coercion, the Maoists are imposing a violent authoritarian regime on steadily increasing swathes of the countryside. State forces are engaged in well-documented, systematic violations from extra-judicial executions to illegal detentions, disappearances, and torture. The crisis of protection clearly parallels the deepening military conflict, and to assist the return to a peace process, the international community needs to speak with one voice on human rights. The current CHR can contribute significantly to peace by passing a strong resolution that calls for restoration of basic freedoms and establishes robust enforcement mechanisms and clearly defined benchmarks, including an effective, on-the-ground UN human rights monitoring mission to strengthen national efforts. In addition, the CHR should demand that both the government and the Maoists sign a Human Rights Accord as an initial confidence-building measure toward a resumed peace process. Member states, especially India, the U.S. and the UK, which have special influence in Nepal, should make any military assistance to the government, as well as any new Royal Nepalese Army participation in UN peacekeeping operations, dependent upon prior, significant and concrete improvements in human rights. Human rights would thus become integrated with efforts to create a wider, coordinated international push for peace, ideally led by a contact group of key powers and the UN, supported by donor nations working on the development and rights tracks. "Without concrete action on human rights, any return to the pre-coup situation would be little more than a return to the unsatisfactory status quo ante", says Templer. "Nepal's people would be condemned to further erosion of their rights and to the gross violations that feed the brutal insurgency". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 485 555 946 Jennifer Leonard (Washington) +1 202 785 1601 To contact Crisis Group media please click here *Read the full Crisis Group report on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org