Top UN human rights official to visit Nepal The top United Nations human rights official will visit Nepal next week for a first-hand assessment of the situation in the Himalayan kingdom, a month after a UN working group asked the government to stop "forced disappearances" of suspects in its fight against Maoist rebels. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, will meet with senior officials of the Nepalese government, judiciary, military as well as NGOs, human rights defenders and journalists, the United Nations announced yesterday. In December, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the UN Commission on Human Rights asked the Nepal government to institute measures including a total ban on incommunicado detention and full protection for human rights workers. Although the group's mandate is restricted to the obligations of state authorities, it also called on the Maoists to respect human rights. The restriction in no way reduces the urgent need for the Maoists to respect international humanitarian law obligations and the physical integrity of their fellow citizens to reduce their suffering, the Group said after a nine-day visit to the country.