His Majesty's Government of Nepal Palace Secretariat Narayanhiti Royal Palace Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal We, the signatories of this petition, are writing to protest in strongest terms His Majesty King Gyanendra's February 1, 2005 declaration of emergency suspending the Nepali people's right to free speech, freedom of movement and peaceful assembly, and protections afforded by the constitution against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of individuals. While we understand Nepal is going through a difficult situation, we strongly believe that the step the king has taken not only undermines the democratic norms and institutions of the country, it also makes the task of finding a solution to the insurgency all the more intractable. Instead of dismissing Prime Minister Deuba led government, the king could have used his considerable influence to bring parliamentary political parties together. The argument that one has to destroy democracy in order to protect democracy does not sound credible in this context. The king?s February 1 proclamation has isolated the palace from the vital core of democratic forces as well as the international community that supports the cause of democracy in Nepal. This step represents a grave setback to Nepalese democracy since meaningful democracy can only emerge in the absence of ad-hoc and ill-advised interventions from the palace. We strongly urge king Gyanendra to correct and reverse his February 1, 2005 and October 4, 2002 proclamations in consultation with the leaders of the parliamentary political parties. We urge the Council of royal appointees to stop the intimidation and arrest of citizens by the security forces; and release all political leaders, activists, party members, journalists, human rights activists, and members of the civil society imprisoned after the declaration of emergency. We also urge the Maoist insurgents as well as members of the security forces to stop violating the human rights of Nepali citizens, considering they could be held accountable for their action in an international war crime tribunal or a court of law no matter whose orders they follow at the moment. Additionally, we urge the friends of Nepal worldwide to take a stand in support of Nepalese democracy and express their disapproval of the king?s action in words and in deed. Cc. Honorable Kofi Annan, Secretary General, United Nations Headquarters, New York Cc. Secretary General, SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu Cc. Amnesty International, London Cc. United States Senate, Foreign Relations Committee, Washington D.C. Cc. United States Department of State, Washington, D.C. Cc. European Parliament Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium Cc. Office of the Prime Minister of Great Britain, London Cc. Office of the Prime Minister of India, New Delhi, India Cc. Nepal Support Group, Paris, France Please sign through the following link. http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/nepaldemocracy/