Red Cross resumes monitoring of army detainees

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has resumed visits to detainees held inside Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) barracks after nearly nine months. In May 2005, the ICRC halted monitoring missions to RNA premises after the army allegedly failed to comply fully with agreements governing the visits. Most of the detainees inside the barracks are Maoists cadres and those suspected of supporting the rebels who have been battling for more than a decade to overthrow the status quo in the Himalayan kingdom. Some detainees are being held without trial for long periods, rights groups say. The ICRC is the only international humanitarian organisation to be granted full access to the detainees. Under the agreement with the RNA, since 2002 the organisation has been allowed to visit any prisoner held by the army and hold a private conversation with them. In addition, the ICRC could deliver messages to detainees from friends and families. Despite the suspension, the RNA has continued to work with the ICRC and has established a working group to discuss violations of the Geneva Conventions inside places of detention under its control. “We reached an understanding and the problem has been solved now. We are positive that our working modalities will be respected and accepted,” ICRC’s communication delegate Giuseppe Polgliari, told IRIN. He explained that the ICRC had already started visiting military detention centers this week. The ICRC official also said that the organisation, as in the past, will provide the authorities with its confidential findings and recommendations on the conditions of those the army detains. The ICRC launched operations in Nepal in 1999 and opened a delegation in the kingdom in 2001. The organisation maintains a presence in the field and is in contacts with all parties to the conflict. It monitors the conditions of detainees and assists the injured, as well as working with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and others suffering as a result of the ongoing conflict.