Debi Sharan Biswokarma wipes the tears away as she tries to recount the last time she saw her husband Dhan Bahadur.
He was dragged away by Nepal's armed security forces for allegedly working with the Maoist rebels.
“The security force must have killed him by now. All I want to know is the truth - if he is dead or alive - so that I can rest in peace,” said Biswokarma from Kohalpur, a remote village in Bardiya District, nearly 800 km west of the capital, Kathmandu.
The Maoists and interim government, formed in April after mass protests ended King Gyanendra's direct rule, are in peace talks to end the decade-long conflict that has gripped the Himalayan kingdom.
The United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances said that after failed peace talks in 2001 and 2003 the numbers of disappearances attributed to both sides increased. By 2004 Nepal had the highest number of new disappearance cases in the world, the group said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal said 2,500 citizens had disappeared.
“We had hoped that the peace situation and the new government would help to reveal the whereabouts of our disappeared relatives but this did not happen,” Gohaney Chaudhary, whose 20-year-old son Durganath disappeared after he was arrested by security forces four years ago, said.
Last week hundreds of families marched to Kathmandu from remote villages to pressure the government to launch an investigation and find their relatives. They also organised a series of street demonstrations in the capital.
“We want both the Maoist and government leaders to include the issue of disappearances in their next round of talks,” Surya Bahadur Chaudhary, from Bardiya, said.
Suman, a Maoist leader in Bardiya, said the “worst tragedy” was that most of the disappeared were farmers and civilians.
“Only a handful of them were active members of our party… surely none of the disappeared victims is alive,” Suman said.
He rejected claims that the Maoists were involved in the abduction and killing of people.
However, Advocacy Forum, a rights group which has been working on the disappearance and extra-judicial execution issues, said that the rebels were involved.
“Neither the government nor the Maoists have managed to investigate even a single case of disappearances,” Mandira Sharma, a human rights lawyer, said.
Dhruba Nepal, a senior NHRC official, said it was unfortunate that the Maoists and government had both failed to reveal the whereabouts of those missing as per their agreement.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal said that hundreds of disappearance cases remained outstanding.
“Our office continues to call for a strong, independent commission to investigate and resolve all cases of disappearances. Any mechanism set up to address the issue of disappearances should also address the numerous cases of individuals abducted by the Maoists over the past few years,” David Johnson, from OHCHR, said.
He was dragged away by Nepal's armed security forces for allegedly working with the Maoist rebels.
“The security force must have killed him by now. All I want to know is the truth - if he is dead or alive - so that I can rest in peace,” said Biswokarma from Kohalpur, a remote village in Bardiya District, nearly 800 km west of the capital, Kathmandu.
The Maoists and interim government, formed in April after mass protests ended King Gyanendra's direct rule, are in peace talks to end the decade-long conflict that has gripped the Himalayan kingdom.
The United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances said that after failed peace talks in 2001 and 2003 the numbers of disappearances attributed to both sides increased. By 2004 Nepal had the highest number of new disappearance cases in the world, the group said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal said 2,500 citizens had disappeared.
“We had hoped that the peace situation and the new government would help to reveal the whereabouts of our disappeared relatives but this did not happen,” Gohaney Chaudhary, whose 20-year-old son Durganath disappeared after he was arrested by security forces four years ago, said.
Last week hundreds of families marched to Kathmandu from remote villages to pressure the government to launch an investigation and find their relatives. They also organised a series of street demonstrations in the capital.
“We want both the Maoist and government leaders to include the issue of disappearances in their next round of talks,” Surya Bahadur Chaudhary, from Bardiya, said.
Suman, a Maoist leader in Bardiya, said the “worst tragedy” was that most of the disappeared were farmers and civilians.
“Only a handful of them were active members of our party… surely none of the disappeared victims is alive,” Suman said.
He rejected claims that the Maoists were involved in the abduction and killing of people.
However, Advocacy Forum, a rights group which has been working on the disappearance and extra-judicial execution issues, said that the rebels were involved.
“Neither the government nor the Maoists have managed to investigate even a single case of disappearances,” Mandira Sharma, a human rights lawyer, said.
Dhruba Nepal, a senior NHRC official, said it was unfortunate that the Maoists and government had both failed to reveal the whereabouts of those missing as per their agreement.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal said that hundreds of disappearance cases remained outstanding.
“Our office continues to call for a strong, independent commission to investigate and resolve all cases of disappearances. Any mechanism set up to address the issue of disappearances should also address the numerous cases of individuals abducted by the Maoists over the past few years,” David Johnson, from OHCHR, said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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