01/09/2006

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Below is an excerpt of an article from IRIN:

The year in Nepal was marked by continued conflict and political deadlock with significant human costs.

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King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, dismissed his government and declared a state of emergency. According to analysts, the king’s step has pushed the country back to the non-democratic, non-party and pre-democracy era of the Panchayat system by forming a council of ministers made up of royalists.

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The king said the move was aimed at crushing Maoist rebels who have been waging an armed campaign against the state since 1996.

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The February clampdown meant all civil liberties were suspended and press freedom was curtailed.

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The suspension of civil liberties and failure to restore democratic government provoked an angry response from the international community.

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Concerned with the serious impact of the conflict, aid agencies made a humanitarian appeal for Nepal for the first time through the UN’s Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) for $63 million. Key donors, including the United Nations and the European Union (EU), cautioned that the country was on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.

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“The brutality of both the Maoists and the government security forces, as well as the collapse of economic and social structures in villages, is forcing larger numbers of more vulnerable people to flee,” said a report by Refugees International (RI), an international group for the protection of displaced people.

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Local human rights activists fear that the level of violence, civilian insecurity and human rights abuses will escalate beyond control in 2006. There are expectations of more violence, especially as municipal elections scheduled for February approach.