February 16, 11

NEWS / Nepal: UN urges arrest of suspects in murder of young girl seven years ago

16 February 2011 – The top United Nations human rights official in Nepal today called on the Government to arrest the four army officers suspected to have carried out the torture and killing of a 15-year-old girl, stressing the need to end impunity for a crime that was committed seven years ago.

Maina Sunuwar was killed in the Birendra Peace Operations in central Nepal on 17 February 2004. In September 2007, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered that the case be investigated, and the following year, criminal charges were filed and arrest warrants issued for four accused Nepal Army personnel. The warrants have yet to be executed.

Jyoti Sanghera, the Head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal), urged the Government to enforce the court order against the four accused army personnel.

“For the past five years, OHCHR has been one voice among many calling for justice in the case of Maina Sunuwar,” she stated in a news release issued in Kathmandu.

The Supreme Court and the Kavre District Court have issued rulings and the Office of the Attorney General has filed charges “but justice is yet to be realised,” she noted.

“Upholding the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law by fully complying with court orders is an essential principle of a democracy. Continuing to ignore court orders perpetuates impunity in Nepal and sets a negative precedent regarding all human rights cases.”

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37543&Cr=Nepal&Cr1=