Implementation rate dismal, says NHRC

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, August 6 The National Human Rights Commission expects rate of implementation of its recommendations by the government to decline
further despite the Supreme Court ruling that NHRC recommendations are binding. In the period of 17 years from 2000 to 2017, the NHRC
recommended 810 cases of human rights violation to the government for necessary action
Most of its recommendations were related to conflict era (1996-2006) rights violations. The government fully implemented only 12.5 per cent
of the recommendations
The NHRC statistics showed 48 per cent of the cases were partially implemented and 39 per cent of the cases were under consideration
Partial implementation refers to implementing some parts of the recommendation in a case, such as offering relief to victims but not filing
criminal case against the perpetrator. In fiscal year 2017-18, the NHRC made 126 recommendations to the government, but the government is
yet to respond to the NHRC regarding implementation of the recommendations
The NHRC expects the number of recommendations to rise to more than 800 for last fiscal year 2018-19, as a report for the year is being
prepared. Mohana Ansari, a NHRC member said since the tenure of the incumbent commissioners would expire in October next year, they aimed to
complete and make recommendations on around 4,000 pending cases
&Therefore, the number of recommendations are bound to rise,& she said. She expected the rate of implementation to decline further given the
rise in the number of recommendations
Recommendations to the government by the NHRC are related to various issues such as consumer rights, human trafficking, conflict-era rights
violations, torture, murder, rape, abduction and disappearance. Most of the recommendations are either partially implemented or not
implemented
For example, the NHRC made 18 recommendations related to consumer rights till March 2020
But, the government implemented only five recommendations, so far
Most of the recommendations related to conflict-era rights violations were not implemented or they were partially implemented
&Majority of the fully implemented recommendations are related to accused either dead or retired from service,& Ansari said. The government
is reluctant to respond to recommendations by the National Human Rights Commission
Formal channel of communication between the rights body and the government is that the NHRC submits its recommendations to the Office of the
Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, which is then forwarded to concerned ministries. The ministries then forward the recommendations to
respective departments and eventually the concerned government staffer
NHRC member Ansari said most of the recommendations never reached the concerned person, and that was the main cause behind the lack of
response
&That is why we have also started writing to individuals,& she said, referring to a recommendation related to Tikapur carnage of 2015. The
NHRC had recommended taking action against the CDO of Kailali district holding him responsible for the incident, but the CDO was transferred
around five days after the incident
The new CDO replied to the NHRC stating that he had nothing to do with incident. &Had the Home Ministry coordinated with us, the
complication would not have surfaced,& she said, adding that recommendations related to many conflict-era cases were facing similar
complications
&There a need to put in place an effective channel of communication.& Ansari said since the NHRC had been mandated by the law only to
investigate and make recommendations to the government, it was the government responsibility to file cases through the office of the
Attorney General. Observers said human rights situation would improve only after the government became accountable and the NHRC played a
proactive role in following-up with its recommendations
According to rights activist Chanran Prasai, since the Supreme Court has ruled that NHRC recommendations will be binding, the government
must not undermine it. Prasai said The National Human Rights Commission too seemed to be guided by the notion that its job is done after
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