Asian Human Rights Commission

(Ed. note: This statement was distributed on June 27, 2005.)

Torture, extrajudicial killings, disappearances and other abuses often result in severe trauma for victims and their families. This trauma outlives the violation, leaving an indelible impression on the minds of victims.

Given the large scale of human rights violations occurring throughout Nepal for the last few years, it is inevitable that an enormous number of people are suffering from trauma. The rights protection of these individuals is impossible without serious attempts to address their psychological needs. Unless this is done effectively, a large section of Nepal's population will not perceive the U.N. human rights monitoring mission to be a serious one. The country's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had all but ignored this issue even prior to the coup on Feb. 1, 2005. With the king's recent changes to the commission, little can be expected from this institution by way of aid for victims of abuse. The entire responsibility thus falls on the U.N. mission in Nepal.

Past U.N. human rights monitoring missions have been lacking in the provision of trauma treatment facilities. This omission may stem from a limited understanding of human rights monitoring as only being the pursuit of incidents of human rights abuse with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice. However, there must also be a proportionate focus on the victims of human rights abuse, particularly those suffering from trauma. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) hopes that a significant approach can be adopted in Nepal regarding the treatment of trauma victims. All that is required is one or more competent psychologists to be included on the staff team of the mission or, if that poses bureaucratic difficulties, to add people with these skills as consultants sponsored by the mission. There should be no difficulty in finding funds to support such people, and many professional organisations, if approached, could help locate them. These people can perform two main functions. One is to treat victims and create facilities for this treatment; the second is to train individuals within Nepal with the necessary skills, thereby laying the foundation for the care of victims to be a permanent feature of the human rights movement in the country.

Seriously attending to the needs of trauma victims will steadily build trust for the mission in Nepal. Such trust is essential for success in all aspects of human rights monitoring. A sad feature of earlier U.N. missions in Asia has been their isolation from the people. The mission in Nepal may thus contribute a significant feature that could become a trademark of future human rights monitoring. The AHRC urges the U.N. office to promptly consider this issue and implement it with a sense of urgency.