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Prevent unlawful assembly, Amnesty tells Nepal

London May 8. While acknowledging the grave threat to law and order posed by Maoists in Nepal, Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into reports that more than 500 rebels have been killed by security forces at Lisne Lek in Rolpa district since May 3.

``Amnesty international is concerned that the figures of people killed, as provided by the Ministry of Defence, suggest that international standards which require the security forces to respect the right to life and refrain from using lethal force unless absolutely necessary have not been respected,'' the global human rights watchdog said in a statement here on Tuesday night.

``There could be more killings as the security forces' operation is continuing and several hundred Maoists are reportedly being surrounded,'' Amnesty said.

``Amnesty international is urging that the bodies are not immediately disposed off and that the scene of the killings is safeguarded to ensure that an independent investigation can verify the exact circumstances of the killings,'' the statement said.

Amnesty also called upon the authorities to give full cooperation to any inquiry and provide prompt and unhindered access to the areas concerned.

An independent investigation team, from the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal or a similar body, should be given powers to ascertain whether international human rights and humanitarian law standards have been respected and to recommend criminal prosecution of anyone found to have been responsible for unlawful killings.

It also expressed concern at rewards for the capture, dead or alive, of senior Maoist leaders issued by the authorities recently.

``Such announcements amount to an encouragement by the authorities for the security forces to violate the right to life. They undermine the rule of law and guarantees of due process as laid down in the Constitution'', it said.

140 Nepalese security personnel were killed overnight in a Maoist attack on police and army posts in the western rebel stronghold of Rolpa, local officials said today.

105 policemen and 35 army personnel died in the battle, the officials said.

The attack occurred in the Gama area of Rolpa, where security forces have killed 600 rebels in a week-long assault on Maoist training camps.

A source in the Nepalese cabinet confirmed the attack but said authorities in Kathmandu were still awaiting details on the toll.

The assault on security forces comes as the Nepal's Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, visits Washington, where he said he secured a strong vow of support from the U.S. President, George W.

``I am very glad, I am very happy, about the President being supportive to our campaign against terrorism,'' Mr. Deuba told reporters after the Oval Office meeting. ``He has assured he will help in many ways.''

He did not say what help Mr. Bush offered, but in the past Nepal has sought money, arms, ammunition and helicopters to combat Maoists fighting to establish communist rule in a six-year conflict that has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

Nepal has given its army sweeping powers under a state of emergency to crush the guerrillas since they walked out of peace talks in November.

The Maoists offered to renew the talks last week but Mr. Deuba rejected this and demanded they surrender.

U.S. military experts visited Nepal recently to assess the impoverished South Asian nation's military needs and to gauge what support Washington could provide, officials said.

The Bush administration is seeking $20 million from the Congress to help Kathmandu fight the guerrillas.

The violence has wrecked the aid-dependent economy and driven away tourists, who are a key source of income to the picturesque nation that is home to Mount Everest and draws thousands of backpackers and mountain climbers each year. — PTI, AFP, Reuters

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