Nepali Times
From The Nepali Press
Keepers of peace



The government has requested the United Nations to continue recruiting Nepali security force personnel for peacekeeping missions. The Foreign Ministry recently wrote a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stating, "The government is committed to improve the human rights situation in the country." It requested the commission not to suspend the peacekeeping quotas allocated for the Royal Nepali Army. The Commission has prepared a report to be presented at its annual general meeting in March stating that the Royal Nepali Army has been violating the human rights of its own citizens and therefore it can be concluded that it has not been able to respect human rights in the international peace keeping missions. If the report is passed Nepal could be debarred from UN peacekeeping forces.

The UN commission had sought the government's reaction to the report a month ago. "In its response the government said that in the name of violation of human rights, the RNA, which has earned fame for establishing peace in the international field, should not be pulled out of the peacekeeping force," a highly placed government source said. Before sending the reaction, the Foreign Ministry consulted with the defence and home ministries and the Human Rights Promotion Centre at the Prime Minister's Office. The Royal Nepali Army has been a part of the UN international peacekeeping force since 1975. Around 45,000 Nepali soldiers have served in UN missions and 3,000 RNA personnel go to different parts of the world as UN peacekeepers every year. Indian officials had hinted in media reports in December that the RNA's involvement in oversea peacekeeping missions was hampering its counter insurgency operations at home.


LATEST ISSUE
638
(11 JAN 2013 - 17 JAN 2013)


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