The cabinet promoted Nepal Army General Toran Jung Bahadur Singh to the position of Lieutenant General on Thursday. The prime minister made the decision on Christmas Eve hoping to draw minimum attention to the announcement. Kantipur reports:

According to the Ministry of Defence, the prime minister chose the date ‘strategically’. Most embassies are on a holiday. The prime minister is hoping the news of the promotion will have died down by the time he returns from his visit to China which is scheduled to begin on Saturday.

Singh has been accused of involvement in the disappearance of 49 alleged Maoists who were detained in Bhairavnath Battalion of Nepal Army between 2002 and 2003. Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari had been pushing for his promotion saying it was holding up the promotions of other officials in the army. On Thursday, Bhandari told The Kathmandu Post:

“Singh’s promotion is part of the regular job. There is nothing to object,” Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari told reported in Biratnagar, following the cabinet decision. ‘There is no case pending at the court against him and we can’t prevent anybody’s promotion just based on allegations.”

Bhandari had threatened to boycott cabinet meetings if the prime minister did not promote him, reports Kantipur:

Bhandari has been absent from over a dozen cabinet meeting called by the prime minister. Sources close to the minister said she had threatened to attend future cabinet meetings unless Singh was promoted.

The National Human Rights Commission, OHCHR and other human rights groupss have been demanding legal action against the general. Several countries, including the UK and US, had the government to investigate the allegations  before promoting him. Singh’s promotion will impact Nepal Army’s prestige in and outside the country, OHCHR said on Thursday. From The Kathmandu Post:

“OCHCR’s position since 2006 has been consistent – those implicated in human rights violations committed by members of the 10^th Brigade in 2003 and in 2004, when General Singh was in command, should not be promoted pending completion of a full, transparent and impartial investigation,” said Representative of OHCHR-Nepal Richard Bennett.

The decision comes two days after U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy delivered a speech on the senate floor, calling out Nepal Army for their failure to reform. He said:

“I have urged the Nepal Army to respect human rights and cooperate with civilian judicial authorities in investigations of its members who abuse human rights. I spoke on this subject a few days ago in relation to the horrific case of Maina Sunuwar, a 15 year old Nepal girl who was tortured to death by Nepal Army officers who then sought to cover up the crime.

The prime minister may have chosen the holiday season to make the decision, but he might want to rethink the part about noone paying attention.

(Posted by Indu Nepal)