THE UN
Kanak Mani Dixit writes that it was distressing that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was not heard to utter the words "impunity" and "accountability" during his recent visit to Nepal ('The United Nations now', #424). In fact, in his address to members of the Constituent Assembly the Secretary-General spoke of the need to end impunity in the following terms: "Sustaining peace will also require efforts to heal the wounds of the conflict. That means clarifying the fate of those who disappeared and compensating victims. It means enabling the return of displaced persons to their homes. And it means undertaking an honest and inevitably painful acknowledgement of the truth of past human rights violations, and to end impunity." (Full text: www.unmin.org.np)

The Secretary-General's reports to the Security Council and the messages of Ian Martin as his Special Representative, both to political actors in Nepal and to the Security Council, have also repeatedly emphasised the need to clarify the fate of those who disappeared, to compensate victims, to enable the return of displaced persons to their homes, and to fulfil the commitments made in past agreements so that Nepal can have lasting peace.

Macarena Aguilar, Spokesperson
United Nations Mission in Nepal

WHO'S IN CHARGE?
CK Lal's column ('Who's in charge', # 426) is an absolute diagnosis of the current situation of law-and-order in Nepali society. From past experience we know some political identities prefer to be under gangsters. This is the reason thugs and criminals are running the country. Nice to read CK Lal after a long gap.

Puspa Pant,
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* Welcome back, CK Lalji, we missed your perceptive analysis and cogent prognosis about Nepal. 'Who's in charge'(#426) was spot-on. The editorial in the same issue, 'Rebels without a cause', is the first time I have seen anyone in the Nepali media looking at the demographic root causes of youth militancy in Nepal and why the political parties are beholden to them.

C Stetson,
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GAGAN THAPA
Gagan Thapa's comment ('Learning from South Africa', #426) was interesting. However, the ANC has been a prime example of a movement that came out to be hegemonic once institutionalised in the state. There is no effective party competition and racial segregation is still rife. Nepal should be careful not to follow that example?especially given the similarity with the Maoists.

Dikshya Thapa,
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OFF THE BEATEN TREK
From what appears on the map and the conditions they encountered, Boustead and his team must have passed through the Lukchi valley and also touched the mid-upper Barun while trekking through the Upper Arun ('Off the beaten trek,' # 426). The Barun-Lukchi is one of the very few areas in the Himalaya that can be described as Amazonian in its wildness and near-pristine ecology. It is too valuable biologically to be included in any popular trekking route.

It would be more sensible to develop a trail straddling the Shingsawa villages in the upper Arun right through to Thudam in the east. This would ensure the area completely off the existing Makalu and Kangchenjunga routes?a steady source of income and could be crucial in alleviating the area's chronic poverty and the smuggling of timber into Tibet, apparently widespread from Thudam. At the same time it is crucial that strategically located areas are singled out for development as tourism centres. Only then can the stranglehold of Kathmandu fat cats on the tourism pie be broken and an equitable share of it ensured to the locals.

Badri Rai,
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GREAT ARCHITECTURE
Amidst the well-deserved praise for the new and unique health facility, Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC) in Banepa, ('Backbone of healthcare', #424) which itself is the remarkable outcome of Kanak Mani Dixit's endeavours after his own spinal injury some years ago, we also appreciate the design of architect, Arun Pant. He has added another splendid landmark to the country's contemporary hospital buildings, in league with the Dhulikhel Hospital or the new one for civil servants in Kathmandu, built with Chinese assistance. The stark and white cement modernity of the latter example is also part of Pant's articulate design, though mellowed by some subtle allusions to traditional design features, combined with the warm colour of immaculate brick work: a beautiful and functional building of great empathy for its suffering clients, as well as for its dedicated professional staff.

Niels Gutschow and Goetz Hagmueller,
Bhaktapur