Recommendations developed in the expert meeting on „Democracy, Human Rights and Development in Nepal. Contribution to a peaceful conflict resolution”, Berlin, 9 March 2006

Seven German organisations, Amnesty International (German Chapter), EED, Peace Brigades International (PBI), Misereor, South Asia Bureau, Adivasi Coordination, and Gossner Mission, organized an expert meeting on “Democracy, Human Rights and Development in Nepal” on 9 March 2006 in Berlin, Germany.

Objective of the meeting was to develop recommendations for action towards the German Government, the EU and German NGOs to enhance the security of human rights defenders and the protection of civil society organisations and to support the advancement of democratic processes and human rights in Nepal. Three representatives of different NGOs from Nepal, one representative of the UN High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva and representatives of the German Foreign Ministry and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development were asked to present their assessments of the situation in Nepal.

Later in the day the participants developed a number of recommendations for action given below:*

For the German Government:

• Peace should become a focal area of German development work in Nepal and should remain a cross-cutting issue at the same time. By doing so more importance would be attached to the issue of peace in the political dialogue with the Nepalese Government.
• Empowerment of the public: The German Government should intensify its efforts to support activities for peace and to sensitize the civil society in Nepal for democracy. Gender aspects should be considered by all parties involved.
• The German Government should support the “7-party-alliance” to further dialogue with the Maoists.
• The German Government is asked to lobby with India to agree to a facilitation of the peace process by a third entity.
• Additionally, the German Government should be committed to an intensified support of projects of the ‘Civil Peace Services’ (Ziviler Friedensdienst, ZFD) in Nepal and should provide that in the current human rights crisis there are enough funds for security trainings and for protective accompaniment programmes, like the programmes Peace Brigades International (PBI) is implementing.
• The German Government is asked to advocate the withdrawal of laws and ordinances violating international human rights standards, like e.g. TADO, PSA, the Media Ordinance and the Code of Conduct for NGOs.
• The German Government should call upon the Nepalese Government to implement the EU-guidelines for the safety of human rights defenders. Regular visits to Nepal of the UN-Special Rapporteurs of the relevant human rights issues should be supported by the German Government on EU-level. (Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, visit pending since December 2003; Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, visit pending since June 2004; Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions, visit pending since September 2004; Special Representative of the Secretary General on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, visit pending since September 2004)
  The Nepalese Government should be requested to invite the Special Rapporteurs.
• The German Government is asked to lobby on EU-level for “smart sanctions” against the Nepalese Government and the Maoists. To do this it is necessary to define objectives, indicators, a time frame and the consequences in case of non-implementation of the objectives. Inclusiveness (in terms of gender, minorities, Dalits) should be considered. The objectives should include negotiations between the conflict parties, a bilateral ceasefire, a peace agreement, and a plan for a constitutional assembly.
• The implementation of the objectives in the defined time frame has to be monitored closely internationally.

For the German Members of Parliament:

• It is suggested to the parliamentarians to present a ‘small motion’ (“Kleine Anfrage”) in the German parliament to ask about the steps the German Embassy in Kathmandu undertakes to actively protect human rights defenders resp. what the German Embassy is planning to do in this connection in future.
• The US-government supports the dialogue between the king and the political parties, rules out, however, to include the Maoists since they have been branded “Terrorists” after 11 September 2001.
  Conflict resolution without the inclusion of the Maoists, however, does not appear to be realistic. Therefore, the German members of parliament should start a dialogue with those US-parliamentarians who support the inclusion of the Maoists into peace talks for them to influence the US-Government.

For the German parliamentarian delegation to Nepal:

• Given the necessity to develop democratic structures the German members of parliament are asked to discuss with the leaders of the political parties in Nepal questions of development of secondary leadership and promotion and participation of women, ethnic minorities and Dalits in political processes.

• The parliamentarians should intensify the dialogue with German NGOs on Nepal, e.g. in preparation of the visit of the delegation to Nepal.

• The delegation is asked to address the problem of security of human rights defenders in Nepal with the Nepalese Government and representatives of the CPN (Maoist). They should try to meet human rights organisations and human rights defenders and to stick up for the extension and broadening of the mandate of the OHCHR in Nepal.

• The delegation should also ask about the status and the whereabouts of disappeared persons and should – if possible – talk to their relatives. In this connection the prevalent issue of impunity of human rights violations should be raised.

The parliamentarians are requested to call upon the German Government (together with the governments of other EU states) to ask Switzerland to initiate a Round Table of all conflict parties.