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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001007 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: DRL KDEM NP PGOV PHUM SOCI
SUBJECT: NEPAL: DRL VITITORS MONITOR HUMAN RIGHTS GRANTS 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Nepali Constituent Assembly members, 
politically active youth leaders, and technocrats told 
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) bureau visitors that 
Nepal is unlikely to meet the May 28, 2010 deadline for 
drafting the constitution. The Maoists are by far the best 
organized party regarding drafting the legal framework of the 
constitution. According to local human rights groups, the 
National Human Rights Commission has become a politicized, 
ineffective, and disorganized institution incapable of 
effectively investigating human rights abuses in Nepal. END 
SUMMARY 
 
DRL Funded Projects In Nepal 
---------------------------- 
¶2. (U) Program Analysts Rozina Damanwala and Erin Spitzer 
from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) 
visited Kathmandu from October 16-27 to monitor the five DRL 
funded projects in Nepal. During the visit, the DRL staff met 
with a wide range of U.S. and Nepali experts (see list in 
para 7). 
 
DRL's five projects in Nepal are: 
 
a) American Bar Association (ABA), "Providing Comprehensive 
Forensic Assistance to Build Local Capacity in Nepal," 
$1,309,430 
b) Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), "Nepal: 
Enhancing Technical Capabilities in Support of Constitution 
Drafting," $860,000 
c) Search for Common Ground (SFCG), "Pathways to Peace," 
$510,000 
d) The Asia Foundation (TAF), "Promoting Responsive and 
Informed Development of Nepal's New Constitution," $500,000 
e) The Asia Foundation (TAF), "Strengthening the Human Rights 
Commission: Phase II," $650,000 
 
Constitution Drafting Slowed By Party Politics 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶3. (SBU) In conversations with constitutional scholars, 
Constituent Assembly (CA) members, and politically active 
youth leaders, the consensus during week-long discussions was 
that Nepal is unlikely to meet the May 28, 2010 deadline for 
constitution drafting due to party infighting compounded by 
the intractability of complex issues remaining, such as 
federalism and state structuring. Two mechanisms exist for 
extending the deadline beyond May 28. The first is a 
declaration of a state of emergency which invokes a six-month 
extension, and the second is a parliamentary amendment, 
requiring 2/3 consensus, which would grant an extension 
beyond May 28, 2010. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Lawyers from PILPG, who provide technical legal 
memoranda to Nepali political leaders and technocrats, said 
they are concerned about what happens the day after a 
constitution is drafted. The Nepali public, as well as 
lawmakers, are unprepared for the "what next" phase after 
constitutional ratification. PILPG's advisors who work 
directly with all major political parties in Nepal said the 
Maoists are by far the most capable, organized, and savvy 
about constitution drafting and the long-term ramifications 
of how precisely the document is drafted. Civil society 
leaders, youth organizers, and Nepali CA members all seem 
divided on how the public will likely react if, as predicted, 
the constitution drafting deadline is extended. Some see 
public dissent and anger rising to the level of street 
protests and unrest (especially in the Terai and among ethnic 
groups), while others see the public so consumed by 
day-to-day quality of life issues (rising food prices, 
electricity shortages, and strikes) that they will accept an 
extension without civil unrest. 
 
National Human Rights Commission in Disarray 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) Nepal's constitutional human rights commission is in 
disarray and unable to effectively fulfill its mandate to 
safeguard human rights in Nepal and investigate allegations 
 
KATHMANDU 00001007  002 OF 002 
 
 
of abuse according to most observers. Bishal Khanal, the 
executive secretary of NHRC, told EmbOffs the commission is 
in desperate need of qualified staff, capacity building, and 
training. He said NHRC has somewhere between 30-50 
investigators nationwide. Khanal, who is an experienced human 
rights academic and career bureaucrat, was unable to 
articulate a strategy, vision, or plan for NHRC outside of 
administrative hiring priorities over the next six months. He 
downplayed the bitter rivalry NHRC has stoked with OHCHR and 
was secretive about NHRC's capacity building initiatives from 
international donors, making donor coordination difficult. 
According to Andrew Palmer, OHCHR's chief liaison with NHRC, 
Khanal has been accused of corruption and is attempting to 
clear his name. Palmer said survival within NHRC seems to be 
his main priority. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Human rights groups also lack confidence in NHRC. 
Mandira Sharma, executive director of the human rights NGO, 
Advocacy Forum, said the public does not trust NHRC. The 
institution has been politicized with the major political 
parties forcing their partisan choices for commissioner. 
Sudip Pathak, president of the Human Rights Organization of 
Nepal (HURON) and a former NHRC commissioner, conceded the 
NHRC moves slowly and bureaucratically but blamed the 
institution's lack of effectiveness on a paucity of staff and 
resources, as well as the difficulty for Nepalis of 
investigating sensitive allegations of human rights abuses in 
a country where rule-of-law, and protection, is not firmly 
established. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The DRL visitors met in Kathmandu with: Dave Sadoff, 
American Bar Association; Brendan Doherty and Elizabeth 
Dallas, Public International Law & Policy Group; Sunil Pant, 
Blue Diamond Society (CA Member); Bishal Khanal, National 
Human Rights Commission; George Varughese, Asia Foundation; 
Gehendra Lal Malla, Bipin Adhikary, Surya Dhungel, Purna Man 
Shayka, Society for Constitutional & Parliamentary Exercises; 
Bishwambher Pyakurel, Tribhuvan University; Deepak Thapa, 
Social Sciences Baha; Dwarika Nath Dhungel, Institute for 
Integrated Development Studies; Serena Rix Tripathee & Sarah 
McLaughlin, Search for Common Ground; Robin Sitoula, 
Samriddhi; Narayan Adhikari, Youth Initiative; Pawan Roy, 
Youth Action Nepal; Brigadier General Nirendra Aryal, Nepal 
Army Directorate of Human Rights; Andrew Palmer & Jyoti 
Sanghera, OHCHR; Sapana Pradhan Malla, Forum for Women, Law & 
Development (CA Member); Sudip Pathak, Human Rights 
Organization of Nepal; Subodh Raj Pyakurel, Informal Sector 
Service Center; Ryan Smith, Chemonics; Radheshyam Adhikari, 
CA Member; Durga Sob, Feminist Dalit Organization; Mandira 
Sharma, Advocacy Forum; Bhakta Bishwakarma, Nepal National 
Dalit Social Welfare Organization; and Tirtha Bishwakarma, 
Dalit NGO Federation. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶8. (SBU) Nepal has talented, capable, and dedicated human 
rights activists and organizations who are the driving forces 
in protecting and promoting human rights, but the impact of 
their efforts will be limited unless the Constituent Assembly 
succeeds in adopting a new Constitution. 
MOON