Nepal PM flays Indian statement in Geneva

Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday criticized India for raking up human rights abuses in the Himalayan nation at a UN Human Rights Council meet in Geneva.

India, for the first time, raised the issue of war crimes committed during the decade-long conflict in any international forum and urged Nepal to carry out the transitional justice mechanisms in an effective way.

Speaking to the media, Oli demanded to know how India could be ignorant that the the UN was involved in Nepal's peace process.

He said India had not made its position public earlier on Nepal's transitional justice mechanisms or their efficacy but raised the issue at an international body.

The Indian representative said in Geneva that Nepal should "ensure the effective functioning of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and full implementation of its recommendations, including prosecution of those responsible for violent insurgency".

This has been widely interpreted here as another example of India's harsh stand vis-a-vis Nepal.

Without taking any name, Oli said: "Some days back, one of the leaders from our neighbourhood publicly warned that India will show its mettle against Nepal.

"Now, they are digging out a decade-old-issue," he added.

The prime minister said Nepal had formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and another commission to probe the disappeared people to address war crime issues such as killings, torture and rape.

"We faced war in the past. Then we realized it was not possible to have war all the time. So we initiated the peace process," said Oli, adding Kathmandu also invited the UN to resolve the armed conflict.

"The conflicting parties in the past are together today and carrying out democratic and peaceful reforms, whether they are in the government or not," he said.