Sexual violence during civil war an open wound for Nepal

Kathmandu, Sep 23 (IANS/EFE) Hundreds of Nepalese women who suffered sexual abuse during the civil war are still waiting for justice, eight years after the end of the conflict, human rights organisations reported Tuesday.

More than 200 women who were victims of sexual violence have been identified so far, said Kopila Adhikari of the Nepalese organisation Advocacy Forum in a press conference in Kathmandu, adding that most of them were raped.

"The perpetrators are still walking free," Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, asserted in the presentation of the report "Silenced and Forgotten: Survivors of Nepal's Conflict-Era Sexual Violence".

In 1996, Maoists launched an insurgency in Nepal to oust the monarchy, a fight that ended in 2006 and claimed the lives of about 15,000 people.

Monarchy was abolished and the Himalayan country became a republic, but those who committed crimes and abuses have not yet been brought to justice.

"Sexual violence is a stigma that is attached to women. A sympathetic approach to the subject matter is needed," Ganguly said.

Many women do not even initially inform that they have been raped when they visit a doctor after the sexual assault.

"Given the social structure, the victims cannot openly come forward," said Adhikari of Advocacy Forum.

In many cases when the abused females decide to file a complaint it is too late because under the law in Nepal, one can report on such crimes only within a period of 35 days.

Both soldiers as well as Maoist insurgents committed the crimes.

The military raped women during search operations in rural areas and accused females of sympathizing with the Maoists, while the rebels accused them of being government informers and not joining them, said Human Rights Watch investigator Tejshree Thapa.

"The Maoists abducted them, made them cook and clean, and also raped them over a period of time," she said.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is the only hope of justice for the victimised females.

"Although it may be difficult to identify the perpetrators, the organisation can give some kind of compensation to the victims," said Thapa, who added that in former Yugoslavia those responsible were identified within the army after several years.

"Day to day needs are more important for these women. The sense of justice is very remote," Thapa said.

--IANS/EFE

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