UN flays Nepal govt for banning mointors

Kathmandu, Apr 21 (UNI) The United Nations human rights experts have criticised the Nepal government for violating agreements by banning the deployment of UN monitoring teams during the curfew and the using excessive police force against the unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators.

The government had refused to issue passes to the UN human rights monitoring team, ambulances and journalists yesterday.

According to the UN spokesman, ''following the delivery of a letter from High Commissioner Louise Arbour, the Nepalese chief of Army staff said that UN staff would be given curfew passes for today.'' But yesterday's ban prevented UN teams from fulfilling their work in monitoring and playing a restraining role both with demonstrators and security forces, the UN website quoted the spokesman as saying.

UNOHCHR spokesman in Nepal Kieran Dwyer said the denial of curfew passes was ''a clear violation'' of the agreement between the OHCHR and the government setting out the mandate for the Nepal office which ''provides that OHCHR-Nepal shall have 'freedom of movement throughout the country''.

''The law enforcement agencies have resorted to indiscriminate firing of rubber bullets, even on occasion live ammunition into crowds, beatings, raids on homes and destruction of property. Scores of bystanders and demonstrators, including women, children, journalists and lawyers have been identified among the casualties," the experts said.

Three people were shot dead and over 100 injured when security forces indiscriminately opened fire at demonstrations of tens of thousands of people in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu was completely under darkness last night for half an hour from 2000hrs as people observed black out protesting the excessive use of force by the royal government.

UNI XC SB BST1349