When it comes to ridiculous NGO press releases, this one from the Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON) should win a prize.

The only thing that is correct is that Kumar Lama should be tried in Nepal. But he hasn’t been.

The first thing that international human rights lawyers learn is that under international law, for the worst crimes (regarded as peremtory norms, torture being one of them) if a country delivers no ‘domestic remedies’ to solve a case, all other states are obligated to act.

Instead of talking about the Criminal Justice Act in the UK, the UN Charter and what HURON names as so-called “international law”, they should instead be pointing at the Convention Against Torture and jus cogens and saying that if Nepal fails to prosecute, somebody else should.

The future of human rights is the end of the border. HURON should remember that the International Criminal Court was set up to demonstrate this.

HR activists demand Col Lama trial in Nepal

Human Rights Organisation of Nepal has said that Colonel Kumar Lama should be prosecuted in Nepal under the Nepali judicial system.

Issuing a press release on Tuesday, it said that although transitional justice system has not yet been established in Nepal, justice can be delivered in such cases through the regular judicial system.

“Although, action on serious incidents is still not taken, we have capable and free court and judicial system,” read the statement issued by the organisation President Sudeep Pathak.

The decision to arrest Colonel Kumar Lama is conflicting because the section 134 of Criminal Justice Act 1988 of Britain is contradictory to the section 1and 4 of Article 2 of UN Charter 1945, further reads the statement.

The organisation has also urged the British government and concerned authorities to respect international law and government of Nepal to constitute Truth and Reconciliation Commission to take action on culprits.

From Himalayan Times >