 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HURPES major activities 2001-2002 [16 July 2001-16 July 2002] 1. Membership: In the year 2001-2002, the CEC provided membership to 438 new people who applied for it accepting the statute and policies of the organization. The accumulated number of people taking membership of HURPES since its inception has reached 2029. 2. District Committees: Nine new District Committees (DCs) have been formed and received the recognition by the CEC during this period taking the total number of DCs to 46. The new DCs are as follows: District and Chairperson i) Udayapur Shukuram Shrestha ii]Sunsari Purushottam Ghimire iii) Jajarkot Tej Vikram Shah iv) Tanahun Ghanashyam Ghimire v) Panchthar Durga Prasad Baral vi) Dailekh Resham Shahi vii) Parsa Chandra Kishor Jha viii)Jhapa Dr.Chudaman Shiwakoti ix]Dhankuta Bhawani Subedi
3. National Council Meeting: The fourth National Council Meeting (NCM) of HURPES took place in Kathmandu on 28-29 September 2001 with a main slogan "Fearless Social Context: Humanity's highest Message." Jointly inaugurated by former deputy prime minister Bamdev Gautam and former minister Ramhari Joshi .Speaker of the House of Representative, Taranath Ranabhat was the chief guest of the closing ceremony of NCM. The meeting, participated by 240 delegates, passed the CEC annual activities report; account audit report; annual plan and budget and nine policy resolutions. Similarly, the NCM also endorsed the financial by-law, CEC by-law, District Committee by-law and staff by-law. Chitwan and Kaski branch of HURPES was awarded for their remarkable contribution to enhance the culture of peace . 4. CEC Meeting: Eleven CEC meetings were held during this period. No CEC member has claimed for the transportation expenses and daily allowances incurred. 5. National Secretariat (NS): At the NS, three permanent staff are working. On the night of 27th August 2001 , the office of the organization was burgled. The door was found broken but nothing was stolen. In 15 January 1998 also, mysterious theft had taken place at the office of the organization. 6. Membership Appeals Committee (MAC): The CEC appointed Mr. Subhash Dhakal as convenor and Ms. Kemika Bhandari and Mr. Narayan Prasad Shrestha as members of the MAC for two years from 25 May 2002 , as per Section 3, article 5 (A) of CEC by -law. 7. Library: The Peace Society Library located at the central office of the organization presently has 1050 books (including journals). 8. Transparency: Following the organization's policy of transparency, the account and audit report; annual activities report of the year 2000-2001were made public through press. While doing this it was also made public that if there were any queries of the press, the office of the organization could be contacted within three days to obtain further information. As a part of maintaining internal transparency, all the decisions of CEC, information/report about programs and other documents were communicated to all the District Committees through regular fortnightly mailings. 9. Financial Assistance: Since its inception, the organization has not accepted any financial assistance/grant from the government or the governmental organizations. In the fiscal year 2001-2002, Finland-based Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights provided the organization with a financial assistance worth Rs. 9,76,978 [14400. Euro] for social equality awareness campaign. As per the policy of transparency, the organization made public through the press about the provider of the fund, targeted programs and the amount too. 10. Research Missions: On the incidences of the arson, vandalism and communal disharmony occurred in several VDCs including Biruwaguthi VDC of Parsa district on 7-9 September 2001, a research mission was conducted on October 2001 and a report entitled "Sowing of the Seed of Caste Hatred in Terai because of Maoist Abuses and Government Inaction" was made public. In the context of the complaints being received from several parts of the country after the state of emergency was declared in Nepal on 26 November 2001, the organization had written to the Ministry of Home affairs , His Majesty's Government (HMG), on 17 May 2002 ,for permission to conduct a research mission to Thawang of Rolpa district . But the mission could not be undertaken due to absence of approval from HMG. 11. Campaigns: The organization ran five campaigns during this period. With an objective to raise awareness [during the state of emergency and period of suspension of fundamental freedoms] ,on the international humanitarian laws and human rights laws, symposia on "The Respect of and Adherence to the International Humanitarian Laws and Human Rights Laws" were held in 38 districts from 9 January -2 March 2002. As a part of its annual social equality awareness campaign, peace drama tour was held in March 2002 . During the campaign, a drama "Kolahal Basti Ko Abhilekh" (Records of the Dissonant Settlement) with a message of peace was shown in 16 districts. On the second part of the campaign, 16 colloquium organized in 16 places of 15 districts. Likewise, in May 2002 , peace marches were held in 20 districts with a main slogan "Peace is Our Right".In June 2002 , symposia/interactions were held in 15 districts with the main theme "Let's Do Something towards Peace for the future of Nepal and the Nepalese." From the year 2002 the organization has started a new campaign with a name "Time Campaign." As a concrete step to oppose a reality that most of the programs in Nepal are started late, the organization has started a custom of starting on exact time all the programs organized by the CEC. [Two campaigns including 10-day campaign declared in the context of the International human rights day (10 December) and the seven-day campaign declared in the context of the SAARC summit held in Kathmandu on January 2002, were reduced to one day programme because of the declaration of the state of emergency in the country on 26 November] 12. Programs: (This list includes only those programs organized or coordinated by the CEC during 2001-2002. For about 230 days of the year, the country remained under the state of emergency in which the fundamental rights remained suspended.)
1-5. In July –August 2001 ,five symposia on the rights of the child focusing on children situation in armed conflict were held in 5 districts . 6. On 20 August 2001 , a delegation of the organization called on the prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and requested the HMG to ratify the statute of the International Criminal Court and to start actions from the top for the eradication of corruption. On the occasion, the delegation had drawn the attention of the prime minister on various aspects of human rights and peace. 7. On 27 September 2001, a peace march was held in Kathmandu. 8. On 28-29 September 2001 , the annual general meeting of fourth National Council of the organization took place in Kathmandu . A total of 240 representatives participated in the meeting.
14-51. From 9 January2002-2 March 2002, symposia [38]on "The Respect of and Adherence to the International Humanitarian Laws and Human Rights Laws" were held in 38 districts of the country. 3140 people from different walks of life participated in those symposia including judges, elected representatives, Chief District Officers, representatives of the Royal Nepalese Army, the Nepal Police, human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, representatives of ICRC office in Nepal,and victims of human rights violations and abuses. 52-67.from 16th March 2002, as a part of social equity awareness campaign of the organization, a drama "Kolahal Basti Ko Abhilekh" (Records of the Dissonant Settlement) was performed by SARWANAM dram group in 16 districts of the country under Peace Drama Tour.. As the office bearers of SARWANAM in Kathmandu were given death threats by anonymous people identifying themselves as "Maoists,"in relation to the drama performances, the performances had to be postponed after 16 performances at the request of SARWANAM, though 45 performances were planned. 68-79. In March 2002 talk program/interactions were held in 12 districts on peace issues during the course of the peace drama tour. 80-95. from April-July 2002 , interaction programs/symposia were held on the theme"Campaign against Untouchability:Not to Divide but to Unite" in 16 places of 15 districts, 96-115.In May 2002 , peace demonstrations were held in 20 districts. 116-130. , In June 2002, 15 interactions/symposia were held on the theme "Let's Do Something towards Peace for the future of Nepal and the Nepalese in 15 districts of Nepal in relation to mark the anniversary of the organization. 131. On 15 June 2002, an interaction program was held in Kathmandu focusing on the protection of the human rights defenders in the context of the state of emergency. 132. On 26 June ,In the context of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture ,an interaction program was held in Kathmandu on "Effective Steps Needed for the Eradication of Torture." The District Committees widely distributed the 10-point program of the organization for the eradication of torture .. 133. On 5 July 2002 ,an interaction program on "International Campaigning Against the Use of Children as Soldiers" was held in Kathmandu. HURPES is a member of the International Steering Committee of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. 134. On 2002 6 July , an interaction program on " Weakness Existing in Judicial System and the Question of Human Rights" was held in Kathmandu. 135. On 9 July 2002 ,an interaction program was held in Kathmandu on "The Food Problems Facing People in Rural areas due to Strategy of the Parties Involved in Armed Conflict."
During this period, the publications were made.
i) "Context of Nepal: Respect of and adherence to International Humanitarian Laws and Human Rights Laws" ii) "Not to Divide but to Unite" iii) The collection of the statute, by-laws and the decisions of HURPES national council meetings . iv) Research manual booklet. v) Booklet on Fourth National Council Meeting vi) Report on Biruwaguthi incident. vii) Peace Journal .
Apart from these, in the context of International Children's Day (20 November) a working paper "Child Rights, Human Rights, Peace Education and Peace Culture", in the context of the International Human Rights Day (10 December) a concept paper on "No One has the Right to Play Politics with the Lives of the People" and in the context of the UN Day for the Support of the Victims of Torture, "10-point Program for the Eradication of Torture" were published and widely distributed through the District Committees of the organization.
15. Participation in International Meeting:
1] Krishna Pahadi, Chairperson of HURPES, participated in a conference held on human rights defenders in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, From17-19 January 2002, organized by FRONT LINE, an organization established to work on human rights defenders.
During this period, HURPES issued 29 press releases in relation to human rights violations, abuses and other subjects. Apart from this, it also issued two press releases jointly with other human rights organizations.
Out of the 29 press releases, eight were on the human rights violations by the government, eight were on brutal and terrorizing activities by the Maoists, two were in relation to international incidences (condemning the 11 September terrorist attacks on USA and 13 December terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament at New Delhi). The activities and press statements of the organization were given considerable coverage by the national and international media.
The organization actively participated in the discussion held by the prime minister with human rights organizations and various interaction and other programs organized by National Human Rights Commission, Human Rights and Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, National Women Commission and various NGOs.
The letter writing to draw attention on various aspects of human rights and peace continued through out the year.
Apart from these, the District Committees of HURPES organized several programs at local levels on various current issues.
|
