JUBILEE SOUTH STATEMENT ON THE NEPAL’S POLITICAL CRISIS
Posted on February 10 2005 |
Ironically, the King has been wielding iron-fist tactics at the same time that he is laying claims to working for peace with the Maoist insurgency. Recently, last February 1, in a shameless power grab, the King summarily dismissed government and two days later, imposed total censorship for a six-month period. Meanwhile, soldiers reportedly mill around in media centers, monitoring information released to the public. The airport and all communications have been shut down. Political leaders have been arrested and imprisoned; others have gone into hiding, fearing for their security. That “establishing peace” should be the rationalization for political repression makes these moves of Gyanendra's royal regime all the more reprehensible.
Jubilee South warns that this state of affairs opens the Nepalese people to the encroachments of powerful countries like the United States. The US has historically shown no qualms of intruding in the sovereign affairs of nations, especially South countries where many of its economic and political interests are at stake.
Already, the US, along with various international financial institutions, have for years been financing the build-up of Gyanendra’s military. They are equally accountable for the curtailment of democratic freedoms, for the many lives threatened and lost in Gynanendra’s oppressive campaign.
The world should now focus its attention on the more than 40 percent of Nepal’s 26.5 million-population that continues to live below the poverty line. It should be remembered that thousands have fallen victim to mass abductions, kidnappings, tortures, murders, rape and extra-judicial killings. Many more are currently living in the shadow of fear created by Gyanendra’s mailed-fist attempts to quash the Maoist rebellion.
Jubilee South condemns in the strongest terms these blatant violations of basic democratic rights to free speech and press, peaceful assembly and freedom of movement. No situation where citizens are hounded for their political beliefs, subjected to arbitrary searches and seizures, and detained without benefit of due process can be condoned.
JUBILEE SOUTH
Jubilee South - APMDD (Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development)
February 8, 2005
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