A complaint accused King Gyanendra Shah of being responsible for injuries inflicted by security forces during Nepal’s 10-year-long civil war (AFP File)Nepal’s former king Gyanendra Shah may be investigated for human rights violations committed by security forces under his reign.
Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba too has been named in a complaint filed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a local official of the panel said.
The complainant, Rajan Kirati, accused Shah and Deuba of being responsible for injuries inflicted on him and others by security forces during Nepal’s 10-year civil war. Kirati is a Maoist office-bearer of Udyapur district.
More than 14,000 people were killed during the civil war between government forces and Maoist rebels from 1996 to 2006. Around 1,500 others disappeared without a trace.
The five-member commission, set up last year to probe “gross violations of human rights” during the war, has already received more than 15,000 complaints from victims and their families – more than the number of killings recorded by the government. The commission will make recommendations about reparation to victims and legal action against abusers.
Another commission set up to investigate enforced disappearances during the civil war received more than 1,600 complaints – also higher than the official figure of those who disappeared.
Gyanendra was the king from 2001 to 2008. His reign ended when the Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a republic and abolished the monarchy.
