Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
Rebels 'still abuse human rights' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5380818.stm
By Sushil Sharma BBC News, Kathmandu
Peace talks are stalled over the question of disarmament
A United Nations human rights agency has accused Nepal's Maoist rebels of continuing to commit human rights abuses despite repeated pleas.
The office of the high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) called on the Maoists to be serious about punishing those responsible for abuses.
Maoist leaders deny any deliberate abuse, but they recently issued orders to halt mistreatment.
A ceasefire between the government and Maoists was agreed in April.
The OHCHR said that the rebels had been engaged in killings, abductions, torture, extortion and death of captives since the ceasefire.
Following persistent national and international criticism, the rebel leaders recently issued orders for such abuses to be halted and vowed to punish the violators.
But, the officer-in-charge of the OHCHR in Nepal, David Johnson, said on Tuesday that serious abuses continue throughout the country despite the Maoist directive.
He urged the Maoists to be serious and punish the guilty.
'Child soldiers'
The OHCHR submitted a list of abuses to the rebels earlier this month.
It said that the OHCHR was also investigating new reports of abuses since then.
The OHCHR said that the rebels continue to recruit and use children in the armed ranks.
It called on Maoist leaders to work with child rights agencies to allow them to return home, and to give clear directives to the cadres to stop recruiting children.
The rebels have been criticised more than the government for human rights abuses since a truce five months ago.
The truce has been followed by peace talks to end the 10-year insurgency that has left 13,000 people dead.
But the talks have stalled over the question of disarming the rebels before their induction into an interim government.
The prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, and the chairman of the Maoist communist party, Prachanda, are due to meet shortly to sort out the differences.