The US has put equal onus on the Maoist and non-Maoist parties to take the peace process forward and complete the constitution by the May 28 deadline.
It has adopted a similar approach to human rights violations, with stress on the need to investigate violations by both Nepal Army and UCPN (Maoist) perpetrators. Action against the culture of impunity is high on the US agenda in Nepal.
“The US is urging timely progress in the peace process. We believe all parties need to be flexible to successfully reach agreements to meet the deadline,” visiting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon told reporters on Wednesday. “The High Level Political Mechanism could be a useful tool in bringing all the parties together and in reaching agreements on difficult issues that need to be decided.”
Moon suggested that the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Disappearance Commission would be important starting points in addressing outstanding cases of human rights violations. “I raised human rights in all my meetings. I indicated we wanted Nepal Army and the Maoists to seriously address human rights issues. We made it clear that human rights issues should be addressed as part of the peace process. It remains at the top of the US agenda.”
He said: “Maoists, like other parties, need to show flexibility and willingness to compromises. We don't think that strikes are useful. We also noted the importance of the release of the disqualified [Maoist] combatants.”
He said the US-Maoist dialogue would continue. “We talked about removing the Maoists from the terro-rist list and we talked about the steps Maoists should take including the renouncing of violence and terro-rism, holding accountable those who are responsible of human rights violations.”
Moon hailed UNMIN's role in Nepal's peace process. “We certainly think UNMIN's role has been a positive one. They, like others, have been a little frustrated with the slow progress on issues they have been charged with.”
