by Andrew Miller, PBI Nepal Project Committee

Kopila Adhikari is one of a new generation of human rights activists in Nepal.  Young, motivated, and willing to challenge social barriers, she leads the human rights documentation unit at Advocacy Forum, one of the country's leading non-governmental organizations.

With her father's encouragement, Ms. Adhikari became the first woman from her home district to attain a law degree.  While studying, she became increasingly involved in human rights issues as she provided legal assistance to women, children, and conflict victims.  In recent years, she has carried out human rights field missions to 63 of the country's 75 districts.

Ms. Adhikari's mobile phone tends to ring frequently.  During an interview with PBI she notes that every day, victims of the country's eleven-year civil war are contacting her to offer their stories.  She documents all these testimonies, often passing the information along to international human rights bodies.  If the evidence is strong - for example, if there are solid eye-witness accounts - it might form the basis for one of Advocacy Forum's legal cases.

Observers generally agree that Nepal's human rights situation has improved since Maoist rebels and the interim government signed a comprehensive peace agreement in 2006.  The UN's human rights office, however, recently highlighted the on-going challenge of addressing the lack of accountability of both the state security forces and the Maoists for past violations.  Advocacy Forum is at the forefront of the struggle against that impunity.

"There are thousands of cases of human rights violations from the districts," Ms. Adhikari explains.  "We work to give justice to the victims."  To this end, Advocacy Forum is helping conflict victims establish grassroots associations to strengthen their own voice.  One district's victims association has been visiting military barracks in search of loved ones, taking their concerns to local officials, and now plans to raise the issue with national leaders through a letter.

Witnesses to human rights atrocities are not the only people calling Ms. Adhikari's mobile phone.  A Maoist commander from a district close to Kathmandu recently phoned her to enquire about the conflict victims' association established with Advocacy Forum's support.  The Maoist explained that they were documenting all cases of "disappearances" and would take care of the victims, seeking compensation from the government.

The victims told a different story.  "They don't want to join with the Maoists or the security forces," Ms. Adhikari states.  "They just want to stay civilians and fight against the perpetrators."  Having asked the Maoists to respect their association, the victims also requested Ms. Adhikari to continue supporting them by attending their next meeting.

Advocacy Forum's efforts are also facing challenges from the government.  Following an initial documentation of the alleged crimes, the next step in a legal case is to file a "first information request" (FIR) with the police at a district level.  In theory, the police should investigate credible information about a crime having been committed.  But simply getting the authorities to register a complaint about torture or killings being committed - with high-ranking security force personnel as the alleged perpetrators - is often difficult.

"When we go to register the cases, the authorities look at us like we are the enemy."  She points to a recent situation in which she filed an FIR regarding allegations against a military officer.  The local police commander tried to humiliate her and got angry when she insisted that the case be registered.  While agreeing that the overall human rights situation in Nepal has improved, she told PBI "we still don't feel safe."

Since late 2006, PBI has been intensifying accompaniments of Advocacy Forum's visits to police headquarters in numerous districts across Nepal.  According to Ms. Adhikari, PBI's presence (along with UN human rights monitors, in some cases) has made a difference for the organization.  "We feel more secure when PBI goes with us to register the cases."  She pointed to a recent example, in which PBI accompanied her to carry out follow-up with the hostile police commander mentioned above.  The commander's attitude was noticeably different.  "He showed me documents, was very polite to me, treated me like I was a relative."

As Nepal's uncertain peace process continues, Advocacy Forum will stay on the front lines of efforts to strengthen accountability and justice.  The reaction from powerful individuals implicated in past and on-going human rights crimes remains to be seen.  Will they ignore Advocacy Forum, hoping the group's legal initiatives simply fade out?  Will they actively obstruct the cases?  Or will they fall back on familiar tactics of intimidation, threats, or worse?  In any case, PBI will be here to provide Advocacy Forum and other Nepali human rights groups with international protection and moral support for their critical work.