THE UNITED NATIONS is to investigate Nepal’s vetting process for UN peacekeepers after a Nepalese army officer working for the organisation was arrested on suspicion of torture, a report said on Sunday (January 6).
Colonel Kumar Lama, a peacekeeper in South Sudan, is accused of committing the crimes in Nepal during the Himalayan nation’s civil war in 2005 and was arrested in the United Kingdom last week.
“The onus is on the contributing member state to ensure these experts have no relevant convictions or judicial or other disciplinary procedures pending, or pending allegations of serious human rights violations,” said UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) spokesman Kieran Dwyer, according to the Kathmandu Post.
“The government of Nepal is responsible for this vetting. The DPKO is following up this matter with the government of Nepal.”
Lama, 46, appeared in a London court on Saturday (January 5) charged with inflicting severe pain or suffering on two men when he was in charge of a barracks during the 10-year Maoist insurgency, and was remanded in custody.
Diplomatic row
His arrest on Thursday (January 3) at St Leonards-on-Sea in southeast England sparked a formal protest by the Nepalese government to the British ambassador in Kathmandu and a demand for his release.
Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said on Friday (January 4) that British police had arrested Lama, who has been serving in the UN mission in Sudan, without informing the Nepalese government and with no evidence.
Such a move was “against the general principle of international law and jurisdiction of a sovereign country”, Shrestha said.
“We have expressed strong objections to this act. Nepal army personnel would be punished according to their own internal committee. And we are committed to punish anyone who has violated human rights,” Shrestha told reporters.
“This act has hurt our attempt to ensure a long-lasting peace. We are going through a transitional phase and are committed to completing the peace process. We have urged the British government to release him immediately."
The father-of-two, who has indefinite leave to remain in Britain, spent a Christmas break in England with his family and was due to return to South Sudan on Saturday (January 5).
Lama, who has previously served as a UN peacekeeper in Sierra Leone and Lebanon, was arrested under British law, which allows prosecutors to act against people suspected of torture, no matter where it took place in the world.
“He is a qualified military official and was selected for the UN mission. There are no outstanding charges of human rights violations against him,” said Nepal Army spokesman Suresh Sharma.
