Nepal Peace Monitor 2019 Annual Review reports on civilians shot by police during protests

On May 24, the Nepal Peace Monitor Annual Review 2019 was posted here.

The Nepal Peace Monitoring Project (PMP) is a joint initiative by Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP)/NepalMonitor.org.

The 35-page review notes: “In 2019, Nepal witnessed several notable incidents of human rights violations, a surge in both violent and nonviolent political incidents, outrage against legislations tabled by the government, and several governance related contestations in public service institutions. Politically, the PMP data reflects these turbulent times.”

The review also contains a 1-page section titled CIVILIANS SHOT BY POLICE DURING PROTESTS (page 17).

Among the three incidents it notes: “On June 30, police opened fire at a crowd of protestors in Sarlahi, killing a 27 year old man and injuring a dozen people including the policemen. The protesters had mobilised in response to the death of a 12 year old boy who fell 30 feet into a uncovered sand pit on the East-West Highway in Sarlahi a day before. According to the residents, the sand mine was being operated illegally, under the protection of local leaders and police personnel. The demonstrators shut down the highway at 12 noon. Tensions escalated as the police tried to clear the blockade and as the crowd started throwing stones at the police. Police responded by firing 13 rounds of tear gas into the crowd.”

In 2014, Peace Brigades International-Germany started the Nepal Monitor Project in partnership with the Collective Campaign for Peace. This followed the closure of the PBI accompaniment project in Nepal that operated from 2005 to 2014. In 2018, PBI-Germany began a 2.5 year process to handover the Nepal Monitor to COCAP.

To read the full Annual Review 2019, please click here (and scroll down to where it says Download Full Report).