MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – Both government forces and insurgent Maoist rebel forces sexually assaulted women and girls during the conflict between 1996 and 2006, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday.
"There were many kinds of very serious human rights abuses committed during that time by both sides, the government side as well as the insurgent Maoist rebel side," HRW senior researcher Tejshree Thapa said in a video published on the organization's website Tuesday.
The report, "Silenced and Forgotten: Survivors of Nepal's Conflict-Era Sexual Violence," is 78 pages long and contains information on sexual abuse committed by both government and rebels during the conflict. It calls on the Nepalese government to take action and to encourage women to report what happened to them during the conflict.
"Both security forces and Maoist combatants committed physical, verbal, and sexual violence. Members of the security forces raped and sexually abused female combatants after arrest, and targeted female relatives of Maoist suspects, or those they believed to be Maoist supporters because they provided food and shelter. Maoist combatants raped women who stood up to them and refused to support their party's activities," the report reads.
The Nepalese government has acknowledged the existence of the problem, but has been unable to help the victims get justice, the organization states.
According to the report, the government has to introduce and implement "comprehensive medical or psycho-social programs to benefit survivors of sexual violence from the conflict-era and help them to cope with the long-term consequences of violence," as many victims remain isolated in their suffering.
The Nepalese civil war took place between 1996 and 2006 between the governmental forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-M). The aim of the Maoist fighters was to overthrow the Nepalese monarchy and establish a republic. It claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people.
