[JURIST] Nepal’s reinstated parliament on Tuesday directed the government to ratify [CICC backgrounder] the Rome Statute [PDF] of the International Criminal Court, the new international tribunal established to try crimes against humanity. “Nepali people want an end to impunity," a parliamentary declaration said. "They also want to see human rights perpetrators punished. So this parliament orders the Government of Nepal to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

The order to the Nepalese government comes as peace talks [JURIST report] between the government and the Maoist rebels are going on to end 10 years of strife. The violence has already claimed over 13,000 lives. Nepal human rights organizations and international human rights bodies have been demanding for many years that Nepal ratify the Rome Statute in view of grave human rights violations both by the government security forces and the Maoists. The Rome Statute came into force on June 15, 1998; it has so far been ratified by 58 countries.

Kiran Chapagain is a special correspondent for JURIST writing from Nepal. He is an Assistant Senior Reporter for the Kathmandu Post.