Human Rights Watch has joined six human rights groups in calling on the international community to monitor the worsening human rights situation in Nepal, where dozens of journalists have been arrested and attacked since the collapse of peace talks last August between Maoist rebels and the government.

The groups, including Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture, are supporting appeals by Nepal's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to demand a solution to the crisis. Eight donor agencies and foreign embassies in Kathmandu are also backing the appeal.

The NHRC has proposed a human rights accord between Maoist rebels and the government in which five regional monitoring units would operate in the country in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says Human Rights Watch. The NHRC has also urged the government to invite independent UN experts to Nepal to examine reports of arbitrary detention and torture.

The Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) says violence against journalists is on the rise, and two journalists have been killed since fighting between Maoist rebels and the government resumed in August 2003. Since then, 42 journalists have been detained and five tortured, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Visit these links:

- Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/11/nepal112403.htm

- CEHURDES: http://www.cehurdes.com.np

- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2039&Language=EN

- UN Experts Concerned About Nepal: http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20031114/449_10401.asp

- National Human Rights Commission: http://www.nhrc-nepal.org