Nepal extends curfew
2006-04-21 08:37
Kathmandu - Nepal extended curfew and shoot-on-sight orders on Friday, but pro-democracy protesters again defied security forces on the 16th day of a general strike, said reports.
An alliance of opposition parties called mass demonstrations for the second day running after tens of thousands challenged soldiers and armed police defending Kathmandu on Thursday.
People stayed out to defy the curfew as soon as it was re-imposed again at 09:00 on Friday.
In the western district of Kalanki, where police shot dead three people and wounded scores in running battles on Thursday, mobs of youths taunted security forces, shouting "Down with the King".
Multi-party democracy
According to reports, burning tyres blocked roads on some city streets as well as on the outskirts beyond the curfew zone.
The alliance's "mass movement coordinating committee" vowed to step up the strike to force King Gyanendra to restore multi-party democracy in the Himalayan nation.
A statement said: "We appeal to all people to participate in the massive demonstration on Ring Road on Friday at 12:00.
"Our movement is successfully moving forward despite the state's excessive use of force during demonstrations nationwide."
The parties said that the strike "will continue with more intensity in the capital and across the country until further notice".
King to restore democracy urgently
The strike had crippled Nepal and prompted giant neighbour, India, to tell the king to restore democracy urgently to halt mounting civil unrest.
A 25-hour curfew inside the capital's ring road was enforced from 02:00 on Thursday until 03:00 on Friday and then re-imposed from 09:00 till 20:00.
Residents scurried to buy food from the few stalls and grocers who opened after dawn.
Piles of stinking rubbish lined the roadsides in Kathmandu, where the city centre quickly emptied as soldiers and police patrolled.
Gyanendra sacked the government in February last year and seized absolute power, blaming politicians for failing to hold elections and to tackle a deadly Maoist insurgency, which had left some 12 500 people in a decade.
Right to protest
Meanwhile, five United Nations human rights experts said that they were deeply concerned by the spike in violence during the protests against King Gyanendra.
They said: "While we call upon demonstrators to exercise their right to protest peacefully, we strongly condemn the excessive and deadly use of force by members of the security forces against protestors and innocent bystanders.
"The law enforcement agencies have resorted to indiscriminate firing of rubber bullets - even on occasion live ammunition - into crowds, beatings, raids on homes and destruction of property."
Separately, the UN's Kathmandu-based human rights mission accused Nepalese authorities of obstructing its efforts to monitor the situation on the ground, in violation of an agreement between the government and the world body.
- AFP