Saturday, April 9 2005 13:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kathmandu: Nepal's top political leaders have appealed to the United Nations to immediately appoint a Special Rapporteur for independent, impartial and credible monitoring of what they claimed "gross" human rights violation in the kingdom following the royal takeover.

In a joint statement, Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepali Congress (Democratic) president and sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Nepal Communist Party Acting General Secretary Jhalanath Khanal said that an independent, impartial and credible monitoring mechanism was needed to effectively establish accountability for "human rights perpetrators" by addressing the problem of impunity.

They called upon the UN for its monitoring presence by appointing a Special Rapporteur with the mandate of investigating and reporting throughout the Kingdom of Nepal.

"The inhuman action and unrestricted use of force by both the Government and the Maoists have severely jeopardised the right to life," they said.

The imposition of emergency rule has not only "jeopardised" fundamental rights of the people but also "further endangered" the independence and autonomy of judiciary, they claimed.

All the organs of the independent judiciary "have been systematically paralysed", they said in the joint statement.

They appreciated the historical concern, support and solidarity shown by the UN and the international community for democracy and fundamental rights in the wake of the February 1 takeover of power by King Gyanendra.