The US has passed a law that denies financial aid to the Nepal government, amid stepped up pressure on the country's army to fulfill its human rights obligations, a news report has said.
US president Barack Obama has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2010 prohibiting assistance to the Nepal Armed Forces till they fulfil their human rights obligations, among other things, MyrepublicaOnline, the website of Republica newspaper, has said.
The law passed on December 16 states the Nepal Army will be entitled to funds under the US Foreign Military Financing Programme, only if it fulfills certain criteria including full cooperation on human rights violations, it said.
"In large measure, and as others have pointed out, Maina´s death will decide whether a civilian, democratic government and the rule of law will determine Nepal´s future, or it will remain dominated by the interests of the Nepal army," Senator Patrick Leahy was quoted as saying by the Nepalese news portal.
Leahy asked the Nepal Army chief Chhatra Man Singh Gurung "to seize this opportunity to demonstrate that the army is reforming, that it recognizes in a democracy its members are answerable to the civilian courts, and that it will no longer perpetuate the impunity that has undermined the rule of law in Nepal for far too long."
The US funds would be conditional on the ground that it is cooperating fully with investigations and prosecutions by civilian judicial authorities of violations of internationally recognized human rights, the report said.
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