Opposition rally in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu on Dec. 15

By IOL South Asia Correspondent

NEW DELHI, December 20 (IslamOnline) - The global human rights watch body Amnesty International has said human rights abuses had reached “ unprecedented” levels since peace talks between government and Marxists failed late last year.

In a fresh report Thursday, December 19, the rights organization said extra-legal killings accounted for at least half the 4,366 deaths in what the Nepalese government described as fight against Maoist insurgency.

Amnesty reported the Nepalese government as saying 4,050 of those killed were Maoists. It did agree with the government figures of people killed by Maoists—800 civilians.

The report said that there were around 3,000 unlawful killings in Nepal in 2001, compared to 1,350 in previous five years of insurgency.

The Amnesty report said that many of those unlawfully killed by security forces were civilians, who were perceived to be supporters of Maoists.

The report, “Nepal: A Deepening Human Rights Crisis,” said that some of others were Maoists who were killed by security forces deliberately after taking them prisoners. Torture, too, was widespread. So was “ disappearance” .

As many as 66 people disappeared last year after security forces took them in custody. Amnesty also blamed the Maoists for killing civilians they thought were opposed to Maoist “revolution”. They also took hostages for ransom and tortured them. Amnesty also accused Maoists of recruiting children as fighters.

The guerrillas want to overthrow the constitutional monarchy of the Himalayan kingdom. Amnesty is to submit the report to the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva next spring.