21 August 2012. Requesting the issuance of mandamus and other necessary orders to the government in order to provide compensation and prosecute the perpetrators, the victims of Kapilvastu incident have today filed a writ petition with the Supreme Court. Apart from the Prime Minister's Office, the writ petitioners have also made the District Administration Offices of Kapilvastu, Rupendehi and Dang as the respondents.

13 August 2012. The Supreme Court (SC) on 12 August ordered the government to frame vetting laws strictly regulating the promotion and transfer of government officials including those from the security apparatuses. Deciding on the case of AIG Kuber Singh Rana's promotion, the court held that there were no reasonable grounds to stop Rana's promotion but the government should be extremely cautious regarding the transfer and promotion of officials implicated in human rights violations in future.

13 August 2012. Advocacy Forum (AF) and Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) jointly organized an interaction program with Nepali journalists on “Human rights in Nepal and role of journalists” in Kathmandu on 10 August 2012.

10 August 2012. Advocacy Forum (AF) and Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) jointly organized a two-day intensive seminar on 8 and 9 August 2012 in Dhulikhel. The seminar was attended by a group of human rights lawyers and activists.

23 July 2012. National and international human rights bodies including AWC, OHCHR, HRW, AI and ICJ have requested the government for not acting upon Nepal Army's recommendation of promoting Colonel Raju Basnet to the post of Brigadier General. Colonel Basnet has been credibly implicated in serious human rights violations during the conflict.

17 July 2012. A review of the new National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Act 2012 reveals that the Commission's powers have been significantly curtailed. The reviewer, Om Aryal, maintains that the new act takes away competence, independence and autonomy of the Commission by making it subservient to government in financial, administrative and functional matters. (Find the full review here.)

12 July 2012. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) submitted its report on July 1, 2012 to the Supreme Court (SC) on the findings of the investigation vis-à-vis the disappearance of Ajit Kumar Lal Karna. Mr. Karna was arrested by the police on 6 May 2012 on the allegation of his involvement in Janakpur bomb blast which took place on 30 April that killed five people and injured more than thirty. Mr. Karna has been missing since then.

11 July 2012. In its verdict regarding a torture case, the Kathmandu District Court has directed to award torture survivor Arjun Gurung compensation amounting NRs. 30, 000/- (US$ 337). The court has, however, refrained from issuing departmental action against the perpetrators.

11 July 2012. The Kathmandu District issued an order on 9 July 2012 to award compensation amounting NRs 10, 000/- (US$ 112) to torture survivor Shiv Dhan Rai under the Torture Compensation Act (TCA) - 1996. The victim was severely tortured under the allegation of carrying fake documents.

5 July 2012. Ms. Juliette Thibaud of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) speaks about the deteriorating human rights condition of Nepal in the 20th Session of UN Human Rights Council. Based on the reports of torture and other violations recorded by Advocacy Forum (AF) Ms. Thibaud pointed at the endemic impunity the country is severely ailing from and typically aggravated by the current political impasse.