自然保護で高評価のネパール、裏で先住民「虐待」　人権団体報告

【カトマンズＡＦＰ＝時事】ネパール政府の厳格な自然保護政策の適用により、先住民が暴行や殺害などの人権侵害にさらされている。国際人権団体アムネスティ・インターナショナルとネパールの人権団体が９日、「世界の先住民の国際デー」に合わせて報告書を発表した。（写真は資料写真）
　ヒマラヤの国、ネパールは、国土のおよそ４分の１が保護区域に指定されており、特にトラとサイの保全については国際的に成功例として評価されている。
　しかし、報告書は、ネパール政府が先住民を先祖代々の土地から「強制退去させている」と指摘している。
　アムネスティのディヌーシカ・ディサナヤケ南アジア局長代理は、自然保護の取り組みは、「何世代にもわたり保護区域で暮らし、土地を頼ってきた先住民の大きな犠牲によってもたらされた」と述べた。
　政府は、１９７０年代から「伝統的な食物や薬草、その他の資源への（先住民の）アクセス権を大幅に制限する」という方法で自然保護を行ってきたと、ディサナヤケ氏は指摘している。
　「こうした政策を高圧的に適用することが、暴行や虐待、殺人といった多くの事例につながった」
　ネパール国立公園・野生生物保護局（ＤＮＰＷＣ）は、報告書を読んでいないとした上で、政府は法律と先住民の権利の衝突を「最小限」に抑えようとしていると説明した。
　報告書は昨年７月、チトワン国立公園で軍関係者らに殴打された後に死亡したとされるラージ・クマール・チェパンさん（２６）についても触れている。
　チトワンの森に何世代にもわたり住んできた先住民チェパンのラージ・クマールさんは、仲間６人とカタツムリを採集していた時、軍関係者と遭遇し、殴られたとみられる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/11-10:49）

Nepal's indigenous peoples have been subjected to human rights violations including torture and unlawful killings under the country's conservation policies, Amnesty International and a local activist group said Monday.
Nearly a quarter of the Himalayan nation's land has been declared protected, while the government's conservation efforts -- particularly for tigers and rhinos -- are hailed as a success internationally.
But the policies have seen indigenous peoples forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands, said the report, released by Amnesty and the Community Self-Reliance Centre on the International Day of Indigenous Peoples.
That success has come at a high price for the country's indigenous peoples, who had lived in and depended on these protected areas for generations, Amnesty's Deputy South Asia Director Dinushika Dissanayake said in a statement.
Dissanayake said that since the 1970s, Nepal's governments have used an approach to conservation that severely limited (indigenous peoples') ability to access traditional foods, medicinal plants and other resources.
Heavy-handed enforcement of these policies has subsequently resulted in numerous cases of torture or other ill-treatment and unlawful killings.
A spokesman for Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation said the agency had yet to read the report, but added that the government sought to minimise conflict between the laws and indigenous rights.
The report -- which includes interviews with community members, activists and officials -- cited the case of Raj Kumar Chepang, who died after allegedly being beaten by army officers in Chitwan National Park in July last year.
The 26-year-old, a member of the indigenous Chepang group who lived in Chitwan's forests for generations, was collecting snails with six others when they were allegedly confronted and beaten, the report said.
While returning home, Raj Kumar was not able to walk properly, one of the six people, Santosh Chepang, told the report's authors.
His condition grew worse, and that led to his death.
The rights groups said laws should be amended to restrict detentions and the use of force by the army in protected areas.
Nepal's authorities must recognise indigenous peoples' rights to their ancestral lands and allow them to return, added CSRC executive director Jagat Basnet.
Indigenous communities should be included in conservation initiatives, with alternative housing and land provided to those who lose their homes due to the establishment of national parks, the report added.