Nepal: 'Human rights defenders in Nepal face grave threats amid the country's deepening human rights crisis, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists said. The Nepalese government and the United Nations must begin effective implementation of an agreement signed Tuesday providing for U.N. assistance to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in monitoring human rights. Recently a number of human rights defenders, including journalists, lawyers, NHRC staff and local human rights activists, have faced increasing harassment from both security forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Human rights defenders have been killed, detained under anti-terrorist legislation, abducted, tortured and threatened, and the offices of human rights organisations have been raided.' (Human Rights Watch)