ANNUAL REPORT 2004 to see that no such incidents would repeat in future.These incidents have happened even when the Maoists have presented themselves as a political party from time to time, and agreed to the ceasefire and signed the code of conduct. Therefore, these incidents are not only an entirely irresponsible act, but also in contravention to the commitment that the Maoists have expressed towards the human rights at the Commission’s office. Hence, the Commission decided to appeal to the Maoists for being aware of their commitment. From the investigation reports, it has been realised that during the armed conflict, there is need not only for creating public awareness about human rights, but also for properly protecting the human rights of civilians, and those security personnel in captivity not directly involved in war. The Commission decided to edit, if needed, and forward the reports on the above incidents to the government, and make them available to other parties if possible. It also decided to issue a press release stating these bits of information. S. No. Date of decision Meeting No. Decision No. 4 18 November 2003 59 3 Details of the decision : A lot of important information was elicited from the documents collected by the probe team deputed to Nepalgunj for investigating into the incident of Sharda Higher Secondary School at Mudbhara, Doti district of 13 October 2003. The team had inquired the injured people undergoing treatment in Nepalgunj. Also in this regard, the Commission obtained the field study report of the Mahendranagar-based Human Rights Project of Nepal Bar Association on 25 October 2003, as well as that of the Children as the Zone of Peace National Campaign on 24 October 2003. Since these reports also have confirmed the findings of the Commission’s investigation, there was no need for conducting further studies to reach to the conclusion.The investigation offers a quite clear picture. When the people reportedly identified as Maoist were engaged in a cultural show, security forces launched an offensive, killing 10 at the site, of which 6 were Maoists and four school students. Another five students were also injured in the shooting. All the collected information shows that the people-purportedly Maoists-forcefully organised the cultural programme in the school despite having the knowledge that military operation at the site was very much likely as there were security forces stationed in the proximity of the school. Through the means of terror, they had prohibited the students and teachers from leaving the school and coerced and forced them to gather at the programme, and brought back even those who had already away from the site. The organising of the programme contravenes the widely welcomed idea of declaring schools the Zone of Peace and treating the schools free from violence and armed conflict. It has only resulted in such 33