This week, in its first acknowledgement of the accidental killing of innocents, the Nepal government agreed to pay compensation to the families of five teenagers mistaken for Maoist rebels who were shot dead by the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) on November 28, 2002. Human rights activists hailed the government’s decision to compensate families of victims killed during the seven year people’s war in the south Asian nation . “This process augurs well. It is the first time the government admitted it killed innocent people and is prepared to compensate them,” said chairperson of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), Krishna Pahadi. Three months after the tragic incident occurred in the isolated 3300 strong Kahule village in west Nepal’s Nuwakot district, local administration officials headed by the district’s Chief District Officer Ganesh Prasad Dhakal, conceded the security forces had erred, and requested the home ministry to pay compensation. Full Story