The Amnesty International has urged the security forces to refrain from using excessive force against protesters.

The organisation, in a press statement, said that force and the use of live ammunition by security forces to contain often violent protests have already claimed more than 40 lives in Nepal since August, most of them protesters.

Investigations by Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission and civil society, including Amnesty International, have found that in many of the protest-related deaths, the force used by security forces was excessive, disproportionate or unnecessary, contrary to international legal standards, it reads further.

‘More than 40 people, the majority of them protesters, have been killed in recent weeks. We continue to urge the Nepali authorities to rein in their security forces and prevent them from using excessive force,’ the statement has quoted David Griffiths, Research Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, saying.

“The new constitution has a number of major human rights shortcomings which also need to be urgently addressed. In particular, the rights of women and marginalized communities are not clearly and sufficiently protected,” said David Griffiths.