Maoist pick their own to name Disappearance Commission chief

KATHMANDU, Feb 11: The government is all set to select Maoist lawmaker Khadga Bahadur Biswakarma as chairman of a committee that will recommend a chief for the Disappearance Commission. An ordinance related to the Commission has already come into effect following its signing by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Tuesday.



Confirming the selection of his name, lawmaker Biswakarma told myrepublica.com that he was proud to be taking on the responsibility. “I thank the government for providing me such a great responsibility,” he said. [break]



Asked whether his political affiliation will create problems in his appointment, he said the Disappearance Commission is related to politics. “Since disappearance cases are political, I strongly feel that we need political persons to deal with the issue,” he said.



He also said his committee, once it comes into operation, will solicit suggestions from various other political parties to deal with the disappearance cases.



“My team will try its best to speedily recommend a chairman for the Disappearance Commission,” the Maoist lawmaker said.



A high-level government source said Biswakarma was selected after attempts to persuade Speaker Subas Nembang or Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission Kedar Nath Upadhyaya to take the job failed.



Both Nembang and Upadhyaya rejected outright Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s proposal they take the responsibility for recommending the Disappearance Commission chief.



A cabinet source said Upadhyaya declined the responsibility on the ground that the government was trying to fob it off on a separate committee to avoid future controversy.



Earlier, the government had faced the music from national and international bodies when it formed a High Level Probe Commission on Disappeared Persons (HLPCDP) on June 21, 2007 under the leadership of Supreme Court justice Narendra Bahadur Neupane.



The commission was formed under the Inquiry Act, 2026 BS. The government scrapped the Commission after it came under heavy criticism from national and international rights bodies. They argued that the Act under which the commission was formed can´t deal with disappearance issues.



The Supreme Court, in its verdict on June 1, 2007, directed the government to form a commission on forced disappearances only after enacting a separate comprehensive law. It had stated that existing laws were not powerful enough to deal with disappearances. It had also asked the government to enact the law to comply with the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearance.



ghanashyam@myrepublica.com

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