KATHMANDU, Feb 23: A member of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has sent an email to the United Nations Secretary General, lamenting that the UN did not provide cooperation and assistance to the transitional justice mechanism.
According to a CIEDP source, Commissioner and Spokesperson Prof Dr Bishnu Pathak sent an email to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on February 6 arguing that the CIEDP team was saddened for no cooperation and assistance even by the UN.
In the email, which was made available to Republica, Pathak has claimed that CIEDP has been suffering from lack of staff, experts and instruments.
Even after one year of its formation, little cooperation was found from the international community, said Pathak. "It is very hard to say, why many international communities, who had been advocating for the establishment of the transitional justice for eight years, are reluctant to provide technical, programs and financial supports to the CIEDP," Pathak said.
"If the UN desires to boycott the CIEDP, who will benefit 'perpetrator or victim'? The answer is 'perpetrator'.... It means, more and more sectarian violence appears and reappears in the society. Who will be responsible for creation of such injustice?" questioned Pathak.
Drawing a conclusion that neither the government nor the international community are supporting CIEDP, Commissioner Pathak has given his own reasons for this.
There might have been a number of reasons, he said, adding that first, transitional justice has been a much-debated issue both in national and international organizations. The completion of Nepal's peace process would severely affect the regular work of I/NGOs and their officials.
"Second, Nepal is a right place to watch India and encircle to China," he further said. Vested interests would only be fulfilled if Nepal continuously remained unstable through political means. "Last, the concerned international officials may be influenced by bribery and corruption..." Pathak's letter goes on to say.
In the email, Pathak has requested the secretary general for help for smooth operation of the transitional justice mechanism. "We humbly request Your Excellency to help us for smoothly operating our specific purpose of ensuring truth, justice and reparation to the poor Nepali conflict victims. It would highly be appreciated if we could share additional information on inactiveness of UNDP Nepal upon Your Excellency's request," the letter also says.|
The five-member CIEDP was formed on February 11, 2015 to investigate enforced disappearances of the armed conflict period.
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