The commission on Friday organized a press conference in Kathmandu and informed that it will receive complaints from victims' families from April 14 till June 14 through its central office in Kathmandu and offices of local peace committees in the districts."We'll continue consultations with victims' families and monitor the complaint-lodging process throughout the country to ensure that every family of victims could file complaints to know the whereabouts of their disappeared relatives and the perpetrators behind the disappearances," said Prof Dr Bishnu Pathak, the spokesperson of the CIEDP.
According to Mahesh Sharma Paudel, the secretary at the CIEDP, the commission can also investigate cases of enforced disappearances suo moto if any cases of enforced disappearance go without any complaints.
Meanwhile, the commission has published its action plan for the next two years. The commission has decided to finalize the investigation guidelines, complete central and regional training on receiving complaints and print of complaint forms by April 12.
The commission has set a goal of starting detailed investigations on the complaints from June 15 and concluding it by October 2017.
The commission, which waited for almost 13 months for its regulation to be endorsed by the Council of Ministers, has sought complaints after the government finally published the regulations in Nepal Gazette last week.
According to commissioner Pathak, the cabinet has removed the provisions of the commission issuing arrest warrant to the alleged perpetrators, who fail to present themselves before the commission despite its summons, though the commission had demanded such a provision. Likewise, the regulations have not included the commission's demand that it be allowed to issue 'tarekh' [date for appearance in person] to the alleged perpetrators, block their passports, and form a coordination committee of stakeholders.
"We wanted those provisions in the regulations but they have been ignored. However, there would no difficulties for us to conduct investigations despite not having those provisions," said CIEDP Chairman Lokendra Mallick.
On the other hand, the cabinet has added a provision in the regulations that allows the commission to recommend amnesty for the perpetrators and reconciliation between perpetrators and victims.
However, Chairman Mallick claimed that the provision in the regulations has no significance since the CIEDP and TRC Act have already mentioned that the commission cannot recommend amnesty and reconciliation in the cases of serious human rights violations.
"Enforced disappearance is a serious human rights violation. As the Act itself has clearly denied amnesty and reconciliation in such cases, the provision in the regulations has no meaning. It might be a drafting error from government side," said Mallick.
He also said that the government needs to promulgate an Act that criminalizes and penalizes enforced disappearance.
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