The Maoists had committed to return land seized during the conflict while the then-Seven Party Alliance government, on its part, had pledged to formulate policies for scientific land reforms.[break]
Releasing a report titled "Land Commitments in Nepal´s Peace Process: What has been achieved to date?" and a press statement on Tuesday it said findings of interviews with government officials, political parties, civil society, landowners, tenants, and local residents in 11 districts -- six in the Tarai and five in the hills and mountains -- by its observers found both parties falling short of commitment.
"Although both sides have made progress toward these goals, the commitments remain unfulfilled," said Dr David Pottie, associate director of the Carter Center´s Democracy Program. "The Carter Center believes that land return and land reform efforts should proceed together to address fairly grievances on both sides and achieve lasting peace."
The statement says the Maoists have returned the majority of land that they seized during the conflict in the hills and mountains as well as in some parts of the Tarai. "However, in the far and mid western Tarai, it appears that the Maoists still have not returned most of the land that was seized during the conflict period," the statement adds.
It further says wherever land return has taken place, it has occurred on an ad hoc basis with no formal process, and usually has involved direct negotiations between individual landowners and the Maoist party whose policy appears to be usually determined by district and local level representatives.
The Center has also recommended to the Maoists and government to create an official, credible, and impartial record of seized land nationwide and establish a credible and impartial land return monitoring mechanism on land return, and form an inter-party working committee to study land reform recommendations and identify a common minimum program on land reform and implement land reform policies.
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