In the memorandum submitted to the Minister of Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chamjong marking the International Day of the Disappeared, the organizations including the Accountability Watch Committee, Advocacy Forum Nepal, Amnesty International, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Human Rights Watch, International Center for Transitional Justice, the International Commission of Jurists and Informal Sector Service Centre proposed a number of amendments to the draft bill.
The organizations said the plan for a Commission of Inquiry into enforced disappearances is a first step towards ensuring implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the landmark June 2007 ruling on enforced disappearances by the Supreme Court.
The organizations said that making enforced disappearances a criminal offense and establishing a Commission of Inquiry into disappearances would help victims and their families to ensure that the truth is revealed, justice is done and reparations are made.
Amendments recommended by the organizations include defining ‘enforced disappearance’ consistently with the internationally recognized definition, and recognizing that; under some circumstances, the act of enforced disappearance amounts to a crime against humanity; and defining the modes of individual criminal liability, including responsibility of superiors and subordinates, consistent with internationally accepted legal standards.
The organizations also recommended to establish minimum and maximum penalties for the crime of enforced disappearance and for enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity; ensure the independence, impartiality and competence of the Commission of Inquiry into enforced disappearances; and that the Commission of Inquiry is granted the powers and means to effectively fulfil its mandate.
The organizations also called on the government to sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Currently, 81 states have signed the treaty and 13 have ratified. Seven more ratifications are needed for the treaty to enter into force.
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