Justice still eludes conflict victims

ILAM, July 2: During the 10-year Maoist insurgency, thousands were killed and disappeared either by the government or the then rebel group. And family members of the victims were compelled to suppress their stories due to a sense of personal insecurity. As a result, they remain deprived of justice even a decade after the end of the insurgency.



But lately, the victims´ families in Ilam district have been coming out with details of the atrocities their near and dear ones were subjected to, in order to mount pressure on the government to book the guilty and give momentum to the dispensation of delayed justice. [break]



Toyanath Acharya´s father was kidnapped and later murdered during the insurgency, but Toyanath, a permanent resident of Barabote VDC in Ilam, is yet to find justice. "I was demanded a ransom of Rs. 80,000 by someone posing as a Maoist. I paid the ransom but he killed my father just the same," he said.



Likewise, Damodhar Chapagain rues that the murderer of his father has not been booked yet. It is a prime responsibility of the government to find the culprits and book them, but neither has the government formed an investigation commission to find the whereabouts of the disappeared nor have the families of the victims received proper compensation.



Chapagain, who is chairman of the Conflict Victims Society for Justice, said, "It is a great tragedy that the family members still do not know why their near and dear ones were killed or subjected to brutality." He said the families of the conflict victims should now fight for their rights as they have been simply ignored by the government.



Similarly, Katak Bahadur Shampang was arrested by the Nepal Army during the conflct. His relative Shreeman Rai said, "We do not know whether he is still alive or has already been killed. Why doesn´t the government tell us the truth?"



A report prepared by Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), an NGO, after Katak Bahadur´s arrest, had mentioned that he was killed at Santipur, Ilam. However, the government has not made any comments in the case so far.



On Friday, family members of some 30 conflict victims assembled at Ilam district headquarters. They all had different stories to tell, but there was one thing in common--they are yet to get justice.



The family members said that the compensation given them by the government has been unfair. "Even though the government has announced it would to provide Rs. 1 million in compensation to each family of the deceased, we have been distributed only Rs. 300,000 each," they said.



Gita Ram Rasaile, another family member of conflict victims, said many conflict-affected families are yet to receive any compensation as they do not even know about the compensation scheme.



Meanwhile, the family members also said that the procedure for compensation application was cumbersome.



According to Local Peace Committee, around 123 families of those killed have received Rs. 300,000 each, while Rs. 100,000 each has been given to four families of the disappeared and Rs. 40,000 to 12 disabled families, among others.

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