KATHMANDU, Dec 24: The victims of the decade long armed conflict of Nepal have concluded that the failure of the committee formed by the government to recommend office bearers of the transitional justice bodies has been an affront to judicial rights. They blamed political interference and vested interests for the failure.
They have also demanded that a new recommendation committee be formed as soon as possible and be granted full autonomy.
On November 2, the government had formed a recommendation under the coordination of former Chief Justice Om Prakash Mishra to recommend office bearers for the two commissions - The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP). The recommendation committee was given the responsibility of selecting office bearers and recommending them to the government within two months.
However, the recommendation committee itself has been disbanded as it was unable to select office bearers unanimously.
Reviewing transitional justice
Conflict victims and civil society were not particularly satisfied with the 39 individuals selected by the recommendation committee. They said that ‘the sudden interruption of the recommendation process has dented the trust and expectations of the victim community in justice.’ “The process of forming the commission has been further complicated. There is more confusion,” said a joint statement issued by the victims’ organizations.
The victims are demanding that the state identify the individuals they trust to provide a credible solution to the important national task of concluding the peace process. “The tendency to call it victim-centric but ignore the issues, concerns and participation of victims while formulating laws and commissions has been repeated,” they said. “The committee was dissolved due to its inability to recommend officials, raising questions nationally and internationally about the commitment, willpower and accountability of the government and political parties to conclude transitional justice.”
They said that the recommendation committee failed to recommend the names because of trust issues that would have served the interests of political parties. However, the victim commented that the recommendation committee withdrew after exercising its authority and identifying capable persons with full confidence.
“On the one hand, after political interests and interference have been exposed, there is now a situation of uncertainty as to how the recommendation committee will be formed, who will be ready to sit on such a committee,” said a statement issued jointly by the Conflict Victims’ Common Forum, the National Network of Conflict Victims’ Women, the Society of Disappeared Families Nepal, and others.
The victims urge the state to be serious about its responsibility to address the suffering and injustice of the victims, and not to repeat the series of past failures that put political interests at the center. “We request the government and political parties to ensure an environment where people who are trusted by society, with the maximum qualifications, capacity, contributions to peacebuilding and human rights, experience, expertise, and other criteria for resolving national tasks, are selected and recommended, and to ensure that there is no interference in their work.”
Similarly, they also demanded the government and political parties to maintain accountability on serious issues. The victims said it is regrettable that the political leadership has become indifferent to the entire transitional justice system due to the failure to form a common vision on the issue of transitional justice.
“The delay in transitional justice has increased further distrust, disappointment and anger among the families of the conflict victims. We appeal to the government to re-establish the commission as soon as possible,” said the statement issued by Ram Kumar Bhandari, president of the National Network of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations, Nepal.
The victims have alleged that the main political parties, including the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN-Maoist Center, which have mainly expressed their commitment to concluding the peace process in a comprehensive peace agreement, have kept it within their limited political interests.
“We regret that the incompetence of the recommendation committee has left this process in limbo and given space to those who want to disrupt it.”
Similarly, the Accountability Watch Committee, while reviewing the latest developments related to transitional justice, has drawn the attention of the government not to delay the rights of victims to justice and reparations under any pretext. It expressed concerns that the transitional justice process has been mired in political wrangling and division for the past 18 years, creating a general state of confusion.
