KATHMANDU, Dec 15: The committee formed to recommend officials for two transitional justice commissions is preparing to recommend the names of their chairpersons and members today.
The recommendation committee said it interviewed all 40 shortlisted candidates and heard their action plans between December 15 and 14.
The recommendation committee, chaired by Om Prakash Mishra, issued a public notice on November 8, calling for applications for the vacant positions in the commission, which has been without officials since August 2022. The initial deadline for submitting applications was seven days, but it was later extended by five more days. The deadline for submitting applications was 5:00 PM on November 19, 2024.
During this period, the committee received the names of 156 individuals along with their applications and recommendations. Of these, 89 applications were submitted in person, 20 were submitted online, and 47 were received as suggestions through organizations. Among the 47 applications received from organizations, 20 had the consent of the individuals, while 27 were submitted without their consent.
Reviewing transitional justice
Among them, the committee published a shortlist of 40 individuals on December 7. The list of candidates for the position of chairperson, as announced by the committee, included Achyut Prasad Bhattarai, Kashiraj Dahal, Dilliraj Acharya, Mahesh Thapa, Bijay Singh Sijapati, Bishworaj Koirala, Sudip Pathak, and Sher Bahadur KC. Bhattarai and Sijapati had applied for both the positions of chairperson and member.
Based on the evaluation of the applicants' action plans, the selection committee will recommend the names of 10 individuals for appointment to the government for both commissions. The recommendation will be forwarded to the Council of Ministers through the Ministry of Law.
The recommendation committee must submit the names within two months from the date of its formation. As the recommendation committee chaired by Om Prakash Mishra was formed on October 18, it must submit the names by December 17.
The transitional justice commissions have faced accusations in the past of political parties appointing officials based on political distribution. This time, the committee faces the challenge of recommending officials without any disputes.
The armed conflict, which lasted for 10 years, resulted in nearly 17,000 deaths and over 1,400 people going missing from both the state and the insurgent sides.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons were established on February 10, 2015 with the aim of providing justice and reparation to conflict victims and holding perpetrators accountable.
Both commissions have nearly 70,000 complaints from victims. However, due to the lack of resolution, even after 18 years since the comprehensive peace agreement, conflict victims have not been able to experience justice.
