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OPINION
Nepal’s Peace Process

Unfolding Crisis: Transitional Justice in Disarray

Amidst the hostility and outrage of the conflict victims, the government of Nepal forcefully appointed ten office bearers of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and CIEDP (Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappeared Persons) on 14th May 2025, positions that had remained vacant for three years.
By Charan Prasai

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” – Abraham Lincoln



Amidst the hostility and outrage of the conflict victims, the government of Nepal forcefully appointed ten office bearers of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and CIEDP (Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappeared Persons) on 14th May 2025, positions that had remained vacant for three years. This was done on the recommendation of a five-member search committee headed by Supreme Court (SC) former Chief Justice Om Prakash Mishra, ignoring the rightful victims’ participation, putting the appointment in question, and making the process remote from the finish line.


On 1st and 15th May, thirty-nine victim organization representatives objected to the appointment process with joint statements, expressing concern and disagreement on the opaque, arbitrary, unreliable, and party-based appointments. The humiliating process imposed on them was carried out without their meaningful consultation, participation, and representation.


The victims of the warring parties had no option but to reject the appointments, boycott the process, and call to restart another credible initiation owned by them at large. Furthermore, a 15-member ‘Consultation Committee for a Civil Commission (4C)’ composed of victims and civil society with the objective of establishing a ‘Civil Commission’ has been constituted to pave a path to truth and justice, rejecting the faulty process. This has put Nepal’s official transitional justice (TJ) in limbo again, as a consequence of having an incompetent search committee, an unresponsive NHRC (National Human Rights Commission), and an insensible government.


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Unambiguously, the prerequisite of TJ is ‘earning the trust’ of the victims by putting them at the center of the process. However, this global phenomenon has been overlooked in Nepal. The steadfast advocacy of victims and human rights activists for its adoption for two decades has been ignored. This process faces misuse of ‘political consensus’, conceptualized by three major political party leaders—Sher Bahadur Deuba, KP Sharma Oli, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal. They are held accountable for orchestrating a flawed TRC act and forming ineffective commissions repeatedly, based on political sharing, thereby obstructing justice and defying SC orders.


Notably, these meddlings have caused the failure of the TRC and CIEDP, formed twice over eight years since 2014. The valuable resources, time, and money of the state went wasted, without results. However, following immense national and international pressure, the TRC Act received a third amendment. It was welcomed with reservations, foreseeing the deadlock breaking. Hence, the amended act has been accepted as a workable document, subject to the formation of two credible, independent, and impartial long-awaited commissions. Sadly, at this crucial implementation stage, the attitude of the senior leaders remained unchanged, and the wrongdoing repeated.


Sifaris samiti khabardar! Jabarjasti gare bahiskar!!


This boycott slogan video message was sent to the search committee during the selection process, following a collective decision of the victims assembled in Kathmandu. It was posted on social media and went viral. However, the committee didn’t take the call seriously and recommended, irrationally, ten names to the government, ignoring victims’ participation. Moreover, the shortlist of candidates didn’t include other ‘trustworthy’ and deserving candidates outside the applicants, as mandated by the guideline and former practices.


Unfortunately, the selection process remained opaque and was conducted without serious exercises. It violated SC’s order (2 January 2014), ensuring mandatory and meaningful participation of the victims in the TJ process and the formation of independent and impartial commissions. This illegitimate move, against international principles as well, has resulted in an insulting and humiliating atmosphere for the victims of the ten-year violent conflict (1996–2006). Without doubt, this has undermined their rights and pivotal role to ensure ownership and strengthen the process. The basic rule of TJ—‘victim-centric approach’—has truly been neglected.


While focusing on the process-related issues, the victims’ attention was drawn to a TRC call for applications targeting sexual violence victims. A public notice was issued without consulting victims. It gave them three months to fill in a form, forcing them to declare all the incidents, including the name of the perpetrators—upsetting requirements lacking basic knowledge of human rights. Their first action demonstrates how insensitive they are to executing basic tasks.


Devi Khadka, coordinator of the National Association of Conflict Rape Victims (NACRV), a network of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), issued a statement against the call. “The way applications have been called shows the TRC doesn’t respect the sensitivity of the matter,” it stated. “We are not filing complaints in the present state. It will be suicidal to take part in this process.” Similarly, on behalf of the Gender and TJ Network, Gita Rasaili, president of the Conflict Victims Women National Network (CVWN), also condemned the notice published without consulting the victims, ignoring their safety and sensitivity. It disrespects their privacy, mental health, and self-respect. It has also reiterated its disengagement and non-cooperation with the TJ bodies.


On 12th May 2025, Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued a joint statement titled “Nepal: Ensure Credible Transitional Justice Appointments.” They called on the government to urgently heed the demands of conflict victims and amend the process for appointing the commissioners to the country’s two transitional justice bodies. “The appointment of competent, impartial commissioners fully independent from any political party is crucial to the credibility and success of transitional justice in Nepal,” they said. Ten human rights organizations, on 6th May—including the Accountability Watch Committee (AWC)—issued a joint statement appealing to address victims’ calls and reverse the process. The ‘Broader Civil Movement’ appealed to fulfill the victims' demands and stop playing political foul, in a statement on 22nd May.


NHRC issued a ‘face-saving’ statement to ensure victims’ confidence on 22nd May. It urged the TJ bodies in question to satisfy victims in the process. On the contrary, victims witnessed insult and humiliation by one of its members, who represented NHRC Chair Top Bahadur Magar in the search committee. Her unsolicited act forced them to stage a protest outside the chair’s office, demanding her removal from the committee. The NHRC Chair, however, did not act and lost the trust of the victims. Hence, the statement resembles the saying: “beating a dead horse.”


 

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