KATHMANDU, Jan 14: The government is preparing to increase the number of martyrs. Within a few days, the number of martyrs is going to be increased by issuing a notice in the Nepal Gazette.

KATHMANDU, Dec 28: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an order preventing the implementation of the government's decision to declare a public holiday on the 1st day of the month of Phalgun as People's War Day. This date commemorates the initiation of the decade-long armed insurgency initiated by the then CPN (Maoist) with the aim of establishing a communist republic in Nepal.

The recent order by the Supreme Court (SC) to register two petitions that seek to hold Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in his capacity as head of the former rebel party, CPN (Maoist), responsible for the loss of life, damage, and destruction during the Maoist insurgency has sent ripples across Nepali politics.

It has been 16 years since the political parties signed a Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) to formally end the decade-long Maoist insurgency which tormented the country and the citizens between 1996 to 2006. However, countless people killed during the armed insurgency and their families are still denied justice. CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the leader who led the armed insurgency, currently leads the government with unprecedented support in parliament. The harrowing tales of the victims are fading from the memories of the general public but those who suffered during the war are still tormented by the wounds that never heal. It is estimated that the war resulted in the deaths of over 17,000 people, many of them facing extreme torture in the extra-judicial killings by both the then Maoist rebels and the state’s security agencies. Among those who were killed include journalists, who were in the forefront of war for carrying out their professional duty. Republica’s Nagendra Upadhyay has compiled a list of some journalists who were tortured to death during the armed conflict with hope that the the contributions made by slain journalists do not go in vain and that they are provided with justice, if not reparation to their family members who are struggling to make ends meet.

KATHMANDU, March 31: Rape victims, who had been dormant for 15 years since the peace process between the then rebel CPN (Maoist) and the government began, have finally started raising their voices. In a two-day conference held in the capital on Tuesday, the women victims of the conflict decided to break the long-standing silence and came forward in the limelight through the conference.

KATHMANDU, March 18: The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) on Tuesday made public the names of 2,506 persons who were disappeared during the decade-long Maoist armed insurgency. The names were made public in an attempt to trace the whereabouts of the disappeared before the commission begins final round of investigation into the cases.

When the terms of transitional justice bodies—Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP)—came to an end in April, 2019, one of the major concerns of the victims as well as the rights activists was what would happen to the complaints filed at TRC and CIEDP? Will they be protected? Who will protect those documents so that the top officials to succeed the chief commissioners and commissioners of these bodies will be able to build on whatever little progress made over the years? Will the victims be provided justice?

KATHMANDU, March 12: Units of the Nepal Police have done a U-turn while furnishing written replies to the Supreme Court (SC) on the murder accusation against Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota.

ROLPA, Mar 1: “Had I studied or worked, i would have a different life,” laments Khadak Thapa, a former guerilla, who was injured during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

KATHMANDU, Feb 24: Members of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) on Sunday inspected Nepal Army’s Bhairavnath Batallion and its bases at Shivapuri where at least 49 Maoist insurgents were allegedly killed by the army in 2003.

KATHMANDU, Feb 19: As part of final efforts to resolve the Maoist insurgency-era disappearance cases, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) is launching an additional probe into 2,000 cases including those related to the infamous Bhairavnath Battalion.

SURKHET/DANG, Feb 13: “Mother, if you don’t come and save me right away, you won’t be able to see me ever again. I am in the claws of a tiger; it will devour me mercilessly.”

KATHMANDU, Jan 19: A high-level committee formed to suggest the commissioners for two transitional justice (TJ) bodies has recommended the chiefs and members for the bodies established to settle war-era cases. Conflict victims have been waiting for justice since the Maoist insurgency ended in 2007.

KATHMANDU, Nov 27: Four international human rights organizations have criticized Nepal for making no progress in ensuring justice for victims of gross human rights violation and abuses during the decade-long Maoist insurgency even after 13 years of signing a peace deal.

Nepal’s transitional justice process is getting prolonged further while the victims of the atrocities carried out by both the state forces and rebels during the decade-long Maoist insurgency are still waiting for justice. This is a great injustice to the victims and betrayal to the national cause of finding the truths about extra-judicial killings and other atrocities that took place during the war. This is no time for complacency.

KATHMANDU, April 12: Lenin Bista, a former child soldier during the decade long Maoist insurgency has sought “fair treatment of former child-combatants who lost their youth to conflict.” He added that the decision of the government and UNMIN had “deprived (them) of (their) right to live with respect and dignity.”

ROLPA, March 11: Thabang of Rolpa has a special relationship with the former Maoist guerrillas and the armed insurgency. It was here, where the Maoist guerrilla prepared strategies, planned attacks, trained their armies, among others during the insurgency.

RUKUM, Feb 15: With the objective of creating a just and equal society, hundreds of youths from Rukum had participated in the decade-long armed conflict launched by the then Maoist rebels. Despite shedding their sweat and blood for their rights and opportunities, they lament that their efforts have turned futile.

KATHMANDU, Feb 13: On June 26, 2006, Surendra Khatri was dreaming of a better life five or 10 years down the line because he was just weeks away from a good job. After four days, he would leave for the Indian town of Benaras for a final appearance to get selected for the Indian army.

KATHMANDU, Feb 7: Civil society members have urged the government to protect complaints and testimonies collected from victims and families of those who were killed or disappeared during the Maoist insurgency.

ROLPA, Jan 21: As many as 73 youths of Jelbang sacrificed their lives during the decade-long Maoist insurgency. This village constitutes mostly of people from the Magar and Dalit communities.

KATHMANDU, Dec 15: Dismayed over ongoing efforts to mandate a high-level political mechanism to deal with the Maoist insurgency-era cases, a group of conflict victims, human rights activists and lawyers on Friday submitted a memorandum to Swiss Ambassador to Nepal, Elisabeth Bon Cappler.

CHITWAN, Nov 3: Badarmudhe reminds of one of the cruelest incidents of the decade long Maoist insurgency in the country. Thirty eight innocent travelers lost their lives when a passenger bus was ambushed by the Maoists here on June 6, 2005, while dozens others were severely injured. The incident had drawn flak from all quarters. It remains as a ‘scar’ of the war till this day.

KATHMANDU, Oct 9: Mamta Sharma has some blurred image of her father. He was lean, wore a cotton shirt and pants, she recalls. She was four then.

KATHMANDU, Sept 10: "Now I have no reason to remain alive, better they let me die and not intervene anymore. I had merely asked for justice but both human rights activists and the government always kept tricking me."