14 years on, Nepal yet to bring justice to the victims of the armed conflict
It has been 14 years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord which formally ended the armed conflict. However, Nepal has made no real progress in securing access to justice, truth and reparations for the victims of gross human rights violations during its 10-year conflict.
In January 2020, despite the concerns repeatedly expressed by civil society organizations on a politically biased process of appointment, new commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappearance of Persons were nominated and the tenure of both commissions was extended for the fourth time by one more year.
(…) In October 2020, a day after Nepal was reelected for a second term as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the National Human Rights Commission published a list of 286 people, including former top government and security officials that were implicated in serious human rights violations and were never held accountable for their crimes.
In the past twenty years, the National Commission recommended action in 1’195 cases of rights violations of which 940 were conflict related. 87% of them remain either partially implemented or not implemented at all. This only shows that the government is not serious in answering the plight for justice of victims of the armed conflict and their families, despite its repeated promises to do so.
(…) The Human Rights and Justice Center (TRIAL International’s sister organization in Katmandu) calls on the government of Nepal to honor the commitments undertaken 14 years ago upon signature of the Comprehensive Peace Accord and eventually amend the transitional justice laws, bringing them in line with international standards. It also calls on invigorating the transitional justice process by making it transparent to ensure justice, truth and reparations to the victims.
Read the full statement on the website of the Human Rights and Justice Center
