Kathmandu, Nepal: Responding to the widespread pressure from the international community and the conflict victims over their failure to resolve the Transitional Justice (TJ) process for years now, the government head Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) have reached near to the understanding to kick-start the long-stalled TJ process.
The rounds of meetings and sittings held between the leaders of the two major political parties have come to an understanding to kick-start the long-stalled TJ process by revising the disputed TJ law, accommodating the concerns of conflict victims, and table a revised bill in the federal parliament.
International community and the conflict victims have been criticizing the government and political parties for their failure to resolve the TJ process as over 65,000 conflict-era cases such as disappearance, extrajudicial executions, torture and rape committed during the decade long insurgency period.
The office bearers of the two TJ bodies-Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) and Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) had retired back in April without settling even a single case, thanks to the pressure exerted by the government to resign from the posts.
Though the incumbent NCP led government was intending to settle the war-era cases on its own ways and style under the government’s preview, the international community and the conflict victims had come heavily to objecting the government’s attempts to end the TJ process sans following the international norms and standers.
It is said that the government head NCP has come into agreement to settle the TJ processes in accordance with international standards and adhering the order issued by the Supreme Court (SC), the Apex Court of the country. The conflict victims have also a similar demand that the war era cases have to be settled as per the international norms and values and taking reference to the orders of the national’s Apex Court.
The international community and the conflict victims become suspicious not only for the delay to settle the TJ process but also the unwillingness persisted from the government’s side to take action against those involved in serious human rights violations.
As then CPN (Maoist), which had launched the insurgency on the name of people’s war, has now become able to be transformed into government head NCP by merging with the CPN (UML), the victims, particularly the victims made from the Maoist side, seems more suspicious over the activities of the incumbent government.
It is said that the clinching stand of the main opposition NC has compelled the government head NCP to compromise to revise the TJ bill registered in the federal parliament. There will be a discussion with the conflict victims over the recent understanding reached between the political parties before appointing the new officials for the commissions; a NC leader, who had taken part in the meeting with the government head NCP, said preferring anonymity.
