Nepal government urged to take actions for war victims

The National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) annual report expresses concern over the delay of transitional justice in Nepal. Actions have to be taken urgently, as the relevant bodies’ mandates are to end soon.

The report shows* that from 2000 to 2013, the Commission asked Nepal’s government to make a move regarding 735 cases of rights violations. But only 103 were taken into account. This slow pace of action is a burden for the victims seeking justice and often leads to discouragement.

The NHRC delegation, who presented the report to President Bhandari, also denounced the failure to implement law and lack of resources allocated to transitional justice bodies – preventing them from working effectively and leaving them nearly powerless.

The NHRC pointed out that delaying the transitional justice process in Nepal gives credence to the state of impunity.

Clock is ticking for transitional justice bodies

On top of all, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons’ (CIEDP) mandates will end on February 2018.

But their work is far from being completed. The conflict ended in 2006 and thousands of victims are still awaiting reparations.

Moreover, former child soldiers are still shunned from the transitional justice system. Which has grave consequences alienating them from society.

“War victims have suffered long enough, Nepal’s government should make transitional justice mechanisms stronger to help bring closure to the survivors”, explained Lucie Canal, Acting Head of Nepal program at TRIAL International.

*all figures are taken from an article published by the Kathmandu Post