A provincial-level transitional justice monitoring committee has been formed in Janakpurdham on November 21, 2024, committed to working collectively in solidarity for the rights and interests of conflict victims. The committee aims to select independent, impartial, and human rights-oriented individuals who understand the sentiments of conflict victims for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons, both related to the transitional justice process. This decision to form the monitoring committee was made during a discussion held in Janakpurdham on November 21, involving representatives of organizations active in human rights and members of conflict-affected families in Madhesh Province. A nine-member committee, chaired by human rights activist Baidyanath Jha from Saptari, was unanimously formed based on the same discussion. The committee members include Tara Kumari Mahato and Rajiv Karn from Dhanusha, Birendra Kumar Yadav from Mahottari, Durga Pariyar from Siraha, Mukesh Kumar Mishra from Sarlahi, Gauri Neupane from Rautahat, and Bhola Nath Paudel from Bara.
Additionally, to enhance the effectiveness of the committee work, the meeting decided to form a five-member advisory committee including INSEC Madhesh Province Coordinator Raju Paswan, Advocacy Forum Province Coordinator Rajkumar Mahaseth, WOREC Province Coordinator Bina Singh, Chairperson of Women For Human Rights, single women group (WHR) Dhanusha Subhadra Ale, and Samita Tamang of Conflict Victim Women National Network, Dhanusha. INSEC Madhesh Province Coordinator Raju Paswan emphasized the need for a credible and transparent selection process for the officials of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Advocacy Forum Madhesh Province Coordinator and Advocate Rajkumar Mahaseth stated that even after 18 years since the signing of the “Comprehensive Peace Agreement” between the Government of Nepal and the then CPN-Maoist on November 21, 2006, the commitments outlined in the agreement remain unimplemented. Likewise, Conflict victims Rajiv Karna, Tara Kumari Mahato, and Birendra Kumar Yadav emphasized appointing human rights activists who understand the sentiments of the conflict victims to the two transitional justice commissions. They also demanded justice, stating they had not experienced it even after 18 years of the “Comprehensive Peace Agreement.”