The international human rights community has emphasized that the objective of the Bill for the Amendment of the Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act (2014), widely referred to as the transitional justice bill, should be to protect the victims of conflict.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists issued a statement on 24 March 2023, stating that the bill should be passed with amendments following Nepal’s national law or international legal obligations.
The Amendment Bill of the Commission for Investigation, Truth and Reconciliation Act, 2071, was introduced in Parliament on 19 March.
It further states; “The bill, if adopted as currently formulated, will not adequately provide for the effective prosecution of serious crimes under international law. Moreover, the government has failed to adequately consult conflict victims about the content of the draft legislation, seriously undermining the credibility of its current approach. The bill should not be adopted in its current form; instead, it should be revised to comply with Nepal’s Supreme Court rulings and international human rights laws and standards. In addition, the revision process should ensure adequate consultation with conflict victims about the content of the proposed legislation”
“Both the Maoist armed group and government security forces committed serious human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law amounting to crimes under international law during the armed conflict in Nepal from 1996 to 2006. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war included a commitment to set up a truth and reconciliation commission “to investigate [the] truth about people seriously violating human rights and involved in crimes against humanity.” However, successive governments, which have been led in turn by all the major political parties, have blocked efforts at truth and justice
During Nepal’s armed conflict that lasted from 1996 to 2006, the Maoists and the government committed serious human rights violations and violations of humanitarian law, which are crimes under international law.”
There have been almost no successful prosecutions of serious crimes under international law since the conflict ended in 2006|. The Supreme Court in 2015 struck down several sections of the 2014 law establishing Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), in particular, because they were empowered to grant amnesties to perpetrators of serious crimes under international law.