Commission's position on TRC: Amnesty in cases of murder is unacceptable

In the revised draft of the Act on the establishment of the Commission for Investigation, Truth and Reconciliation of Enforced Disappearances, which has been entangled in the parliamentary committee for a long time, the commission has clearly disagreed with the circular provision of amnesty to the perpetrators by dividing murders into two categories, simple and serious.

The commission has released the book "National Human Rights Commission and Transitional Justice" on Monday in its office at Harihar Bhavan, and has taken the position that all murders should be clearly written in the law as a serious human rights violation and the draft should be amended according to the international human rights law that no amnesty can be given to the guilty involved in such incidents.

The National Human Rights Commission has said that the proposed transitional justice bill will include war crimes and crimes against humanity as serious violations of human rights to ensure justice for former Maoist child soldiers.

'Amnesty cannot be given to those guilty of serious human rights violations, our position is that even if a reduced sentence is given, at least 25 percent of the prevailing sentence cannot be given,' Commissioner Surya Dhungel said, 'Murder cannot be made a law as serious and ordinary, this is an international human right. It is against the law and the commission opposes it. Dhungel said that the book was prepared with the aim of taking a stand on the current situation by documenting the work done by the commission since the conflict period. In the

book, not only murder, but also forced disappearance, kidnapping, rape and all kinds of sexual violence, war crimes and crimes against humanity should be written clearly in the law as a serious violation of human rights. Dhungel said that there is a commission on the fact that the transitional justice process, which has been stalled for a long time, should proceed immediately and the victims should use their right to justice.

The commission has opposed the proposed amnesty draft saying that the killing of unarmed or non-affiliated persons is a serious violation of human rights. The position of the commission is that the written consent of the victim must be mandatory for amnesty in other crimes.

Transitional justice is only an alternative mechanism to deal with human rights violations or excesses that occurred in armed conflicts and to ensure justice for the victims and to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.

'Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Disappeared Persons Investigation Commission were formed to deal with transitional justice in Nepal,' says Tap Bahadur Magar, the president of the commission, 'but the transitional justice has not reached a conclusion.' He says that he has been giving suggestions and warnings to advance the transitional justice in accordance with the international standards of human rights and he is still taking a stand accordingly. The Commission has suggested that the use of minors in conflict should also be criminalized and written in the Act.

2,973 minors were found ineligible in the military adjustment verification process conducted by Unmin. The government provided between 5 to 8 lakh rupees to the fighters who took voluntary retirement. However, it was not given to those who were found ineligible. The petition filed by ex-child soldiers Lenin Bista and others against Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the then Chairman of the Jan Sarkar Baburam Bhattarai in the Supreme Court is pending.

A comprehensive peace agreement was reached on November 5, 2063 to deal with the incidents of 'serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity' during the armed conflict between the state party and the then rebel Maoists through a transitional judicial process. In the

agreement, it was mentioned that "names, surnames and addresses of those who have been disappeared and killed by both sides will be informed to the public within 60 days". However, even after 16 years of the said agreement, the judicial process has not progressed.