The National Human Rights Commission has delayed making the report public even though the team formed to study the incidents of 23 and 24 Bhadra. The study team of the commission submitted the report on 6 Chait, but it has not been made public yet. 

A meeting was called last Wednesday to discuss the report. However, the meeting has been postponed indefinitely due to health problems of the commission chairperson Tapa Bahadur Magar. This has raised suspicions that the report will not be made public. 

Earlier, the commission prepared a report on the protest by the royalists on 15 Chait 2081, but it has not been made public. The commission had formed a committee under the coordination of Manju Khatiwada to investigate the violent incident that took place in Tinkune, Kathmandu, and prepared the report. Like that report, the report on the Gen-G movement has also been raised suspicions that the report on the Gen-G movement will not be made public.

A study committee was formed on 24 Bhadra under the leadership of commission member Lily Thapa to investigate the Gen-G movement. The committee took statements from the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to the current Prime Minister Balendra Shah. The commission had also formed a committee led by two members of the commission to identify the main parts of the report. 

The meeting was adjourned due to the chairman's illness, a decision on the report will be taken after the commission meets: Mihir Thakur, Member of the Human Rights Commission The commission had assigned two members of the commission, Mihir Thakur and Manoj Duwadi, to conduct further study, prepare a brief report and draw up a summary. There is one vacancy in the commission, while Tap Bahadur Magar is currently the chairman, and Mihir Thakur, Manoj Duwadi and Lily Thapa are the members. The two members have prepared a brief report of about 20 pages as a summary of the report. However, it seems that the delay occurred because the chairman and secretary did not take interest and put pressure on the meeting to convene.

Similarly, a member of the commission claims that the government has come under pressure not to make the report public immediately due to the comments written by the commission on the 24th Bhadra incident. However, the secretary of the commission, Murari Prasad Kharel, said that the delay was due to the report being in the preparation stage. ‘Even though the committee responsible for the study has submitted the report, the work on the second phase of the report is still ongoing,’ he said. ‘After that, discussions and decisions will be made at the commission’s official level. Efforts are being made to hold a meeting.’

Commission member Thakur said that the meeting was postponed due to the chairman’s illness. ‘The commission has not come since the 15th due to illness. We have to wait for him for another day or two. The meeting of the officials cannot be held without the chairman. That is the reason for the postponement. We have prepared it as per the responsibility we have been given. A decision on the report will be made after the commission meets,’ he said. 

As there is no document to hide or keep the report confidential, a decision should be made public as soon as possible: Lily Thapa, Human Rights Commission member and investigation team coordinator Committee coordinator Thapa expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in making the report public. She said that since there is no document to hide or keep the report confidential, a decision should be made public as soon as possible. ‘The issues recommended for action in that report should be brought out and submitted to the government,’ Thapa said. 

She said at an INSEC program organized on Friday that she would make the report public if the commission does not make it public in some time. The report submitted by the Thapa-led committee is about 1,000 pages long. She also expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that two members of the commission summarized it and reduced it to about 20 pages. “If the report is not made public in its entirety, I will write a note of dissent,” she said.

Former member of the Human Rights Commission, Mohana Ansari, commented that she was surprised why the commission was hiding the report. “The report comes ready. That is what the mandate is,” she said, “But I am still surprised why the report was not made public. No report was withheld when we were there. We had made reports from the Madhesh movement to the Tikapur incident public.” She said that it would not be good to politicize the commission’s report and that the mandate, accountability and responsibility of the commission officials should be towards the constitution.

Commission spokesperson Tikaram Pokharel admitted that there was a delay in making the report public. He opined that it should be finalized by holding a meeting for a few days. ‘This is a report that is in the commission’s archives and is awaited internationally,’ he said, ‘It should not be delayed for a long time. Suspicion has increased since the report on the Tinkune incident has not come. This is not good.’

What is in the report?

The commission’s report has studied the repression and human rights violations on 23 Bhadra, and has recommended action on how the incident on 24 Bhadra happened and who played a role in it, from what to take action against them. The commission has recommended action in three parts on the incident on 23 Bhadra. Action has been recommended on the mechanisms led by the Prime Minister, the Central Security Committee, and the Chief District Officer.

The National Security Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, has the Defense Minister, Home Minister, Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, Chief Secretary, and Chief of Army Staff. The Secretary of the Ministry of Defense is the member-secretary in the council. During the movement, the then Prime Minister Oli was the chairman of the council. The then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Foreign Minister Dr. Arju Rana Deuba, Defense Minister Manbir Rai, Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal and Army Chief Ashok Sigdel were members. The then Defense Secretary Rameshwor Dangal was the member-secretary.