The Supreme Court has set a date for the third time to deliver its verdict on a registered writ petition alleging that children were recruited into the army and misused during the Maoist war.
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The writ petition regarding child military abuse has been adjourned for the third time. The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on Friday to deliver its verdict on the writ petition alleging that children were used as soldiers in the armed conflict launched by the then Maoists.
The bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Sunil Kumar Pokharel and Shantisingh Thapa has scheduled the hearing for the third time.
The final verdict in this dispute began on Magh 22, 2082. It was decided to schedule the hearing for the verdict on Falgun 28. But the hearing was postponed to Jestha 5 and Jestha 27, 2083. Today is the third hearing.
The dispute reached the full bench of three judges on Baisakh 1, 2082.
Lenin Bista, a former child soldier of the then Maoists, and nine others filed a writ petition on 28 Jestha 2080 against two former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai. At that time, UNMIN had expelled 400 combatants, including child soldiers, from the camp as unfit.
They claim that they were used at that time and were expelled after the peace agreement as unfit. Similarly, the writ petition also alleges that they were not included in the Transitional Justice Act, the Investigation of Disappeared Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Act, which was formed to investigate and redress human rights violations. Bista claims in the writ that he was recruited by the Maoists at the age of 13 and used in the war, and that this act is a 'war crime' contrary to the Constitution of Nepal and international treaties and agreements.
The writ petition was ordered to be presented to the full bench by a joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Binod Sharma and Abdul Aziz Musalman. The bench argued that it was a matter of international law and serious constitutional interpretation.
The act of forming and entering child soldiers during the 10-year Maoist war and removing them from the camp after wearing ‘unfit’ badges has hurt self-respect and violated international humanitarian law, Bista and his party have stated in the writ petition. The writ also demands that Dahal and Bhattarai, who were in the leadership of the child soldiers at the time, be investigated and prosecuted for criminal offenses in accordance with international humanitarian law. They also demanded that if justice is not provided through domestic mechanisms, an ‘International Special Tribunal’ be formed in coordination with the United Nations and action be taken.
A few days ago, Bista had even reached The Hague, where the International Criminal Court is located.
The armed conflict that began on 1 Falgun 2052 ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 5 Mangsir 2063.
The disqualified fighters once protested at the then Maoist party office in Parisdanda. The government had announced that it would provide Rs 200,000 as a relief to the disqualified fighters. But the Supreme Court stayed the distribution of the money, saying that it was not possible to make procedures and laws.
