Civil society leaders, human rights activist and conflict victims have called for a proper investigation and prosecution of war-era crimes as the country marks the 12th anniversary of the signing of Comprehensive Peace Accord this week.

Issuing a statement on Sunday, they urged the Federal Parliament, National Human Rights Commission, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), United Nations Human Rights Council and several other national and international agencies to ensure justice to the victims of a decade-long Maoist insurgency.

“The victims are being threatened, allured, tempted and misled. This strategy developed on the basis of political and personal self-interest seems to be oriented towards diminishing achievements made in the front of transitional justice and derailing the ongoing process of seeking justice,” the statement reads.   

More than a decade since the Maoists joined mainstream politics, thousands of people, who suffered at the hands of state security forces and the Maoist insurgents between 1996 and 2006, have largely been deprived of justice. The government has succeeded providing Rs1 million each to families of those killed and forcibly disappeared during the conflict. But the woes of victims who were sexually assaulted, raped and tortured continue as they have not received any support.

The TRC has received around 33,000 complaints while CIEDP has around 3,000 cases registered since the two bodies were formed about four years ago. The TRC has not even finished studying 5,000 complaints so far while the CIEDP is yet to complete the preliminary investigation on over half of the registered cases. The extended terms of both commissions, formed in February 2015, ends in three months. Though the government has not made its position clear, it is likely that their terms will be extended yet again.