National
Govt asked to provide necessary resources pronto
The Parliament Committee on Social Justice and Human Rights has directed the government to provide the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with necessary budget, staff and legal documents to proceed with transitional justice process.Dewan Rai
The Parliament Committee on Social Justice and Human Rights has directed the government to provide the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with necessary budget, staff and legal documents to proceed with transitional justice process.
The committee on Wednesday issued the directive to the Prime Minster’s Office, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, asking them to provide necessary resources for the commissions urgently.
“We have given them a week’s time to respond to the need,” said Sushil Kumar Shrestha, the committee chairman.
The government should facilitate the process for the closure of the incidents of insurgency, which is a major component of the peace process, Shrestha added.
The directive comes 14 months after the formation of the commission that remained practically non-functional over the period due to the lack of required physical and legal infrastructure.
Shrestha said that the directives are aimed at speeding up the transitional justice process, which has yet to begin formally. “We are getting late to address the issues,” he said.
The government took eight months to formalise the regulation for the commission, while it has to amend a dozen provisions in line with the Supreme Court order. The commission had forwarded the required amendments to the transitional justice act as per the court order in December last year. The apex court had struck down a dozen provisions of the existing act on the ground that they were inconsistent with transitional justice norms and practices
Out of 100 positions sanctioned for the commission, the government has allocated only 27. Besides, the commission has been reeling under the budget crunch. The government has released
Rs 90 million for the commission so far. The commission had requested Rs 140 million budget for the year. As the budget for the commission was not mentioned in the Red Book, releasing the fund falls at the discretion of the Finance Ministry.
Despite the challenges, the TRC has issued a public notice calling conflict victims to register their complaints beginning mid-April. The victims can register their complaints at the Local Peace Committees in the districts and
central office in Kathmandu. The complaints can be
filed through e-mail, by post and fax.
The complainant can demand security with the commission if needed, while it has assured of a separate arrangement to receive complaints from the victims of rape, senior citizens, children and people with disabilities.