The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has registered 1,146 complaints from conflict victims, about 77 percent of the 1,522 documented cases of disappearance at the Ministry of Peace. 

The commission, which started registering the cases since mid-April, has fared well in collecting conflict-era cases despite the fact that there is no law to penalise perpetrators. 

Conflict victims have been waiting over a decade to know what happened to their loved ones. “People want us to look into their cases to find out the persons involved in the act disappearances,” said Lokendra Mallick, CIEDP chair. “If Nepal fails to bring the perpetrators to justice, they can be punished under the international jurisdiction anywhere in the world.”

Nepal Army Colonel Kumar Lama has been arrested in the UK for his alleged involvement in torture of two individuals in Kapilvastu barracks under the international jurisdiction. His trial in British court is scheduled for next month. 

Mallick, a former chief judge of Appellate Court, argued that the existing transitional justice act has mentioned the act of disappearance as serious human rights violation. “Now, we need a law to spell out the time to be served for the crime,” he said. 

As the government delayed in drafting the act to criminalise the act of disappearance, the commission had forwarded a draft act to the government on February. However, the Law Ministry has been holding the act, saying the draft needed a few changes. The government had taken almost nine months to endorse regulations for the commission. 

The commission, however, is determined to investigate into the cases even if the government does not pass the act. “We are set to start preliminary investigation into the cases we have received,” said Mallick. “We cannot wait any longer for the act to be enacted.” The commission is mandated to investigate into conflict-era cases and recommend for action against those found guilty of rights violation during the conflict period. 

Despite the nine-point agreement signed between the ruling parties to withdraw conflict-era cases and grant amnesty to rights violators, the commission has been receiving around 20-30 cases on daily basis. “We are hopeful that we will complete our task within the stipulated time,” said Mallick. The commission has seven months to investigate into the cases and recommend action against the perpetrators. As per the transitional justice act, the tenure of the commission can be extended to one year.