Miscellaneous
Registered cases outnumber Peace Ministry’s count
Even with 10 days remaining to file complaints, the number of conflict-related cases registered with the transitional justice bodies has crossed the number of insurgency-era incidents documented by the Peace Ministry.Dewan Rai
Even with 10 days remaining to file complaints, the number of conflict-related cases registered with the transitional justice bodies has crossed the number of insurgency-era incidents documented by the Peace Ministry.
The Truth and Recon-ciliation Commission (TRC) has gathered over 15,000 cases while the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has got more than 1,600 incidents of disappearance as of Sunday.
The ministry has the record of 14,375 incidents of killings and 1,497 cases of enforced disappearance during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.
The number of war-era incidents varies depending on the institution involved in documenting the cases. A taskforce formed to verify the deaths has put the number of extra-judicial killings at 17,800, while the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has mentioned 13,246 deaths from the decade.
The National Human Rights Commission and the Informal Sector Service Centre have put the disappearances below 1,000.
The commissions claim to have gathered the data from government authorities, as well as former rebel parties to ascertain the exact number of rights violations, which will be possible only after collecting complaints from the victims. The commissions are considering an extension of mid-June deadline for complaint registration.
A nine-point deal reached between coalition partners CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) has created confusion among victims. However, it did not seem to deter them from registering complaints.
“We received cooperation from all sides, particularly the victims’ groups, who played a major role in the process,” said TRC Chair Surya Kiran Gurung. “They registered complaints because of the trust in us. We won’t disappoint them.”
However, the victims were critical of the commissions’ work ever since their formation one-and-a-half years ago. The reason was the exclusion of conflict victims from the entire process despite the Supreme Court order to make it victim-centric.
“The transitional justice process is not about registering complaints,” said Ram Bhandari, general secretary of Conflict Victims Common Platform. “It’s about delivering justice to the victims.
“But the commissions would do well to win the confidence of the victims’ community by ensuring their participation in formation of the reparation policy to address economic and psycho-social needs of the victims.”
The transitional justice bodies started taking complaints from mid-April, 14 months after their formation. Despite the delay and doubts over their competence, conflict victims registered their complaints through the Local Peace Committees.
Conflict in data
- TRC registers over 15,000 cases while the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons gets more than 1,600 incidents of disappearance as of Sunday.
- Peace Ministry has the record of 14,375 incidents of killings and 1,497 cases of enforced disappearance