The Commission of Investigation on enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has found approximately 5 percent of the 2,846 complaints ineligible for the second phase of investigation during the first screening of the complaints.

These are the complaints of missing persons in circumstances other than insurgency, which do not fall under the jurisdiction of the commission. The commission was formed in February 2015 to investigate the conflict-era cases.

The number of cases registered with the commission is double the number of disappearance cases maintained by the Ministry of Peace and other rights organisations. The ministry has recorded only 1,495 cases of disappearance, while rights organisations have documented less than 1,300 such incidents.

There are chances that the number of complaints may further decrease in the next examination, according to officials. The commission, in the first phase, sifts through cases on the basis of two factors: those occurring between 1996 and 2006, and those directly linked with the armed conflict. The second screening will seek to tally the incidents with other available information on the cases before the complaints are recommended for detailed investigation.

“We will try to look into every complaint we have received,” said CIEDP Chairperson Lokendra Mallick, “But the commission’s jurisdiction has been defined by the law.”

The commission has neither adequate human resources nor budget to look into all the complaints it has received. The government has provided the commission with 35 staff, half the number it had sanctioned for the commission last year. The commission’s request for 26 officials last month was also ignored by the government.

The commission had planned to recruit additional officials to fill out ante-mortem forms and conduct public hearing. After the government did not respond to the request, the commission has been giving orientation classes on filling out ante-mortem forms to its officials.

“We hope the new government will not delay in addressing our shortage of staff and budget to proceed the process,” said Mallick. “We will try our best to bring out the best of what we have now to not disappoint the victims.”

The government seems unsupportive of the transitional justice bodies. The government has not provided enough budgets to the commission, nor enough staff, not to mention the legal framework.

The commission may need to exhume bodies and conduct forensic tests to establish the truth, for which the government has not provided with staff and experts to carry out thorough investigation into the incidents of disappearance. The government officials are also reluctant to join the commission as the task is risky as well as the government has announced no allowances for working extra-hours during investigation. The commission has demanded that the officials be provided with 100 percent allowance of their salary.

Besides, the government has not amended the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act as per the verdict of the Supreme Court issued two years ago. The government also has not criminalised the act of disappearance, without which the commission will not be able to recommend legal action against the perpetrators.