As the government prepares to extend the tenures of two transitional justice mechanisms by a year, the members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has said they cannot complete the investigation in the extended time.

The extension of term without amendment in the legal provisions and amid existing administrative hurdles will not yield the expected and timely outcome, the TRC members said at a meeting with the representative of Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP), an association of 13 organisation working for the conflict victims, on Tuesday.

The TRC members also said that various situations like the 2015 earthquake, financial constraints and non-cooperation from the political parties had led to the sluggish progress in the investigation process of the war-era cases.

The three-year term of the TRC ends on February 9. Over that period, it has hardly completed the preliminary investigation into 800 cases against 50,000 that were filed.

The CVCP had held the meeting with the TRC to enquire what it had done in last three years.

 “There won’t be expected progress even in the extended period if we get one more year without addressing the constraints the transitional justice bodies are facing,” said Manchala Jha, a TRC member.

She said that along with the amendment to the existing law as per the Supreme Court’s order, the three major parties should also offer their unanimous support to the investigation process.

The CVCP representatives said the TRC was further victimising the victims by delaying the investigation. They also called for overhauling the commission to make it

effective.

“It has been established the present commission will not deliver. It needs total overhauling,” demanded CVCP President Suman Adhikari. “Along with the reluctance of the government and the political parties to investigate the war-era crimes, the ineptness of the TRC is also responsible for the delay.”

The conflicts victims also demanded that they should have representation in the commission as they understand the urgency of the situation.  The CVCP representatives are holding meeting with CIEDP officials on Wednesday.