The government's plan to draft two crucial bills on transitional justice mechanism has suffered a serious setback, as members of the expert taskforce entrusted to finalise the drafts threaten to quit.

The induction of retired Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chuda Bahadur Shrestha as conflict expert in the team has outraged taskforce members representing victims.

"In no way can we work with the person indicted on rights violation," said Suman Adhikari, who has been entrusted with collecting suggestions from the victims. "Either the government should dismiss him or we quit."

The National Human Rights Commission had recommended the government for action against Shrestha's alleged involvement in the  murder of five youths by security forces in Dhanusha in 2003. Shrestha was in charge of the then Unified Security Command, which reportedly killed Sanjeev Kumar Karna, Durgesh Lava, Jitendra Jha, Pramod Narayan Mandal and Shailendra Yadav.

"The news of Shrestha appointment as a taskforce member has victimised us all over again. He is the architect behind the incident," said Rajiv Karna, Sanjeev's brother, asking, "Does the government want to make commissions for the victims or for the perpetrators?"

The former SSP was also in command of Operation Romeo in 1995-96, which resulted in scores of arbitrary deaths, arrests and disappearances.

The commission asked the Peace Ministry and Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Friday to clarify with three days the appointment of the person implicated in serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances.

The National Victims Alliance, a coalition of 15 victims' organisations, is outraged over the appointment of Shrestha. "We demand that the government dismiss Shrestha from the taskforce and form the drafting committee as directed by the Supreme Court," the alliance said in a statement.

In January, the apex court had ordered the government to exclude individuals who were parties to the conflict and/or who had records of human rights violations while forming the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Commission on Enforced Disappearances.

The alliance also objected the inclusion of Dinesh Tripathi as human rights lawyer in the team. Tripathi, of the Nepali Congress, lost the recent Constituent Assembly polls from Rupandehi. It has also criticised the overwhelming presence of bureaucrats in the team. Six of the 11-member taskforce are civil servants, while only three members represent the victims.  

Law Minister Narahari Acharya, however, dismissed the claims as "petty issues".  "Everyone is affected by the conflict in one way or another. To bring up such issues is to not want the bills," he said.