Miscellaneous
‘Amendment bill to be tabled soon’
Amid speculations that the parties are preparing to relax provisions to grant amnesty to perpetrators of insurgency-era crimes as per the nine-point agreement, the chief legal advisor to the government has assured that there would be no amnesty for serious rights violations.Amid speculations that the parties are preparing to relax provisions to grant amnesty to perpetrators of insurgency-era crimes as per the nine-point agreement, the chief legal advisor to the government has assured that there would be no amnesty for serious rights violations.
Attorney General Hari Phuyal said the amendment to the Transitional Justice Act would be in line with Supreme Court verdicts and international practices and norms.
Coalition partners CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) in early May signed a nine-point agreement, of which five points (3-7) are related to conflict-era cases.
The agreement has proposed a time-bound action plan for amendments to the existing legal provisions, compensation and reparation for victims and withdrawal of war-era and other political cases.
“Nepal is committed to implementing the recommendations it received from the UN member states during the Universal Periodic Review session,” said Phuyal.
“The government is considering amendment to the [existing] Transitional Justice Act as directed by the court.”
The apex court has directed the government to amend the Act in line with international practices and the norms of the transitional justice process.
In its verdict, the court has asked the government to ensure that the process is victim-centric and that there is no amnesty for perpetrators of grave human rights violations.
Speaking at a programme to discuss Nepal’s adoption of the UPR recommendations on Tuesday, Phuyal said the amendment bill would be tabled in Parliament soon.
The draft bill obtained by the Post proposes three major amendments: relaxing the provision to grant amnesty to perpetrators, bringing the cases sub judice in court under the purview of the transitional justice bodies, and narrowing down the list of crimes that grossly violate human rights.
Phuyal, who has a long experience of working in transitional justice, also said the government has formed a taskforce to study the status of the recommendations made by the National Human Rights Commission as part of its commitment to the international community.
“The world is watching the status of recommendations committed to the international community in the UPR session,” said National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Anup Raj Sharma. “The government is the custodian of citizens’ rights while civil society and the NHRC are the monitors.”