Miscellaneous
Govt urged not to grant amnesty to war-era criminals
With the deadline to lodge complaints of war-era crime coming to an end, conflict affected single women have urged the government not to grant amnesty to perpetrators who destroyed their marital life when the transitional justice bodies get down to work.With the deadline to lodge complaints of war-era crime coming to an end, conflict affected single women have urged the government not to grant amnesty to perpetrators who destroyed their marital life when the transitional justice bodies get down to work.
Women affected by the decade-long conflict have said that reopening old wounds of war only to grant amnesty to perpetrators was playing on the sentiments of the single women.
“It took me a great deal of courage to file a complain against the people who had murdered my husband. But I am disappointed to hear that the government is considering providing amnesty to war-time crimes,” said a woman in her late thirties from Dailekh, adding, “because I doubt the people who killed my husband will be punished I am afraid to reveal my true identity as I fear for my family’s safety.
The window to lodge complaints at the Commission on Enforced Disappeared Persons ended on Friday and the deadline to register complaints at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ends on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Women for Human Rights (WHR) Single Women group, an organisation working for the rights of single women, have urged the government to prevent, respond and reduce vulnerability of conflict affected single widows and stressed the need to exclude such crimes from amnesty provisions.
“These women lost their husbands, the sole bread winner of the family. They had to raise their children in dire economic condition and also bear the brunt of social stigma of being a widow [while they were in their youths]. They now have an opportunity to see justice delivered and it is the duty of the transitional justice body to see to it that they get justice,” said Lily Thapa, founding president of the WHR.
The WHR has issued a charter of demands, urging the government to fulfil various international conventions it has ratified on women and single women to uplift their status, especially the victims of the conflict and natural disaster.
Their demands revolve around the right of widows to enjoy social, cultural and economic rights. The WHR has been providing legal counselling and skill-related trainings to 3,807 conflict affected widows. Around a thousand conflict affected single women have filed their complaints at the transitional justice bodies.