National
CIEDP deadline up; 2,775 cases lodged
The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has received 2,775 complaints from conflict victims, as the three-month deadline for complaint registration ended on Friday.Dewan Rai
The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has received 2,775 complaints from conflict victims, as the three-month deadline for complaint registration ended on Friday.
The CIEDP had registered 2,084 complaints on war-era disappearance cases in the first two months. Fewer than 700 complaints were recorded after the initial deadline was extended by a month.
The cases were recorded at the local peace committees (LPC).
CIEDP Secretary Mahesh Sharma Poudel said the commission has already conducted preliminary investigation into more than 1,300 cases.
The second phase of investigation will begin once the screening of the complaints is finished, he added.
The CIEDP is considering keeping its office in Lalitpur open for complaint registration for another month, though no particular decision to that end has been reached so far.
“The commission is yet to take decision on the matter,” Poudel said.
The service term of LPC secretaries, computer operators and office assistants also expired on Friday, two days ahead of the deadline for complaint registration set by the another transitional justice body, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
TRC Chairman Surya Kiran Gurung said with the staff hired for LPC to help in the complaint registration process made redundant, complaints could be registered through chief district officers.
“We have made an arrangement to register complaints through chief district officers, as the government did not respond to the term extension request for the employees hired for local peace committees,” he said.
The TRC has so far received 52,545 applications for investigation into conflict-era cases.
Gurung said they have requested the government to provide sufficient budget to hire experts to assist in investigation and to recommend reparation for the victims.
The CIEDP and the TRC were formed in February 2015 with the mandate to register and investigate conflict-era cases in two years. They have seven months to complete the job.
TRC Chairman Gurung said their work has been affected by the delay in budget release and approval of the laws required to proceed with the investigation process.
“We are running out of time. The government should take our concern seriously,” he said.