National
TRC preparing year-long plan to extend its term
Following the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) decision to seek a one-year term extension, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Sunday started consultations among its stakeholders before requesting the government for similar extension.Following the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) decision to seek a one-year term extension, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Sunday started consultations among its stakeholders before requesting the government for similar extension.
After getting assurance for support from three major political parties, the CIEDP had written to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction for the term extension on Wednesday. President Bidya Devi Bhandari has already authenticated a government ordinance calling for the term extension of the two transitional justice bodies given that they write to the government explaining reasons behind their failure to complete the investigation in three years.
Manchala Jha, a TRC member, told the Post that they are preparing a detail plan on works that the commission would do in the extended period. The commission, which received 60,298 complaints from the conflict victims, has hardly completed preliminary investigation into 827 cases so far. It has yet to initiate detail investigation into a single case. Given the huge number of complaints, it is highly unlikely that the TRC could complete the investigation in the extended period.
Jha said the TRC would write to the ministry, explaining the constraints facing them, including lack of proper law, inadequate human resource and frequent change of government. “Completing investigation of 60,298 cases is extremely challenging even in the favourable condition,” she added. “If the non-cooperation from the government and parties continues, there won’t be any significant process no matter how many times the term is extended.”
The three-year term of the TRC and the CIEDP expires on February 7. The two transitional justice bodies have not managed to undertake much work, besides collecting around 63,000 complaints from conflict victims.
The international community also has not owned up the process as the government fails to formulate the laws as per the international standards. The conflict victims have also been saying that further extension is meaningless without an amendment to the legislation that would incorporate the Supreme Court’s 2015 order to remove amnesty provisions. The Conflict Victims Common Platform is also demanding that the TRC and the CIEDP prepare progress reports to demonstrate what has been accomplished so far.