At a time when the transitional justice process has been stuck in the lack of necessary legislation, the government has decided to establish a peace fund to support conflict victims of human rights violations.

Presenting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Minister for Finance Barsha Man Pun on Tuesday announced the establishment of the fund. “Rs1 billion has been allocated for the peace fund,” he said. “It would be used to provide compensation and financial support to conflict victims.”

In the past, successive governments have provided some relief packages to the victims of the decade-long insurgency that ended in 2006 but not many have been covered. The government provided Rs1 million in relief to the families of those killed or forcibly disappeared during the Maoist insurgency. However, many such victims have been left out.

Records at the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons show only 1,227 families of victims of enforced disappearances have received the compensation. However, as many as 3,223 complaints of enforced disappearances implicating either security forces or the Maoists have been lodged at the commission. And the commission has identified 2,494 cases that fall under its jurisdiction for investigation.

Victims of sexual violence and rape are the ones who have been most neglected when it comes to receiving compensation from the government. As they are unable to lodge complaints owing to the social stigma, they have been left out from the government support.

Though advocates of the rights of conflict victims of rape and sexual violence claim their numbers to be in thousands, only 314 have lodged their complaints at the truth commission.

The conflict victims, welcoming the decision to create the fund, ask the government and the political parties to focus on amending the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act. “Amending the Act must be a top priority as it will open the door for compensation and justice,” Suman Adhikari, founding chairperson of the Conflict Victims Common Platform, told the Post. “Searching for other options without making necessary attempts to amend the Act is unacceptable.”

The two transitional justice commissions have been defunct since July 2022, after the government decided to extend their terms without retaining their chairmen and members. Against the government’s claim that the amendment bill to the Act would be endorsed by October 2022, which will also open the door for recruiting new office bearers, there has been no progress in amending the Act.

The major political parties, despite making several attempts, have not been able to find a meeting point in the bill though there has been some progress.

After year-long discussions, the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives has narrowed down the differences in the bill. However, the House panel had been struggling to decide whether to categorise arbitrary killings or all killings except those that occurred in clashes as serious violations of human rights. It had also been unable to decide what happens in case the victims of human rights violations refuse to reconcile.

There has been no discussion on the bill since the formation of the UML-Maoist coalition on March 4.

The government, however, has claimed the transitional justice process would be expedited. Prior to the presentation of the budget to the joint meeting of Parliament, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had said his government was committed to concluding the transitional justice process and providing financial support to the victims.

“The government is committed to concluding the peace process by expediting the transitional justice process,” Dahal said at a function held to mark the republic day. “We have completed most of the task of conflict management and peacebuilding as envisioned by the Constitution of Nepal.” He also claimed that Nepal’s practice in conflict management has set an example at the international level, he had claimed.