The victims of the 1996-2006 Maoist insurgency have decided to recommend their representatives as the members of two transitional justice commissions.

Different associations of the people fallen victim to actions from the state security forces and the Maoists have decided to recommend at least two of their representatives to the Truth and Reconciliation Commision and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons.

“We have long been demanding victim’s representation in the commission,” Gopal Bahadur Shah, chairperson of the Conflict Victims National Network, told the Post. “We will recommend at least two names, one victimised by the state and the next by the Maoists. One of them will be a woman.”

Shah said the victims’ organisations too will recommend names of the human rights activists as chairpersons and members of the transitional justice commissions.

The committee to recommend office bearers of the two transitional justice commissions issued a public notice on Friday, inviting applications from aspirants for the chairpersons and members. While individual aspirants can directly apply for any of the positions, different human rights and victim organisations can also recommend the names at the organisational level. Such institutions, however, need the consent of the individuals they are recommending.

Shah said they have already held joint meetings with the victims and human rights activists, who have long been involved in the fight for justice, to list the probable names. “We will make our commendations by Wednesday,” he said.

However, not all victims have demanded their participation in the commissions. Ram Bhandari, a victim and rights defender, said they are not looking for their representation as chairpersons or commissioners. “The victims need representation in the mechanism that manages the reparation fund but not in the commissions,” he told the Post. “However, we might recommend the names of human rights defenders as chairpersons or the members.”

The panel led by former chief justice Om Prakash Mishra has published a Thursday deadline to submit the applications and recommendations.

As per the recent amendment to the Enforced Disappeared Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, a person qualified to be a Supreme Court justice is eligible for the role of chairperson of either of the commissions. Those who qualify to be a high court judge are eligible for appointment as members.

Each commission will have five members led by a chairperson.

Officials at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, which is the secretariat, say they have started receiving applications while the number of inquiries is overwhelming.

“We have received a plethora of inquiries. It is certain that the number of applicants will be high,” Man Bahadur Aryal, a joint-secretary at the ministry, told the Post.

After collecting the aspirants’ names, the five-member committee will itself collect the names of experts if the names received through personal applications and organisational recommendations do not suffice. The provision of organisational recommendation and selection by the committee itself was included as renowned figures might not be willing to apply for positions in the commissions.

A shortlist of probable candidates will be made public only after evaluating their resumes and backgrounds. Interested people can send their feedback on the short-listed candidates.

As per its working procedure, the committee will collect public feedback, ask the candidates to make presentations and carry out other necessary tasks before selecting the candidates for appointment.

The stakeholders, however, claim that presentations and public feedback alone are insufficient. The victims of the 1996-2006 conflict and human rights activists have demanded mandatory public hearings for shortlisted candidates before making the nominations.

The two commissions have remained defunct since July 2022, when the government extended their terms without retaining their chairmen and members. The government claimed the bill to amend the transitional justice law would be endorsed by October 2022, and the appointments would be made based on the revised Act.

However, the federal parliament took over two years to endorse the bill. The victims and human rights defenders are now closely watching who will be appointed to the commissions.

The amended Act sets four-year terms for the two transitional justice commissions to investigate the cases and recommend prosecution and reparation. However, if they fail to accomplish their tasks within the given time, they may be granted a term extension.

The truth commission has received 63,718 complaints, while the commission on disappearances is sitting on around 2,400 cases. The commissions, first formed in 2015, have done little beyond collecting complaints and conducting preliminary investigations on some cases.