Nearly six months after their formation, the two transitional justice commissions remain uncertain about when they will begin investigating thousands of cases under them, as they still lack the necessary regulations and resources.

Ever since the appointments of office bearers in May, the commissions had reiterated that they will start detailed investigations after the festive season (October last week). Now, when the festive seasons are over, they are citing lack of legal and administrative instruments to commence probing the complaints lodged with them. The changes in the political dynamics after the Gen Z movement last month that toppled the KP Sharma Oli government also altered the schedule, they say.

“Things did not go as planned. Our office space is too small to start studying the files of thousands of complaints,” said Achyut Prasad Bhandari, spokesperson for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). “The present workforce is also far from adequate and the government is yet to promulgate the regulation.”

The office bearers at the TRC and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons had explained their problems to the finance and law ministers.

However, the government is yet to endorse the regulation necessary to implement the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act amended in August last year. It also has not allocated the staff as per the TRC’s organisation and management (O&M) survey.

At present, the truth commission has 89 sanctioned positions. Of these 21 are vacant. Based on its O&M survey, the commission has demanded 240 new positions to commence its detailed investigation. The commission plans to mobilise 60 teams, each of which comprise four people experienced in investigations, to the various places for the detailed investigation.

“It is the government’s responsibility to equip the commissions with necessary resources. The government has not created an enabling environment to expedite our works,” said a member from the TRC. Minister for home affairs Om Prakash Aryal is ignoring their repeated request for a meeting, he claimed.

Amid reservations from a section of insurgency victims, the erstwhile KP Sharma Oli government, on May 14, appointed office bearers in the two commissions that were vacant for nearly three years. A five-member team led by former deputy attorney general Mahesh Thapa is leading the TRC while another team of five under former chief secretary Lila Devi Gadtaula leads the disappearance commission.

“We are awaiting regulations to begin detailed investigations,” said Gadtaula. “I have been told that it has already been presented in the Cabinet for endorsement. Immediately, after getting appointed, the new team called applications from the victims, who could not file their complaints in the past for various reasons, with a three-month deadline. The victims, across the nation, lodged 15,191 new complaints at the TRC, taking the total count to 78,909. It already had 63,718 cases pending. Likewise, the disappearance commission has received 68 new cases. It has around 2,500 cases pending.

The office bearers at the commissions say they are not in a position to further delay the investigation. The revised Act has given four years to both the commissions to complete their work. As around six years have passed just in receiving new complaints, they effectively have three and a half years to accomplish their job.

“We are planning to meet the law minister and other ministers to learn about the government’s position on the transitional justice process. It can terminate our appointment if it is unwilling to provide the necessary resources,” said the TRC member.

While the commission is lobbying the government to ensure a conducive environment for work, a section of the conflict victims is pressuring it to sack the office bearers and appoint new ones through a fresh process. On October 16, a group led by Ram Bhandari, coordinator of the National Network of the Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations, presented a memo to the prime minister’s chief advisor Ajaya Bhadra Khanal demanding removal of the incumbent team and replacing them with a new one appointed through transparent process.