A week after extension of its tenure, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has resumed registration of complaints of the conflict victims.

As the commission is preparing to start detailed investigation from next month, it has decided to complete the tasks of compliant registration and staff orientation within first month of the extended term.  

“We want to make sure nobody is left out in the complaint registration process,” said CIEDP Chairman Lokendra Mallick, “We want to collect all complaints before we enter into formal procedure of investigation.”

The CIEDP has already received over 3,000 complaints. This number is expected to rise with the opening of another complaint registration window to include those people who missed the previous two deadlines. The commission is also providing the already registered individuals the chance to record details and information that they forgot to mention earlier. 

Besides, it is also collecting individual case files of incidents registered with rights organisations to back up the complaints. 

The National Human Rights Commission has also been providing the information on individual cases. The national rights body has also assured of technical support during the investigation. 

The CIEDP has a plan to complete the screening of the complaints received in third round of application collection by mid-April before launching the investigation process, which includes public hearing, taking testimonies and collecting ante-mortem data. 

“We will be carrying out various activities simultaneously to finish the task on time,” said Mallick.  

As per the plan, the excavation will begin from mid-April. The commission will also start distributing identity cards to the conflict victims from May. The commission will conduct forensic and DNA tests as required simultaneously. 

Ram Kumar Bhandari, president of National Network of Families of the Disappeared and Missing, said they were cautiously optimistic about the goals set by the CIEDP. 

“Looking back at the commission’s performance, we are not entirely confident that it will accomplish so many tasks in one year,” he said.