Nepal: Put victims at centre of transitional justice process

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairperson Anup Raj Sharma said the victims should be at the centre of transitional justice process as stated in a recent Supreme Court verdict.

Sharma said that the Transitional Justice Act should be amended if required in line with the verdict to deliver justice to the conflict victims.

During a meeting with officials of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) on Tuesday, Sharma emphasised that the NHRC needed to win confidence of the victims to succeed in realising its objectives.

Assuring the CIEDP officials of full support in the investigations of conflict-era issues, the NHRC Chairperson said the transitional justice mechanism should be able to win confidence of the victims and that the Commission can deliver justice.

CIEDP Chairperson Lokendra Mallick briefed the national human rights body about the progress made by the Commission in the month since its establishment.

According to Mallick, the Commission has been looking into working procedure and terms of reference for its office bearers.

During the meeting, Mallick sought support of the NHRC in investigating cases of rights violation during the conflict.

"The NHRC has documented a large number of cases related to rights violation, which is crucial in investigating and establishing the truth," Mallick told the Post. "We were assured of full support from the Commission during the meeting."

Date: 25 March 2015

Source: Ekantipur