Lowe House authenticiates transitional justice bill

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 14: The House of Representatives passed a bill related to transitional justice on Wednesday.

A majority of the lower house supported the motion put forward by the Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, Ajay Kumar Chaurasia, to endorse the bill to amend the Disappearances Enquiry, Truth, and Reconciliation Commission Act.

Prem Suwal of the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party was the only lawmaker who opposed the bill's passage.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and top leaders of the major political parties presented their views in support of the bill.

Earlier this month, a three-member task force was formed to resolve disagreements among the major political parties on the bill and had reached an agreement.

The draft of the agreement was submitted to Prime Minister Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal for further discussion.

The task force—comprising Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, representing the Nepali Congress; Chief Whip of the CPN (UML) parliamentary party Mahesh Bartaula; and Maoist Centre's deputy general secretary Janardan Sharma—agreed to define the murders that took place during the conflict period as 'intentional or arbitrary.'

Furthermore, the consent of the victim and their families would be required for a letter of reconciliation and amnesty in such cases.

“If there is no consent from the victim, then a criminal case on human rights violations can proceed, which the state will prosecute,” Lekhak had earlier told the Rastriya Samachar Samiti. “In the case of a criminal case to be filed by an individual, it has been agreed to give the authority to the victims and their families. A case will be registered in instances of serious human rights violations.”

The task force also agreed to provide reparations to the families of security personnel who were killed or injured during the decade-long conflict, as well as to discharged Maoist combatants, by defining them as 'conflict-affected.'

The agreement was also forwarded to the Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee of the federal parliament.

The bill now needs to be endorsed by the upper house and ratified by the president to become law.