Added At: 2010-12-06 10:48 PM
Last Updated At: 2010-12-07 10:48 PM
SHYAM PRASAD MAINALI
During the insurgency in Nepal, Humanitarian Laws were massively violated by the government and insurgent groups. A comprehensive 12 point peace agreement (CPA) was signed in 2006 by the political mainstream to bring the insurgent group into the political mainstream. However, it is a must that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) be established as stipulated in the CPA in order to provide justice to the victims and to create a friendly environment. Despite political commitment for the establishment of the TRC,
sufficient progress has not been made to date. The country meanwhile is facing numerous challenges to move ahead.
A bill for making provisions relating to the TRC was tabled in the CA in 2007. To date it has not been finalised. As an issue of the parliament it is being discussed. The International Centre for Transitional Justice has already responded to it with its strong reservation. Amnesty provision of the proposed bill does not meet international standards. There do exist many flaws such as the absence of a proper mechanism to address the grievances of victims and insufficient room to incorporate the voice of the civil societies and others concerned. Lack of procedural clarity in the performance of daily activities can also be seen as a major weakness mainly owing to vagueness of the proposed draft in distinguishing between as dealing with the overall matter or with individual cases.
Generally, the TRC exercises the power of reconciliation between the victims and the perpetrators. It can take decisions to compensate the victims, who can either be paid from the government treasury or by individuals .However, it is important that reports of the commission be widely disseminated in order to publicize them. The need for transparency by presenting reports to the parliament is not clearly mentioned in the document. The body looks more like a reconciliation commission rather than a commission dedicated to identifying truths and prosecuting those perpetrators proven guilty after detailed investigation. The document allows the power to extend amnesty to the perpetrators who were performing their so-called duty on political grounds. According to the universally accepted standards, no TRC is authorised to provide amnesty to those who are involved in rape, extrajudicial killing, and gruesome torture. Most of the cases in our context belong to the aforesaid categories.
The provision of political nominees as members in the commission does not respond to the interests of the victims. Most of the cases are of political interest. It is a hypocritical approach to trust politicians as agents for furnishing a reconciliatory environment between both opponents because both parties are potential voters. The success of the commission highly depends upon the background, integrity, fairness, impartiality and sincerity of the commissioners. In most cases, it would be safe to blame the failure of commissions in the past as a result of representation of politicians with hidden interest.
International norms and standards of transitional justice include finding facts as a part of exploring truths, trials for respecting the rule of law and creating an environment for the elimination of impunity, reparation, restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, guarantee of non-repetition and institutional reforms. These are essential factors which cannot be ignored in any process of transitional justice. Likewise, provision of reconciliation, rights
for amnesty and mandatory implementation of producing reports need to be
guaranteed.
The TRC will definitely face the problem of cooperation from the general public as people do fear possibilities of losing lives, physical impairment and damage to properties. Even strong legal provisions cannot be effective in a situation of psychological terror. This has been an area of serious concern related to protecting witnesses and receiving self motivated cooperation from victims and the general public. In a terrorised situation, it is highly unlikely that witnesses who have recently lost loved ones will be willing to put their lives in peril. Despite the obstacles mentioned above, we urgently need the TRC. It should be noted that the formation of commission has to consider some requisites. The Commissioners should be above suspicion. They should possess individual and institutional credibility and proven integrity as institutional security to commence their work. In this regard, a lot can be learnt from the international experience of South Africa where the TRC was formed after the defeat of apartheid and a process was started to establish a new harmonious African society. During the apartheid in South Africa, both the blacks and the whites were the victims and perpetrators. Thus, bringing perpetrators to court and punishing them was not thought to be appropriate. Restorative justice i.e. to restore the dignity of the people, to establish a friendly environment and harmonious relations between these societies was adopted. It is urgent that we have to move forward in resuming the business of the TRC.
http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullTodays.php?headline=Transitional+Justice+in+Nepal+&NewsID=268510
It is necessary that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) be established as stipulated in the CPA in order to provide justice to the victims and to create a friendly environment. Despite political commitment for the TRC, sufficient progress has not been made to date.
During the insurgency in Nepal, Humanitarian Laws were massively violated by the government and insurgent groups. A comprehensive 12 point peace agreement (CPA) was signed in 2006 by the political mainstream to bring the insurgent group into the political mainstream. However, it is a must that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) be established as stipulated in the CPA in order to provide justice to the victims and to create a friendly environment. Despite political commitment for the establishment of the TRC,
sufficient progress has not been made to date. The country meanwhile is facing numerous challenges to move ahead.
A bill for making provisions relating to the TRC was tabled in the CA in 2007. To date it has not been finalised. As an issue of the parliament it is being discussed. The International Centre for Transitional Justice has already responded to it with its strong reservation. Amnesty provision of the proposed bill does not meet international standards. There do exist many flaws such as the absence of a proper mechanism to address the grievances of victims and insufficient room to incorporate the voice of the civil societies and others concerned. Lack of procedural clarity in the performance of daily activities can also be seen as a major weakness mainly owing to vagueness of the proposed draft in distinguishing between as dealing with the overall matter or with individual cases.
Generally, the TRC exercises the power of reconciliation between the victims and the perpetrators. It can take decisions to compensate the victims, who can either be paid from the government treasury or by individuals .However, it is important that reports of the commission be widely disseminated in order to publicize them. The need for transparency by presenting reports to the parliament is not clearly mentioned in the document. The body looks more like a reconciliation commission rather than a commission dedicated to identifying truths and prosecuting those perpetrators proven guilty after detailed investigation. The document allows the power to extend amnesty to the perpetrators who were performing their so-called duty on political grounds. According to the universally accepted standards, no TRC is authorised to provide amnesty to those who are involved in rape, extrajudicial killing, and gruesome torture. Most of the cases in our context belong to the aforesaid categories.
The provision of political nominees as members in the commission does not respond to the interests of the victims. Most of the cases are of political interest. It is a hypocritical approach to trust politicians as agents for furnishing a reconciliatory environment between both opponents because both parties are potential voters. The success of the commission highly depends upon the background, integrity, fairness, impartiality and sincerity of the commissioners. In most cases, it would be safe to blame the failure of commissions in the past as a result of representation of politicians with hidden interest.
International norms and standards of transitional justice include finding facts as a part of exploring truths, trials for respecting the rule of law and creating an environment for the elimination of impunity, reparation, restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, guarantee of non-repetition and institutional reforms. These are essential factors which cannot be ignored in any process of transitional justice. Likewise, provision of reconciliation, rights
for amnesty and mandatory implementation of producing reports need to be
guaranteed.
The TRC will definitely face the problem of cooperation from the general public as people do fear possibilities of losing lives, physical impairment and damage to properties. Even strong legal provisions cannot be effective in a situation of psychological terror. This has been an area of serious concern related to protecting witnesses and receiving self motivated cooperation from victims and the general public. In a terrorised situation, it is highly unlikely that witnesses who have recently lost loved ones will be willing to put their lives in peril. Despite the obstacles mentioned above, we urgently need the TRC. It should be noted that the formation of commission has to consider some requisites. The Commissioners should be above suspicion. They should possess individual and institutional credibility and proven integrity as institutional security to commence their work. In this regard, a lot can be learnt from the international experience of South Africa where the TRC was formed after the defeat of apartheid and a process was started to establish a new harmonious African society. During the apartheid in South Africa, both the blacks and the whites were the victims and perpetrators. Thus, bringing perpetrators to court and punishing them was not thought to be appropriate. Restorative justice i.e. to restore the dignity of the people, to establish a friendly environment and harmonious relations between these societies was adopted. It is urgent that we have to move forward in resuming the business of the TRC.
http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullTodays.php?headline=Transitional+Justice+in+Nepal+&NewsID=268510
No comments:
Post a Comment