CIEDP unveils work plan beyond its two-year tenure

Kathmandu, August 6

The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has unveiled a work plan much beyond its stipulated two years’ tenure.

The transitional justice body recently came up with a proposal of resolving conflict-era disappearance cases by February 2018, although its two-year mandate will expire on February 9, 2017.

CIEDP along with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up on February 10 , 2015 with a two-year time frame to resolve conflict-era rights violation cases. The TRC and CIEDP Act has envisioned extending the tenure of these instruments for an additional one year, if the given time became insufficient. However, it’s up to the government to decide whether or not to extend its tenure.

CIEDP Spokesperson Prof Bishnu Pathak told The Himalayan Times that the body unveiled such a work plan assessing that the stipulated two-year’s tenure would be inadequate to complete the given responsibility.

As per the plan, the body would conduct detailed investigation into conflict-era cases until mid-October 2017. It will then write for necessary action against the perpetrators, synthesising the reports and submitting it to the government by February 9, 2018.

He further said that the CIEDP would need up to 10 years if it were to resolve cases in accordance with international norms and practices.

The CIEDP has received as many as 2,793 complaints related to war-era disappearances across the country.

“Even if only 1,000 complaints (around 36 per cent) are found genuine, we would need a decade to resolve them,” he stated. “We prepared a plan of action in view of the provision that the tenure of CIEPD could be extended only by a year.”

According to him, it would take much time to exhume bodies, conduct forensic tests, find out the victims, their relatives, perpetrators and witnesses, and record their statements, and finally recommend action against culprits and provide compensation to the victims.

“If we succeed in exhuming 100 bodies in a year, it will take 10 years to exhume 1,000 bodies,” he argued.

A senior bureaucrat told The Himalayan Times that though it was highly unlikely that the CIEDP would resolve all given tasks within the next six months, the work plan had given an impression that staffers of the body were trying to extend their job.

Meanwhile, another transitional justice instrument — the TRC — which has received over 55,000 complaints, has so far unveiled its work schedules with the target of resolving all cases by early February 2017.

Though the plan seems ‘unrealistic’, TRC member Madhabi Bhatta said it was prepared to meet the given deadline. She, however, added that the work plan would be rescheduled if the TRC’s tenure was extended by the government.