Victims can now file complaints to CIEDP
Kathmandu, April 14
The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has started collecting complaints from the conflict-era victims from today.
As many as 4,000 forms have been circulated in all 75 districts, where victims of the disappearance incidents that occurred during the decade-long Maoist insurgency can lodge complaints.
The district peace committees based in district headquarters are instructed to distribute the forms among the victims get them filled.
CIEDP spokesperson Dr Bishnu Pathak said around 100 filled forms were received at DPCs of Banke, Bardiya, Dolakha and Kathmandu.
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Over 1,300 people had disappeared during the Maoist insurgency between February 1996 and November 2006.
CIEDP has encouraged all people who had disappeared for at least 30 days during the insurgency to fill and submit the forms to be eligible for compensation.
“Though the official figure of disappeared people is relatively low, we expect up to 10,000 people might lodge complaints, as the number of people who disappeared for more than a month is quite high,” Dr Pathak told The Himalayan Times.
The transitional justice body would collect complaints from victims for the next two months and analyse them thoroughly.
Once the complaints are analysed, CIEDP expert teams would visit the concerned victims and record their account of the disappearance incident, its nature and alleged perpetrators, added Dr Pathak.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, on the other hand, will start collecting complaints from the victims of Maoist insurgency from April 17.
This transitional justice instrument had recently given orientation to the secretaries of district peace committees regarding the complaints receiving process. As with CIEDP, TRC will also receive complaints for the next 60 days.
According to TRC member Madhabi Bhatta, at least 200 forms have been dispatched to each DPC, and more forms will be distributed later.
TRC and CIDEP are planning to complete investigation into conflict-era human rights violation cases by early February 2017.
