Kathmandu, January 5

Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission Anup Raj Sharma said if the recommendation committee, led by former chief justice of the Supreme Court Om Prakash Mishra, recommended office bearers for two transitional justice bodies without the government initiating the process of amending the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, the NHRC will not accept the recommendation.

The Truth and Reconciliation Committee and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons, are yet to get complete shape.

Sharma said he had instructed its member Prakash Osti, who represents the NHRC in the recommendation committee, to resign immediately if the government intervened in the work of the committee. “I know enactment of law takes time, but the government must ensure us that the TRC Act (Amendment) Bill process will move ahead.

For that to happen, the Cabinet should at least endorse the draft bill before the committee’s recommendation,” Sharma added.

Sharma hopes that the government will endorse the draft bill and initiates the process to amend TRC Act before the panel recommends names for the two TJ bodies.

The Recommendation committee member Osti said the committee had the obligation to recommend the office bearers in next two weeks as the government was required to appoint the new office bearers before February 7, when the tenure of the TRC and the CIEDP ends.

“The government can extend the tenure of the TRC and CIEDP by another year only when there are office bearers in these transitional justice bodies,” he argued.