KATHMANDU, MARCH 19

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma told the House of Representatives that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Bill had proposed to punish perpetrators in serious human rights violation cases and there would be no amnesty or reconciliation in those cases.

Responding to lawmaker's queries on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, Minister Sharma who spoke on behalf of Prime Minister and Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said the bill had a provision whereby reconciliation could not be possible in serious human rights violation cases.

Stating that there were two categories of cases - human rights violation and serious human rights violation - and those guilty of serious human rights violation would be punished for their acts. The minister said the bill was an important document that could provide reparation to conflict victims and ensure such incidents of rights violation did not recur in future. She said the government had moved a new TRC bill after revising the contents of the same bill that was introduced last year.

The previous bill became ineffective when the House of Representatives' tenure ended. She said the verdicts of the Supreme Court delivered in conflict era cases, suggestions made by stakeholders and provisions of international laws and agreed principles of transitional justice were included.

Minister Sharma said it was the duty of all stakeholders to conclude the remaining task of the peace process as soon as possible. She said the government wanted to conclude the issues of transitional justice soon.

"We have accepted that incidents occurred, war (Maoist insurgency) took place, but as a result of that war we are here. Political parties have agreed that serious rights violations that took place during the Maoist insurgency should be issues of transitional justice," Sharma added.

Responding to the information of protest lodged by Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Gyan Bahadur Shahi and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party lawmaker Prem Suwal against the TRC Bill, Sharma said that reconciliation could happen only when the victims voluntarily agreed. She said the comprehensive peace accord had envisaged conclusion of issues related to transitional justice within six months, but the issue had lingered all these years.

Gyan Bahadur Shahi told the House that he did not want to withdraw his information of protest because the TRC Bill proposed reconciliation in criminal offence cases. He said the bill proposed to give power to the special court to reduce punishment of those found guilty of serious human rights violations.

"This is against natural justice.

There should be no provision for reducing punishment in serious human rights violations," he argued. He also said the bill proposed to grant amnesty in criminal offence cases, which was against established principle of justice.

The bill proposed to add Section 29 (e) of TRC Act saying that the Special Court, after taking into consideration the circumstances in which serious human rights violations occurred, its causes and principle of transitional justice, would determine punishment for the perpetrator in a manner that would award lesser punishment than the punishment proposed in the prevailing laws.

Some CPN-MC lawmakers rose from their chair to protest Shahi's statement following which the speaker told them that they could raise their points of disagreement during discussion on the TRC bill.

The government introduced the TRC bill in the Lower House on March 9. Lawmaker Prem Suwal said that the Supreme Court had ruled there could be no amnesty in serious human rights violations, but the government had proposed reconciliation in murder cases, which was defined as serious human rights violations in the SC decisions.

The government moved the TRC bill after a division bench of SC allowed petitioners to file cases against CPN-Maoist Centre Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal for saying in 2020 that he could be blamed for only 5,000 Maoist insurgency era deaths and not all 17,000 deaths.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.