Kathmandu, March 18

The Commission for the Investigation on the Enforced Disappeared Persons today said the newly formulated CIEDP Regulations fell short of its expectations.

Addressing a press conference here today, CIEDP member Prof Bishnu Pathak said the regulations enacted a few days ago did not include five important suggestions forwarded by the commission, which could adversely impact the commission’s work.

The government rejected commission’s suggestions to give the commission powers to arrest the perpetrators during the investigation, to release them on pledge of appearing on a fixed date, to order confiscation of the perpetrators’ passports and to form a coordination committee for handling the security issues of the commission’s staff and the commissioners.

Pathak said the commission had sought powers to seek arrest of the perpetrators because in the absence of that right the commission could not question the perpetrators if they defied commission’s orders repeatedly.

He added that the government’s refusal to grant the commission permission to release the perpetrators on the pledge of appearing on fixed date of investigation would adversely impact the commission’s functioning.

The commission has also suggested to the government to state in the regulations that the commission would forward its report to attorney general for necessary legal action but the government added that the commission would forward its report to the government as well, according to Pathak.

He said the TRC Act did not give powers to the commission to grant amnesty in the cases of serious human rights violation but contrary to the TRC Act, the provisions of the Regulations stipulated that the commission could grant amnesty.

“This provision cannot be endorsed as it runs counter to TRC Act,” said CIEDP Chief Lokendra Mallik.

“The Supreme Court has said in more than one case that there cannot be amnesty in serious cases of rights violations and the same is the international practice,” Pathak clarified.

Mallik said the formulation of regulations eight months after the formation of the commission would help the body carry out its main task but the commission would seek changes in the legal framework that could help the commission to do its job efficiently and independently.

He said the commission would also continue to lobby with the government about providing reparation to all the members and not just one member of the victims’ families.

Mallik said the commission had also told the government to make a law about the status of the disappeared people so that family members could be authorised to claim transfer of property and sign the partition of property deeds on behalf of the victims.

When asked about the number of disappeared people, Pathak said the official number could go up as the exact number of disappeared people had yet to be recorded in some districts.

He said the official data showed that there were four cases of enforced disappearances in Ilam but the number had reached 17.

The commission has sought complaints from the victims between April 15 and June 15.

The commission officials said the body would take into considerations the complaints filed at the National Human Rights Commission, INSEC and can suo motu lodge complaints if the victims failed to do so due to threat, intimidation, coercion or any such reasons.