Published in Ekchhin - July 2008

Do we need more commissions?

Mandira Sharma from Advocacy Forum urges all Nepalese NGOs working with Peace and Reconciliation to pressurize the government to include the voice of the people in their work to set up various commissions for Truth, Peace and Reconciliation and to assist victims of conflict to obtain justice.

Anne Mette Nordfalk

11. August 2008

Ekchhin: What is the status of the Peace and Reconciliation process on part of the government? 

Mandira Sharma: The comprehensive peace agreement speaks about setting up a high level truth and reconciliation commission to find out the truth about atrocities committed in the past. It also speaks of setting up a disappearance commission to find out the whereabouts of the ones who have disappeared and about peace commissions. But none of these commissions has been formed. There were a number of requests, demands and lobbying by civil society organizations and also from victims groups, but still the process is far behind.                                              

Why is so little happening? 

The parties who are in government are not really keen on setting up a commission that has some depth. They just want to show that they did something, but in reality there is no political will. The Maoists don’t want this process because they are afraid that their atrocities will also be investigated and military security forces don’t want it either. The Nepali Congress government too has been very reluctant to push for this.

What are, in your opinion, the main goals of the Truth and Reconciliation commission?

First, to investigate and establish the truth in the cases of human rights violations of the past. Second, to undertake a study into the root causes of the conflict. To find out what the structural issues and institutions that contributed to the violence in the past were and recommend for institutional reforms and also different kinds of mechanisms for accountability, reparation and compensation. 

What has the government done to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

After repeated requests and pressure, the government drafted the legislation to set up a truth and reconciliation commission but that draft was very problematic from the beginning. For example, it proposed that the truth and reconciliation commission be given limited mandate and that the reparation policy be attached to reconciliation. In this way victims could only get reparation if they decided to reconcile with the perpetrators. In addition, there was a provision for amnesty if crime was committed in order to meet political objectives or while performing duties. This basically meant that all the crimes committed in the past could be included under this category!

We went to the victims groups to explain what was in the bill so that their voices were also brought into the process. We worked with a number of Human Rights organisations and raised this issue with international donors. We also did interactions with the media and created public discussions. In this way we managed to put a certain level of pressure. Therefore, the bill is now in the process of amendment. There is a third version of the bill now and we are monitoring the different versions but there are still problems.  

What needs to be done before the bill is tabled? 

When preparing this bill the victims groups and civil society organisations have to be consulted. In the bill for example, there is a provision for reparation, but what kind of reparation? It is for the victims to know about their own needs.

Therefore we have demanded thorough consultations before drafting this bill and the government has decided to do so. They have held three consultations so far and we have been monitoring these and subsequently drafted a document that explains how the consultations should take place in the future. For example, the previous consultations were closed and limited to some people that they think should be invited. What we say is that it should be an open process. We have also added the experiences of best practices from other countries and submitted them to Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction.  

Consultation with the people will ensure the success of the commission. We have seen a number of commissions set up in Nepal in the past. None of these have been able to deliver. This has made people cynical. They tend to question, “Why do we need more commissions?” 

Are the local peace committees also non existent. Could they be useful if people knew about them? 

They exist in some districts but as there was no process. So the people didn’t really feel as if there was a committee and/or it could do anything. The government decided to establish these committees and handpicked a few people for them. Thus, there is no sense of ownership.  

What can local NGOs do to assist the peace process? 

Two things: One is really being informed and putting pressure and engaging with the government for setting up a commission that could deliver something. Secondly, once the commission is set up, help victims earnestly. Bring the real issues into the discussion, through public hearings awareness rising on the subject.

Why is it so important for a peace process to establish the truth?

If we don’t know our past because it has been hidden under the carpet, it will haunt us again and again! Secondly, it is victims' right to know the truth. And thirdly, it is necessary for preparing the ground for reconciliation.