Kathmandu: Major political parties of Nepal—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Maoist Center—have stood together on the transitional justice bill in an apparent bid to resolve the conflict-era cases which have remained pending, for nearly two decades, mainly due to the differences among the parties.
“Eighteen years after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, major political parties have finally agreed on the transitional justice bill,” Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli wrote on social media platform X on Thursday. “Once passed in this parliamentary session, commissions will be formed to transform our painful past into peace.”
“Achieving peace in Nepal requires everyone’s support and cooperation. Let’s move forward together,” he further wrote posting the photo with Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other leaders.
Earlier on Thursday, the task force formed to study the bill to amend TRC Act (2079) submitted its report to the government.
Top leaders have expressed commitment to pass the bill from parliament through the current session of parliament.
Nepal’s TRC law has long faced criticism for failing to abide by the international human rights laws. Successive governments’ attempts to amend the laws met with opposition from the community of human rights defenders and the conflict victims.
Meanwhile, Conflict Victim and Single Women Network, Banke, has welcomed the bill relating to transitional justice. Speaking at a discussion on ‘media engagement in the repatriation of justice’ in Nepalgunj, Network Chairperson Ekamaya Bishwokarma welcomed the latest development regarding the Bill and stressed that conflict victims should not be divided under any pretext. “We can only truly understand the depth of our pain as survivors of the conflict,” she said. “The families of security forces also endured significant trauma during the war. As the Bill progresses, we must ensure that conflict victims are not further victimized,” she said.
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