Kathmandu: As many as ten organizations working in human rights and justice sectors have expressed reservation with the selection process that is currently underway to appoint officials, including chief commissioners, in Nepal’s transitional body mechanisms—the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP). Issuing a joint statement on Tuesday, Advocacy Forum, Amnesty International Nepal, Accountability Watch Committee, INSEC, Juri-Nepal, Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC), Human Rights and Justice Centre, Voices of Women Media, Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON) and Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) said that the selection process is far from victim-centred.
They have called for ensuring measures such as consultation with victims’ community, checking background of the candidates before shortlisting them, public hearing and presentations, among others, to ensure fair and objective selection process. They have said that the ongoing selection process has become a ritual with the same individuals being recommended again and again, and mostly based on bhagbanda, distributing powers and privileges based on political influence rather than merits.
They have demanded that the government of Nepal should adopt all measures to ensure reliability and transparency of selection process while also considering concerns of the victims’ communities.
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