INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Kathmandu, August 5 The committee formed to recommend commissioners of the two transitional justice bodies plans to hold discussion with

conflict victims& representatives in the next two to three days amid victims& demands that the committee be restructured. The two mechanisms

— Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons — have remained vacant since their

commissioners retired in April

They have collected more than 63,000 complaints related to conflict-era rights violations. The committee Spokesperson Sharmila Karki said

although the committee had held formal and informal discussions with the victims, the latter were always complaining that the committee did

not listen to them. &We held a meeting with the victims within a week after the committee was formed

Informal discussions have also been held after that

But they are always complaining that we do not listen to them,& she said

&So we will hold talks with them once again to know what their actual demands are.& Karki also said the committee was just abiding by the

law, which did not allow inclusion of victims in the committee or the two commissions

She said the committee could do nothing about the victims& demand for amendment to the Transitional Justice Act

&They need to pressure the government for act amendment,& she said. The committee, formed in the last week of March, has been criticised for

delaying its work time and again on various pretexts

Victims have charged that the committee is doing nothing but awaiting political consensus on appointment of commissioners in the TRC and

CIEDP

The committee has collected 57 applications for the post of chairpersons and members of the commissions. Concluding that the panel failed to

work independently, the victims have demanded that the panel be restructured. However, Karki said it was taking time to ensure that

competent members and commissioners were appointed

She said the panel was in the final stages of adopting criteria for enlisting candidates from outside the list of 57 applicants, and a final

list would be made public soon. The post Selection panel to meet victims appeared first on The Himalayan Times.