Transitional justice process and the narratives of the victims of enforced disappearance in Nepal

Abstract

The ten-year-long armed conflict between the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist and the Government of Nepal ceased on November 21 st , 2006, after the underwriting of 'The Comprehensive Peace Agreement,'. The agreement emphasized the importance of establishing a transitional justice system within six months to provide an opportunity to address the grievances of those affected by more than ten years of armed conflict. The 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)' and the 'Commission on the Investigation of Disappeared Persons (CIEDP),' were established in August 2015 to help with the transitional justice process. Within six years of establishment of the two commissions, 60,000 TRC cases and 3,093 CIEDP cases were registered. In most of the peace agreements that formalized the transitional justice process, like the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006 and the Interim Constitution in 2008, the parties to the conflict have made a commitment to address the needs of the conflict's victims. Currently, however, the entire Transitional Justice process in Nepal, is being criticized as being too top-down and state-driven, which raises the question of whether it will adopt a bottom-up approach in addressing the past to construct a more peaceful future or top-down approach as a tool to just get the peace process off the table. This research is an attempt to explore and capture the approaches of transitional justice in Nepal and the lived narratives of the families of disappeared persons in Nepal. The chapters in this thesis discuss the global to local approach of transitional justice approach through primary and secondary data collected for the research. Research adopted the qualitative approach with triangulation of interview, group discussion and narratives. The live narratives of the families of enforced disappeared persons are the focus of the study. Through the narratives, the research tries to bring out the struggle of

the families, their need, the lack of trust towards the government and how important it is for them to deal with the past to create a sense of peace within themselves. The conceptual framework of this research focuses on the – ‘Dealing with the Past’ framework that encompasses four major elements: Right to Truth, Right to Justice, Right to Reparation and the Guarantee of Non-Recurrence, and its importance in dealing with the past after the atrocities or violent past to build a peaceful future. The families of enforced disappeared persons in Nepal are still in search of truth and justice from the concerned authorities and want the government to be accountable to deal with their problem with respect and sensitivity. They want transitional justice to be the utmost priority of the government without further delay.