Transitional justice process and the narratives of the victims of enforced disappearance in Nepal
Date
2023
Authors
Sapkota, Anuja
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Conflict, Peace and Development Studies
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.
Description
Keywords
Transitional justice, Victims