We, the Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP), feel extreme exclusion in the whole process of transitional justice process, specifically concerning the recent recommendation committee’s list of candidates for the forthcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission for Enforced Disappearance (CED). The recommendations were made public last week without prior consultation with victims and surviving families of the conflict. The Government of Nepal has continuously denied our demands for truth, justice and reparation in a consultative, democratic and transparent manner. Instead of ensuring victims’ participation in the transitional process, the Government has moved forward with a plan to appease the need for transitional justice while protecting their own interests first and foremost. In this context, the CVCP does not believe in such top down state-led processes as such unilateral political action cannot effectively address victims’ agenda.
There is a little chance of future collaboration after the unilateral steps taken by the Government that have resulted in the complete exclusion of victims groups for their role and participation in the potential commission process. This has created a serious question of credibility and legitimacy. The CVCP has no trust in the politically controlled perpetrator-centered commission formation process. The Government of Nepal has fully ignored and ruled out its previous commitments including the Supreme Court verdict on victims’ petition (1 June 2007 & 2 Jan 2014), National Human Rights Commission’s recommendations, and international norms of transitional justice and human rights of conflict victims. In their current form the TRC and CED will not address the causes of conflict and past crimes such as enforced disappearances and torture; rather they will create further tension, fuel future violations, protect criminals and potentially provide amnesty to perpetrators.
Without considering victims’ demands and allowing for victim participation and ownership, the commissions are illegitimate. Such exclusionary tactics employed by the state have further contributed to the negative transitional environment and compelled the CVCP to find an alternative path. If government is not ready to immediately amend the faulty clauses and correct the process, the any possible cooperation and participation in the commission process will be questionable. The Government must review the process seriously and create a trustworthy environment to build a participatory commission process that engages, not marginalizes the victims’ community. We appeal to the Government to bring an end to the politics of victimhood, cancel the unilateral process, withdraw the unfair decisions and begin a trustworthy commission process in a transparent way to ensure victims’ right to truth, justice and reparation; otherwise, we will have to take an alternative path to establishing victims’ truth and justice.
Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP)
Email: cvcpnepal@gmail.com
Note: CVCP has submitted response letter to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction and CCed to Office of the Prime Minister and the National Human Rights Commission on 18 January 2015.
