Nepal parliament passes bill to address enforced disappearances during civil war

Kathmandu: Nepal's Parliament on Wednesday endorsed a bill that seeks to amend the contentious legislation to address the enforced disappearances allegedly perpetrated by state forces that occurred in the Himalayan nation during the 1996-2006 civil war.

After deliberations on the Transitional Justice (TJ) Bill tabled by law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) Devraj Ghimire put the proposed legislation for the vote and subsequently announced that it was passed by voice vote.

The TJ Bill seeks to amend the Commission for Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons and Truth and Reconciliation (Third Amendment) Act.

Nepal underwent a civil war from 1996 to 2006, during which gross human rights violations were reported to be committed on a widespread and systematic scale by all parties involved, including extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and torture. In particular, the widespread practice of enforced disappearances of persons taken under control or arrested by the State forces was documented, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Bimala Subedi, chairperson of the law, justice, and human rights committee of the House, presented a report on the bill before Parliament on Tuesday. The committee had endorsed the bill unanimously on August 8 after considering it for over a year, according to sources at the Lower House.

Lawmakers across party lines, including the ruling CPN-UML, Nepali Congress and the main opposition party CPN (Maoist Centre), while addressing the HoR meeting on Wednesday lauded the bill and expressed confidence that it would be a milestone in concluding the peace process initiated by then CPN (Maoist) and the seven mainstream political parties on November 16, 2006.

More than 17,000 people including security personnel were killed during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

The three-party panel formed to sort out the differences over the amendment to the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act submitted its report to top leaders on August 14.

After a stalemate on the issues for nearly two decades, three major parties – Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre – had formed a task force comprising Ramesh Lekhak from NC, Janardan Sharma from Maoist Centre and Mahesh Bartaula from UML to sort out the differences.

On August 1, the panel reached an agreement on contentious issues, clearing the way for the federal Parliament to endorse the much-awaited Bill. The panel led by Lekhak then submitted the report to Prime Minister and UML chairperson K P Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda".

Once approved by the National Assembly, the Upper House of the federal parliament, the Bill will be certified by the Speaker before being sent to the President for final assent. Upon receiving the President's approval, the Bill will finally become law.

Meanwhile, the US, European Union, and Switzerland have welcomed the HoR decision of endorsing the TJ Bill.

In a post on X, US Ambassador to Nepal Dean R Thompson said he is pleased to see the TJ bill passed by Parliament.

"This is a meaningful moment in Nepal’s journey to shaping its own peaceful, prosperous, resilient, and democratic future,” he said.

Similarly, taking to X, EU Ambassador to Nepal Veronique Lorenzo congratulated Nepal and the Nepali people for the "historic achievement".

Ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal Dr Danielle Meuwly in a post on X said his country welcomes "this achievement as well as reiterates its commitment for full support in its implementation”.