Nepal
A group of conflict victims and human rights defenders in Nepal have sent a memorandum to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on August 29, 2022, alerting him to “multiple flaws” in the transitional justice amendment bill.
The memorandum was sent through the UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard.
The group also handed over a copy of the memorandum for transmission to Michelle Bachelet Jeria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
According to a press release issued by journalist and activist Kanak Mani Dixit, Nepali victims and activists are looking for “good offices” of the Secretary-General to ensure necessary amendments to the provisions that are “perpetrator-friendly”.
It reads: “The transitional justice bill does not follow the directives of the Supreme Court of Nepal and violates international principles and practice on transitional justice.”
The issues raised in the letter are to the differentiations made between ‘murder’ and ‘cruelly conducted murder’, coercion on victims for amnesty, provisions for reduced sentencing and absence of due process.
The press release adds: “The absence of the issue of child soldiers in the bill, even though it has been so well recognized by the United Nations in the context of Nepal, was also mentioned as a grievous flaw.”
Their letter to the Secretary-General notes: “Nepali society is capable of developing a just, humane and realistic transitional justice process, one that will be exemplary at the international level. This is also why we hope that the United Nations will remain engaged on the matter.”
