A/HRC/7/68 page 15 by CPN(M) and have had their property returned to them. In others, the return of displaced landowners and politically-active internally displaced persons is hampered by the failure of CPN(M) to restore all confiscated property and to ensure a safe local environment. 61. Local CPN(M) cadres effectively decide who can return and reportedly impose conditions on return, including public apologies for alleged “wrongdoing”. In many cases, confiscated land has not been returned to displaced landowners in an effort to reform land tenure patterns and avoid problems with secondary occupants. The situation has been exacerbated by the absence of a mechanism for resolving issues related to the return of confiscated land and property. The 23-point agreement of 23 December (see paragraph 18 above) required a committee to be established within one month to make recommendations on land reform. In a meeting in January 2008 with OHCHR, the CPN(M) Chairman confirmed he had given directives that land should be returned “except in a few complicated cases”. 62. Those internally displaced persons who returned did so despite the absence of a comprehensive plan to support their needs. The Government announced a relief package of $5.6 million from the Nepal Peace Trust Fund only in late 2007 to support those returning and a new registration process so that internally displaced persons who had never registered could do so and become eligible for assistance. Some local authorities have confirmed receiving the funds and started disbursing them, although there have been allegations that the registration and distribution process is not consistent or necessarily inclusive. 63. United Nations agencies worked closely with the Government to finalize a set of directives based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, to assist relevant ministries and local authorities to implement the revised policy on internally displaced persons and to help internally displaced persons to understand their entitlements. 64. The internally displaced persons policy includes a provision for those persons to vote in elections, but those who have chosen not to return to their place of origin (perhaps as many as 50,000) will be effectively disenfranchised in the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections, unless the relevant electoral law is changed. The current law requires citizens to be resident in the constituency where they vote, and there is no provision for absentee voting for internally displaced persons. 65. It is disturbing to note that, while many persons displaced by the armed conflict have integrated locally or returned, new forced displacement is currently taking place as a result of continuing instability in the Terai. Although accurate figures are not available, many people of hill origin have left the southern parts of the Terai temporarily or permanently, in fear of threats, abduction and other actions by armed groups. Others have been displaced because of threats from CPN(M). J. Transitional justice and impunity 66. During my visit to Nepal, I stressed the importance of ending impunity if future violations were to be prevented and an environment in which no one was above the law was to be created. The continuing lack of political will to take effective measures to address this issue is deeply