A/HRC/13/73 OHCHR in public reports released in 2006 and 2008 respectively.2 One of the main alleged perpetrators of the violations in Bardiya district continues to serve with the Army and senior officers implicated in the Maharajgunj barracks violations have been promoted. OHCHR is seriously concerned by the recent Government decision to promote to Lieutenant General and second-in-command of the Nepalese Army Toran Bahadur Singh, who was Commander of the Tenth Brigade during the time of the Maharajgunj barracks disappearances in 2003-2004, without conducting a full, transparent and impartial investigation into his involvement in or responsibility for the disappearances. 31. The leadership of UCPN-M has likewise failed to cooperate with criminal investigations into the involvement of its cadres in serious human rights abuses during and after the conflict, including the killings of nearly 40 civilians in the bombing of a public bus in Madi, Chitwan district in 2005 and the killings of Ram Hari Shrestha, Arjun Lama, and the journalist Birendra Sah. OHCHR documented the lack of progress in each of these cases in a letter to the Chairman of UCPN-M in July 2009, following a meeting between the OHCHR Representative and the UCPN-M Chairman, and has yet to receive a response. UCPN-M has also failed to make good on its public commitment to inform the families of victims abducted by its cadres in Bardiya district during the conflict about the fate of their loved ones. 32. Gaps and ambiguities in Nepal’s legal framework have further hampered the prosecution of human rights violations in Nepali courts. Despite years of advocacy by civil society organizations and the recent painful history of human rights violations and abuses in the country, neither torture nor enforced disappearance have been criminalized in Nepal. In the case of torture, the interim Constitution, the Convention against Torture (to which Nepal is a party) and decisions of the Nepal Supreme Court obligate the State to adopt laws criminalizing torture, yet the Government has taken no concrete steps to do so. These and other gaps in the legal framework place additional obstacles in the way of victims and families seeking accountability in an already impaired criminal justice system. 2. Transitional justice initiatives 33. The Government has taken positive steps towards the establishment of transitional justice institutions, including a commission of inquiry on disappearances and a truth and reconciliation commission. Draft legislation criminalizing disappearances and establishing the framework for a commission was approved by the Council of Ministers and sent to the Legislature-Parliament for consideration in November 2009. The Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction made improvements to the draft following consultation with human rights organizations, including OHCHR. However, the bill still falls short of international standards, including through a restrictive six-month limitation on the filing of criminal complaints, and makes no reference to crimes against humanity or other international crimes. 34. The Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction conducted a series of public consultations on a draft bill establishing the framework for a truth and reconciliation commission, including special consultations with indigenous people’s, children and women’s organizations. These consultations received strong and consistent feedback from the public, including demands that no amnesties should be granted for serious human rights violations and that any commission should include substantial representation from victims themselves. After further consultation with human rights organizations, including OHCHR, the 2 8 See Report of investigation into arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances at Maharajgunj RNA barracks, Kathmandu, in 2003–2004, OHCHR-Nepal, May 2006; and Conflict Related Disappearances in Bardiya District, OHCHR-Nepal, December 2008.