A/HRC/16/48 Committee, it was clear that the allegations did not support the admissibility of credible evidence against the aforementioned person and thus he was considered for, and subsequently promoted to, the rank of Major General. The Government also noted that no case was filed against this person in any court of Nepal in connection with his so-called involvement in the case of the 49 alleged disappeared persons and that, in the absence of credible evidence, the Nepalese Army (NA) recommended the then Major General for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General. The Government further stated that when “the allegation against the NA itself is unproven and contradictory, it would be against the principle of natural justice to withhold the promotion of a person until proven guilty.” 357. Regarding the cases of enforced disappearances reportedly perpetrated at the then Royal Nepal Army Maharajgunj barracks between 2003 and 2004, the Government indicated that, in light of the information from national and international human rights organizations, as well as media sources, a high-level task force was formed on 19 June 2005 to investigate the allegations of the whereabouts of the missing persons within the Katmandu valley. As a separate list on the case of the 49 persons allegedly disappeared at Maharajgunj barracks was not available at the time, the task force carried out an inclusive investigation. The Government further noted that a second high-level task force was formed on 27 January 2006, to investigate additional cases of alleged disappearances within the Katmandu valley. The separate list of the 49 cases was not available for this investigation either; however, the media, special rapporteurs and human rights organizations had suspicions about a large number of people detained at the Maharajgunj Barracks. The first and second task forces submitted their findings to the Baman Committee, which was established by the Government on 1 June 2006 to investigate the whereabouts of the missing persons. Subsequently, the Government formed the Malego Committee to investigate the whereabouts of those allegedly disappeared by the State. Further to the OHCHR 2006 Report of Investigation into arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances at Maharajgunj Nepal Army Barracks in 2003-2004, the Ministry of Defence was ordered to form a high-level Task Force to investigate the alleged cases and accordingly this was set up. The Government stipulated that in order to fulfil a thorough investigation procedure, the Task Force made repeated requests to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal for the acquisition of relevant information on the allegedly missing 49 persons and regretted that it had made no efforts to furnish any information on the subject. The Task Force submitted findings about the whereabouts of 12 missing persons to the Ministry of Defence on 31 October 2006. Subsequently, the Government indicated that the Task Force recommended the establishment of a Truth Commission as a more suitable and practical approach to investigate further into the alleged disappearances. The findings of the Task Force were presented to the Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliament on 16 October 2006. 358. At the request of NHRC, the NA assisted in the exhumation of the suspicious remains recovered in the jungles of Shivapuri on 19 December 2007. The NHRC report of December 2008 concluded that the forensic evidence produced by national/international forensic experts had no relevance to the allegations on the disappearance of 49 persons at Maharajgunj Barracks. The Government noted that similar cooperation was extended to the team led by NHRC with the support of OHCHR in the exhumation in the Dhanusha District at the suspected burial site of some students. Moreover, as stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 21 November 2006, a high-level Truth and Reconciliation Commission was agreed on. In this regard, the Government of Nepal tabled a bill in the Parliament. Concerning a National Disappearance Committee, the Supreme Court of Nepal has already submitted a bill to the Parliament to form such a body and it is under consideration. The Government also noted that the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction had already provided interim financial compensation (of Nr. 100,000/-) to the families of 83

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