A/HRC/10/53
page 8
requested the advice of OHCHR Nepal and transitional-justice NGOs on the consultative
process, and subsequently revised elements of its approach, including broadening the number
and scope of consultations.
23. In November, the Ministry for Peace and Reconstruction organized a public consultation
on a draft bill on disappearances, containing provisions to criminalize disappearance and to
establish the legal framework for a Commission to investigate and report on conflict-related
disappearances. OHCHR Nepal shared comments on the revised draft bill with the Ministry and
with Constituent Assembly members, pointing to amendments necessary to bring the legislation
into harmony with international instruments.4
24. Most of the estimated 1,500 cases of conflict-related disappearances remain unresolved. In
December 2008, OHCHR Nepal issued a report on disappearances in Bardiya district,
documenting 156 cases of disappearances at the hands of security forces, the majority of which
occurred between December 2001 and January 2003. OHCHR Nepal also investigated 14 similar
cases attributed to the CPN(M). The report highlights the deeply adverse socio-economic impact
of disappearances on the families of victims, and the urgency of establishing a Commission to
investigate disappearances and provide reparations for victims.5
25. Despite repeated commitments to end impunity and to enforce the rule of law, no visible
steps were taken in 2008 to hold accountable any individual responsible for human rights
violations committed during or after the conflict.
26. In the case of Maina Sunuwar (see A/HRC/7/68, para. 73), a 15-year-old girl who died
in 2004 while in custody of the Nepal Army, progress has been limited. Financial compensation
has been offered to the family of the victim but judicial proceedings in the case have been
stalled, due primarily to the Nepal Army’s failure to produce relevant documents, suspects and
witnesses, despite written requests by the Nepal Police to do so.
27. OHCHR Nepal is concerned at the lack of progress in investigations into the abduction and
subsequent killing of a businessman at a Maoist army cantonment site in Chitwan in May. Of
five arrest warrants issued by the police, only one person has been arrested, and, despite public
commitments to do so, the CPN(M) failed to hand over the main suspect, a former Maoist army
commander, who reportedly continued to exercise command responsibilities. The results of a
judicial investigation into the killing were never made public.
4
On 10 February 2009, the Government promulgated an Ordinance on Disappearance of
Persons (Crime and Punishment), which included provisions for the establishment of a high-level
Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances. The Ordinance must be approved by the Parliament
within 60 days of its issuance.
5
See report entitled “Conflict-related disappearances in Bardiya district”, available at
http://nepal.ohchr.org/en/index.html.
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