A/HRC/10/53 page 7 women. A bill on domestic violence, including a referral mechanism for survivors, was submitted by the Government to the Legislature-Parliament in August 2008, and is on its legislative agenda. Following an extended protest by women human rights defenders in July, initiated after the alleged murder of a female human rights defender and subsequent failure of police to properly investigate, the Government established a task force to make recommendations regarding violence against women and criminalization of domestic violence. The task force has yet to submit its report, which was due within two months. 18. The Supreme Court made important rulings in relation to the rights of women. In June 2008, the Court issued a judgement ordering equal remuneration for men and women for equal work. In July, the Government was ordered to review the law on marital rape, particularly its provision for a penalty of only three to six months imprisonment upon conviction. The Supreme Court directed the Government to extend the statute of limitations contained in the Country Code, which currently provides that a complaint of rape must be filed with the court within 35 days. In June, the Supreme Court had directed the Government to enact a law on reproductive rights, and in August, in response to a writ petition challenging the existing legal provisions giving women the absolute right to undertake abortion, it upheld that spousal consent was not required. 19. In line with a December 2007 directive by the Supreme Court ordering the Government to enact appropriate legislation or amend prevailing laws to allow sexual minorities to enjoy all rights without discrimination, including citizenship rights, an individual was given an identity card in September 2008 that described her sex as “third gender”. B. Transitional justice and impunity 20. In his statement to Nepal’s Constituent Assembly on 1 November, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized that sustaining peace would require efforts to heal the wounds of the conflict, including clarifying the fate of those who disappeared, and compensating victims, as well as enabling the return of displaced persons to their homes. He noted that this would entail undertaking an honest and inevitably painful acknowledgement of the truth for past human rights violations. 21. The Government has made repeated commitments to end impunity and to enforce the rule of law. In his statement to the General Assembly on 26 September, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” stated that the Government was committed to ending the environment of impunity, and that the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission would seek to reach a necessary balance between peace and justice. 22. There was some movement towards the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as mandated by the CPA and as provided for in the Interim Constitution and subsequent political agreements. The Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction organized four regional consultations on the draft bill between December 2007 and December 2008, which were welcomed despite some reservations about their inclusiveness. The revised draft bill presented at these consultations included improvements on the mid-2007 version but requires further revision to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, including with regard to independence of the Commission, amnesties and increased witness protection. The Government