International human rights orgs urge Nepal to amend the transitional justice bill before endorsement

Kathmandu, July 25

Four international human rights organisations have urged the government of Nepal to amend the transitional justice bill that is recently registered in the parliament.

They have claimed the new bill also falls short of promised reforms to protect the rights of victims and survivors.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, and TRIAL International in a joint statement on Monday say, “Nepal’s government and parliament should amend the bill to align with international legal standards.”

Although the new transitional justice bill removes some of the previous amnesty provisions, it would still be difficult or impossible to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international law including war crimes and crimes against humanity, the groups say.  

“Several other provisions of the new bill, including those introducing limitations on the right to appeal, would also prevent accountability as required by international legal standards.”

In particular, the rights bodies have pointed out these two provisions as objectionable:

• Section 2(5) categorises violations to make it possible that perpetrators of gross violations of human rights, crimes against humanity and war crimes, could be granted amnesties;
• Section 29 (5) provides that verdicts of the Special Court which will try transitional justice cases cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court, in violation of international fair trial guarantees.

 

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