Nepal should ensure independence of justice panels: Rights Bodies

The Government of Nepal should ensure more victim participation and improve transparency when selecting candidates for two independent commissions on the country's decade-long conflict, eight local and international human rights organizations and conflict-era victims groups said in an open letter to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.

The groups, reiterating concerns about the act, said Koirala should bring the scope of the amnesty powers vested in the commissions in line with international standards.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Enforced Disappearances are being established under a 2014 law, the Commission on Investigation of Disappeared Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Act, 2071 (TRC Act).

"A consultative and transparent process for selecting commissioners is critical if the commissions are going to win the trust of conflict-era survivors as well as local and international observers," the rights groups said in their letter.

"The TRC Act is fundamentally flawed, and the government should take these steps to ensure that this important exercise in transitional justice remedies the flaws," they added.