KATHMANDU: The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill related to transitional justice.
The majority of the lower house supported the motion put forward by the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Kumar Chaurasia to endorse the bill to amend the Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act.
Prem Suwal from the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party was the only lawmaker who opposed the passing of the bill.
Earlier the day, Prime Minister KP Shamra Oli and top leaders of the major political parties had presented their views in support of the bill.
Earlier this month, a three-member task force formed to sort out disagreements among the major political parties on the bill had reached an agreement.
The draft of the agreement was submitted to Prime Minister Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal for further discussion.
The task force–comprising Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak representing Nepali Congress, Chief Whip of the CPN (UML) parliamentary party Mahesh Bartaula and Maoist Centre's deputy general-secretary Janardan Sharma–has agreed to define the murders that took place during the conflict period as 'taking place intentionally or in an arbitrary manner'.
And, the consent of the victim and their families would be required for a letter of reconciliation and amnesty in such cases.
“If there is no consent from the victim, then a criminal case on violation of human rights can proceed ahead which the state will prosecute,” Lekhak had earlier told the Rastriya Samachar Samiti. “In the case of a criminal case to be filed by an individual ( duniyabadi phaujdari mudda ), it has been agreed to give the authority to the victims and their families. Case will be registered in case of serious violation of human rights.”
The task force also reached an agreement to provide reparation to the families of the security personnel who were killed or injured during the decade long conflict as well as to the discharged Maoist combatants by defining them as ‘conflict-affected’.
The agreement was also forwarded to the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the federal parliament.
The bill now needs to be endorsed by the upper house, then ratified by the president to become law.
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