Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International
Commission of Jurists said in a statement that the provisions in the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission bill would violate international
law.
The bill would establish commissions to investigate crimes during the
1996-2006 communist insurgency, when more than 13,000 people were killed
and hundreds more went missing, and punish the violators.
But rights activists, who have been demanding that such commissions be
set up, say the bill contains vague language and many loopholes that
could allow violators to escape punishment.
"The government's obligation is to ensure justice for the victims, not
amnesty for the victimizers," said Brad Adams of New York-based Human
Rights Watch.
The conflict between government troops and Maoist rebels ended when the rebels signed a U.N.-monitored peace agreement.
Since then the Maoists have joined mainstream politics and their
fighters have been integrated into the national army. They are now the
third largest political party in parliament and have applied heavy
pressure to stop cases from being filed against them for their actions
during the insurgency. They maintain that events during the conflict are
over since the peace agreement has been signed.
The rights groups also asked the government to ensure that offenses
under international law such as crimes against humanity also be made
criminal offenses under domestic law.
Comments