Kanchanpur, June 17
For want of secrecy, families of those who went missing from the Far-West during the decade-long Maoist insurgency fear to come to the fore and lodge complaints with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
At a programme organised in Kanchanpur on Thursday, participants said they fear to lodge complaints with responsible authorities themselves leaking the identities of the complainants. That’s why many families have not lodged complaints, they said.
With the breach of secrecy, rights violators have started threatening complainants, so a large number of families are not lodging complaints, Dharma Singh Chaudhary, president of the Society for Justice to Conflict Victims Kanchanpur, said. He said there’s a possibility of those involved in grave human rights violations like murder, rape, sexual violence and disappearances getting impunity.
“Victims’ families do not trust Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” he said, meaning there’s no question of these families coming to the fore to lodge complaints.
Basanta Gautam, chief of Advocacy Forum’s Mid-Western chapter, demanded compensation and justice for conflict victims as well as rehabilitation.
Many victims do not even know where to lodge complaints, Gautam said, adding: For want of information, many have missed the chance to lodge plaints. Advocate Rukmani Maharjan said only a lasting struggle can ensure justice for victims’ families. Komal Niranjan Bhat, human rights activist, stressed the need to investigate conflict-era cases and recommend action against those found guilty.
He said a reconciliatory approach to conflict-era cases may breed a new conflict. Hira Bhandari, family member of a missing person, said there was no room where a complainant can fill up the TRC form while lodging a complaint. In such a situation, information can leak and reach rights violators, Bhanadari pointed.
Through the local peace committee, families of 1,468 missing persons have lodged complaints.
