Three major parties agree on TJ bill 18 years after peace accord was signed

The transitional justice process is expected to move forward after parliament endorses the bill

KATHMANDU, Aug 7: Almost 18 years after ending the violent conflict and signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the then rebel, CPN (Maoist) and the government, the three main parties-- Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center)-- on Thursday agreed on the transitional justice bill.

The Task Force formed to reach a consensus on the transitional justice (TJ) bill submitted its report to the top leaders of the three big parties at Singh Durbar on Wednesday. The Task Force submitted the report to Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

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The Task Force reached an agreement on the disputed issues of the TJ bill a week ago. Once passed by parliament, the corresponding commissions will be formed to transform the painful past into peace.

Last Thursday, the discussion among the three leaders of the three parties, the Chairman of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee, and the Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs concluded with an agreement on the disputed issues.

The parties then agreed after the long-disputed issue of defining the killings during the conflict was settled. The parties have agreed to consider killings carried out intentionally or arbitrarily as serious violations of human rights.

In cases of human rights violations, the consent of the victim is mandatory. There was a dispute about what to do if the victim did not consent. It has been agreed to provide compensation to the families of the security personnel who were killed or injured during the conflict.

The Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) was signed on November 21, 2006, between the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), then known as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). This agreement marked the end of the decade-long Maoist armed insurgency, which claimed the lives of at least 17,000 people. 

The government is preparing to table the TJ bills in the current session of parliament.