As the end of my six-year tenure as NHRC commissioner soon comes to an end, I find myself in a period of reflection, particularly in lockdown, and particularly over the issue of Transitional Justice. +1

On TJ, I often sigh and wish we could just start again from 2006 and avoid some of the awful mistakes we have made along the way. +2

As one international expert said to me a little while ago, over the years since the CPA Nepal has made just about all the mistakes possible for a country trying to reconcile with its past and deal with it! +3

Let me make my position perfectly clear.  My priority is for victims to get justice, which takes many forms including truth, recognition, memorialisation, compensation, restitution, etc.  +4

But I also feel we have let down the broader Nepali society by failing to bring about justice sector reform.  People do not have more access to or trust in the justice system than they did in 2006, or even 1996, that is to say, very very little.  +5

The problems with abuse of power by the police remain the same as ever, so the mistrust remains the same which in turn makes it difficult for the police to do their job of keeping the population secure. +6

I have one message for international diplomats: the purpose of TJ is to understand the past so we do not repeat it.  The objective is not to strengthen political links with leaders who may, or may not, be guilty of serious HR violations. +7

Almost always, or at least far too often, those who have the funds to promote TJ and HRs in general have seen it as something that can be agreed behind closed doors by the powerful, upsetting no one. +8

Apart from the victims, of course, some of whom are now in their third decade of suffering for crimes committed in the last millennium. +9

There are many things that the restrictive measures around Covid make it impossible for us to do these days. But there is nothing to stop us reflecting on the last 14 years, nothing to stop us contemplating the fate and future destiny of our country and our people. +10

There is so much uncertainty at the moment about our future, how we will recover from Covid, economically, socially, psychologically. But some things are clear. We cannot go on denying justice to and discriminating the majority of the population. +11

We cannot continue to have a dysfunctional police and exclusionary justice system and expect stability and prosperity to arrive by magic. +12

To be fair, it would not have been possible for anyone in 2006 to predict how our transition would work out. How many of you, for example, on that historic day in late November 2006 thought that today we would have a government by a unified communist movement? +13

How many really could imagine that 14 years later victims would still be waiting? +14

But make no mistake—one thing we should learn from this reflection that it is clear that the victims and HRDs calling for better justice show no signs of going away. +15

True, perhaps they need to improve their methods and actions, increase their support base, communicate their demands even more sharply. +16

There will not be social stability until they are satisfied. Donors should leave their cosy backrooms and engage with the HR sector and victims in general in a transparent and open manner, with no hidden agenda and no behind the scenes, under the table deals. +17

It should not be diplomats deciding which model for TJ & HRs we should follow & be exposed to. They must respond to requests & proposals, not come forward as so often to offer to pay for Int. visitors from x or y country to visit to meet pre-chosen interlocutors in KTM. +18

Often in secret. And where are the public reports of the findings of all these visits?
 
We cannot achieve respect for HRs by subterfuge. TJ will not be brought about by underground actions by diplomats and their chosen ‘partners’. +19

No, we will only move forward on these key aspects for our development if we have a proper national dialogue to diagnose the problems and come forward with some plans to improve the situation, based on a common vision. +20

That should be the basis for donor decision making and action, not some imported model that worked once somewhere on a distant continent. If even it did. +21