Transitional Justice related Bill will be finalized soon: Minister Giri

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Padam Giri said on Monday that the government is working to finalize the Bill on Transitional Justice at the earliest possible time.

Minister Giri said so while receiving the demand letter submitted by Accountability Watch Committee's Coordinator Raju Prasad Chapagain representing various organizations.

Giri assured that the transitional justice related legislation would be amended complying with the verdicts of the Supreme Court, acknowledging the aspirations of the conflict victims and international conventions and treaties.

The Minister said that intensive discussions on the Bill would be held with everyone to conclude the Bill.

The letter demands an appraisal of the current status of the Bill that is currently under consideration in the House of Representatives (HoR). The demand letter seeks to find out the status of the Bill that contains an amendment proposal regarding the formation of the recommendation committee and selection of office-bearers.

Furthermore, the delegation calling on the Minister today urged the government to initiate the process of appointing the commissioners following the amendment in the transitional justice bill and to make arrangements for the investigation into the cases of violations of human rights during the conflict era to be carried out only under the authority of the commissioner.

As specified by the order issued by the full bench of the Supreme Court on the case of Suman Adhikari, the delegation demanded the readiness on the part of the government to immediately start the process of appointing officer-bearers for the commission after the proposal registered by the government in the parliament seeking an amendment in the transitional justice related laws is finalized.

The demand letter also mentions that they need to appraise the government attaching top priority to facilitate in giving impetus to the transitional justice process and addressing the concerns of all stakeholders inside and outside of the parliament regarding amendment of the Bill.

"It would be an irony to repeat the same situation where the transitional justice process was derailed in the past," expressed Chapagain.