Parties reach agreement on contentious provisions of transitional justice bill

Kathmandu / Aug. 01: The three major political parties on Thursday reached an agreement on the long-awaited amendments to the transitional justice-related bill.

The three-member panel tasked by chiefs of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) reached the deal after weeks-long deliberations.

“We have made an important achievement in this connection as we resolved all the contentious issues,” Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak said.

He shared that they forged an agreement regarding the definition of serious human rights violations and extrajudicial killings that took place during the decade-long armed conflict.

“There was a dispute on how to define the conflict-era killings,” he said. “Now we have reached an agreement with regard to distinguishing them as intentional and arbitrary killings.”

Lekhak said that the three parties have agreed that the consent of the victims shall be mandatory for reconciliation and pardon.

“If the victims or kin aren’t ready to pardon, the case can be taken to the court as a serious violation of human rights,” he said.

According to Lekhak, the leaders agreed to include the security persons killed during the insurgency as conflict victims. He expressed his belief that the bill would be passed by the House soon. The three parties command a majority in the federal parliament required to pass a bill.

The task force comprises Minister Lekhak, CPN-UML chief whip Mahesh Bartaula and CPN-Maoist Centre Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma.