International Justice Day Celebrated
17 July, 2014
Minister for Law, Justice, Constituent Assembly & Parliamentary Affairs and Peace and Reconstruction, Narahari Acharya said the government has been working on the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Act and it would take some time to ensure the best output, at a recent interaction program.
Acharya was the chief guest at the programme organised by Amnesty International Nepal on the occassion of International Justice Day. The topic for discussion was ‘How is peace attainable without justice? Ratification of Rome Statute to ensure Justice’.
Minister Acharya added that since the TRC related Act is now being debated at the Supreme Court, the government was ready to act as per the upcoming verdict of the Court. On ratifying the Rome Statute, he said: “The Government is positive towards ratifying it but I can’t commit anything now.”
At the programme, several rights activists and political party leaders urged the government of Nepal to reaffirm its commitment to end the culture of impunity and take necessary steps to ratify the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (ICC). Speakers also recommended the government and the parliament to amend the TRC Act which was recently passed by the parliament. They said that granting amnesty for serious crimes committed during the past conflict violates international standard.
Addressing the function, CP Mainali, former Minister and Secretary General of Communist Party of Nepal- Marxist-Leninist, advised the government to organise an all party conference to discuss the Rome Statute. Similarly, Dr. Shekhar Koirala, leader of Nepali Congress said, “If there is no retrospective effect of Rome Statute, there’s no need to worry about its ratification.”
Parshuram Meghi Gurung, leader of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist ), who had tabled the proposal to ratify ICC Statue in the parliament seven years back, said the government should ratify the Rome Statute without any hesitation. He also added that his party, as a coalition partner of present government, is committed to ratification of the Statute.
Addressing the function, senior human rights activist Krishna Pahadi urged the government and political leaders not to grant amnesty to those guilty of committed serious crimes during the conflict.
Similarly, Chairperson of Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), Subodh Raj Pyakurel also echoed similar sentiments. “Criminals shouldn’t be granted amnesty,” he said.
Human rights activist Charan Prasai said government and parliament should correct the TRC Act as soon as possible. Chairperson of Human Rights and Peace Society, Hom Kanta Choulagain said government should be serious on the issue of transitional justice. Human rights activist Pradip Pokhrel also urged that the government to not grant amnesty to those involved in serious human rights violations. Advisor of AI Nepal Krishna Kadel warned government not to go against international standard on TRC.
The program was chaired by Chairperson of AI Nepal Shambhu Thakur. Director Rameshwar Nepal spoke about the program’s objectives and importance of ratifying Rome Statute. Vice Chairperson Surya Bahadur Adhikari, Acting Secretary General Dik Prasad Ghimire, Treasurer Pratap Poudel and National Executive Committee Member Manju Aryal also presented their remarks.
There was participation of over 100 people from different walk of lives.