TRC bill being tabled in HoR today

August 13, Kathmandu: A bill to amend the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Act is set to be tabled in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Tuesday, following a significant agreement reached by a three-party taskforce. The proposal, spearheaded by Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee Chairperson Bimala Subedi, will be presented in the House of Representatives at 1:00 p.m.

The task force, which includes leaders from the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), and CPN (Maoist Center), finalized its report a week ago, addressing critical issues related to transitional justice after 17 years since the comprehensive peace agreement.

Key points of the agreement include defining intentional or arbitrary killings as murder, ensuring relief and compensation for the families of security personnel affected during the conflict, and extending support to ex-combatants. Importantly, the agreement also proposes that victims’ consent is needed before punishing those involved in conflict-time incidents, allowing the application of transitional justice principles rather than current criminal law.

The push for this amendment highlights a national and international commitment to resolving transitional justice issues, as outlined in the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) signed on November 21, 2006. Following further delays in passing the bill, which remained stalled for 17 months, the report was officially submitted after reaching consensus on August 8.