‘Do not grant amnesty to human rights violators’

As top leaders of Nepal’s big four parties began discussions to settle contentious issues,international Human Right Organisations have warned against granting blanket amnesty to those involved in human right violations during the decade-long insurgency which began in 1996.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday said the “government must drop” plans to give blanket amnesty when it introduces the bill to form a single commission to investigate the cases of disappearance,and investigate human right cases by the state and the insurgents.

The warning comes in the wake of government’s rigid stance that no useful purpose would be served by reopening the cases now,and that they should only be investigated in the spirit of ‘forgiving and forgiving and forgetting’.

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At least 15,000 people lost their lives and thousands disappeared during the conflict. Joint statement issued by the

The proposed blanket amnesty is against commitments made by major political parties and the government that they would investigate the rights violation cases and punish the guilty,ICJ and HRW said.