In the wake of a report critical of the government yesterday from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), rights groups and civic institutions have expressed doubts about the ability of proposed commissions to redress human rights violations in the country.

“Transitional justice institutions should protect the victims’ rights, not shelter the perpetrators,” said AHRC in a note specific to Nepal and following up on its December 10 regional report on human rights.

“The AHRC stands firm on the belief that justice, accountability and concerns for the victims’ rights are an integral part of a long-lasting and solid peace process, not an obstacle.  The [Nepal] government should not make the mistake of believing that the purpose of the transitional justice institutions is to provide amnesty to the perpetrators,” said AHRC.

“The primary purpose of the transitional justice institutions is to uphold two fundamental rights,” the statement continued,  “in both their collective and individual dimensions: the right to justice — including the right to legal redress for the victims — and the right to the truth. Only if those two rights are guaranteed, can the Nepal government give its people credible guarantees of non-repetition and the country can envision a stable and peaceful future.”

A statement issued by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said that the Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances would remain “toothless if clauses providing general amnesty to rights violators were included in their bylaws.”

Kalibahadur Rokkya, a protestant pastor and executive member of the NHRC, said any commission must deliver justice to victims.

“For Nepal to move ahead, the commissions must bring the truth out, and then there must be justice involved amid voluntary forgiveness and reconciliation.”