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Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International have today jointly issued a statement with regard to the Bill that the government registered at the Parliament on July 15.

The statement says that the Nepali government’s bill to amend its current transitional justice law marks some progress toward accountability but will not fully provide justice to victims or meet Nepal’s obligations under international law in its current form. The four international human rights organizations have demanded that Nepal’s government and parliament should amend the bill to align with international legal standards.

“Victims and their families who have waited anxiously for amendments to the law, hoping that their demands for truth and justice will be met, are disappointed,” said Mandira Sharma, senior international legal adviser at ICJ. “Despite the promise of reform, this bill, if implemented as it stands today, would shield many perpetrators from being brought to justice.”

Successive Nepali governments have stalled the transitional justice process since 2015, when Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that the current law fails to meet Nepal’s domestic and international legal obligations on several grounds, including that it empowers the two transitional justice commissions to grant amnesties to perpetrators of serious violations of international law. Although the new bill removes some of the previous amnesty provisions, it would still be difficult or impossible to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international law including war crimes and crimes against humanity, the groups said. 

Several other provisions of the new bill, including those introducing limitations on the right to appeal, would also prevent accountability as required by international legal standards.

As per the joint statement, the major sections of the Bill that violate international law include: Section 2(5) categorizes violations to make it possible that perpetrators of gross violations of human rights, crimes against humanity and war crimes, could be granted amnesties and Section 29 (5) provides that verdicts of the Special Court which will try transitional justice cases cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court, in violation of international fair trial guarantees.

The bill also contains significant omissions: The bill does not establish any special investigation unit in the transitional justice commissions or the prosecutor’s office tasked with evidence collection.

Investigation units with expertise in human rights violations would ensure that investigations are prompt, thorough and effective in accordance with international human rights law and standards and that victims can access effective remedies.

The bill does not clarify the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law in a manner consistent with international law. This omission makes it unclear how the Penal Code can be used to prosecute conflict era crimes, as stipulated by the bill, and allows the operation of statutory limitations for the crime of rape.

 “A credible transitional justice process is essential to ensure the right of access to justice and effective remedies for victims, who have suffered for years while struggling for justice,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Without major revisions, this bill won’t address the legal obstacles that have repeatedly thwarted the transitional justice process in Nepal.”

Victims’ groups and civil society organizations have issued statements calling on the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Federal Parliament to amend the bill, to ensure that it respects international law and the aspirations of victims which were expressed during recent, brief, consultations organized by the government.

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that working class people and revolutionary forces are finding it hard to secure their positions in public posts due to the existing electoral system.

He said that it has been challenging to win the elections for a section of people as the existing electoral system has turned extravagant.

Referring to a report that the local rural municipality chairman spent Rs 100 million to win the election, he said, "It may cost billions of rupees to win the federal election."

In his address to a program organized at the party central office in Parisdanda today on the memorial day of founding leader of Communist Party of Nepal Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, the former Prime Minister said that corruption is being institutionalized because of the existing electoral system and the form of the governance.

"Though the Constitution has institutionalized the federal democratic republic, some forces are intending to weaken it and stand against it," he said.

He said money power and the use of unethical tricks are being dominant in the elections.  

Dahal further said that the party has proceeded with the unification process with those forces having similar ideologies.

The Maoist Center Chair also urged party leaders and cadres to dedicate their time to informing people about pro-people activities undertaken by the incumbent government. 

He insisted on working with a vision, ideologies and plans to consolidate the party presence in the days ahead and was of the view of proving the party a revolutionary touch in practice.

Admitting that the party was marred by several sorts of intra-party deviations, he stressed the need of fighting against such culture.    

The leader recalled Karmacharya as the personality with simplicity, openness, revolutionary zeal and dedication.

On the occasion, party senior leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha stressed on the need of following the path shown by Karmarchaya who, as he described, was the person with ideology, principles and visions.

A meeting of the National Assembly today approved a proposal seeking consideration on the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand had presented the proposal seeking consideration of the upper house of the federal parliament on the bill along with a message from the House of Representatives.

National Assembly chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina announced after the theoretical discussions on the bill that the meeting has unanimously endorsed the proposal.

The National Assembly will next meet at 11 am on July 28.

Moscow has charged 92 members of the Ukrainian armed forces with crimes against humanity, the head of Russia's investigative committee has said, BBC reported.

Alexander Bastrykin told government news site Rossiiskaya Gazeta that more than 1,300 criminal investigations had been launched.

He also proposed an international tribunal backed by countries including Bolivia, Iran and Syria.

Some 96 people, including 51 armed forces commanders, are wanted, he said.

The Ukrainians were involved in "crimes against the peace and security of humanity", he told the newspaper.

The BBC has been unable to verify claims made in the interview and Kyiv has not commented.

Ukraine is also conducting its own investigations. This month, it said it was examining more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February.

And the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has described Ukraine as a "crime scene", has sent a team of investigators and forensics experts there. 

The Kremlin denies all war crimes, or that it has been targeting civilians. It has regularly blamed Ukraine for shelling its own infrastructure and killing its own civilians - accusations which have been widely dismissed by international leaders, according to BBC.

Mr Bastrykin accused the West of openly sponsoring "Ukrainian nationalism" so a UN-backed trial "is extremely doubtful". 

Moscow has repeatedly made the false claim that Ukraine is overrun by neo-Nazis as justification for what it calls a "special military operation".

Mr Bastrykin instead proposed an international tribunal should be set up with countries that have "an independent position on the Ukrainian issue" - in particular Syria, Iran and Bolivia.

Along with hundreds of Ukrainian military and political targets, he said investigations are underway into Ukrainian health ministry employees who he accused, without providing evidence, of developing weapons of mass destruction. 

Suspected mercenaries from the UK, the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Georgia are under investigation, he told the newspaper.

In June, two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine were sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.

Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saaudun are accused of being mercenaries, but the Britons' families have insisted they are long-serving members of the Ukrainian military.

In May, the first war crimes trial since the invasion began took place in Ukraine, where a court jailed a Russian tank commander for lifefor killing a civilian, BBC reported.