Peace process is nationally-led, nationally-owned

 Kathmandu, Sept. 28

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that Nepal’s peace process is nationally-led and nationally-owned unique procedure with all political parties from the left and right coming together and the nation concluding the ‘Peace Accord’.

"We are determined to conclude the transitional justice (TJ) process to heal the wounds and scars of the conflict period and help the entire society move forward with a sense of reconciliation, peace and harmony," PM Oli said in his remarks on 'Nepal's Perspective: From Transitional Justice to Climate Justice' in John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Harvard University in the USA on Friday.

On the occasion, he called for support and encouragement from the international community including the partners in the process for effective implementation of the TJ Act. The country is in the final process in concluding the transitional justice.

Stating that the transitional justice is an integral part of Nepal's peace process, PM Oli said, "Although transitional justice has remained on the backburner for several years, it was not forgotten. An attempt has been made to resolve this protracted issue of transitional justice."

Nepal established two transitional justice mechanisms, namely, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and Commission on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CEDP) in 2015 although the peace process was initiated in 2006 with the rebel Maoists joining the mainstream politics.

PM Oli informed that the TRC alone has collected nearly 67 thousand complaints from all over the country and even settled some of them. But due to due to the frequent changes in the government, the issue of transitional justice was delayed for some 18 years after signing of the peace Accord.

"Now, my government has been formed in a coalition of major two parties of Nepali politics not only to give stability but also to better deliver to Nepali people. In this context, I am happy to share that immediately after the formation of my government, the transitional justice bill was passed by the parliament with near consensus," he said.

He pledged the determination of the government to to conclude the issue of transitional justice once and for all.

PM Oli also assured that the process of transitional justice will protect victims’ rights and interests, including legal remedies. "It will involve seeking truth, providing reparation, and bringing perpetrators of serious crimes to justice. No blanket amnesty will be given," he said.

Nepal suffered a decade-long armed violence from 1996 to 2006 which resulted in around 17000 deaths of Nepali people.  A Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed between the rebels and the government in 2006.

Following the Accord, Nepal held an election to the constituent assembly in 2008 to write a new constitution. The second constituent assembly, elected in 2013, promulgated a new constitution in 2015, solidifying previous gains made in the field of restructuring and democratizing the state, Prime Minister Oli said.

He also took the opportunity to talk about the climate justice.

According to him, while the whole world is suffering from the impact of climate change, the least developed countries are suffering the most as they do not have resources and technologies to manage adverse impacts of climate change.

"Moreover, while we have just started to make initial steps for economic development, the problem of global warming and climate change has come our way with increased incidence of disasters," he said. "It came to us from the outside world, far from our borders. The cumulative impact of hundreds of years of burning of fossil fuels has largely created these catastrophic problems."

According to him, this is a gross injustice meted out by the advanced industrialised economies with their centuries of exploitation of nature and emissions of greenhouse gas that are largely responsible for the global ecological harms, endangering our very existence.  

Stating that it is entirely rational to call for climate justice, he said that for the people of LDCs, climate justice is plain and simple: those who pollute the environment have to pay proportionately.

Prime Minister Oli said that the developed countries and major economies must take proportionate responsibility to support developing nations for climate actions, through adequate resources and technology transfer. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 September 2024.