|
 Human rights workers and victims' groups had feared that the
government's plan for a reconciliation commission could mean pardons
for serious violators of human rights.
More than 16,000 people were killed and thousands were wounded in
the civil war in the poor Himalayan country wedged between Asian
giants India and China.
The war pitted Maoist guerrillas against government forces from 1996
to 2006. Hundreds of people simply disappeared.
A coalition government headed by the Maoist former rebels prepared
legislation last year to set up a truth and reconciliation
commission, as stipulated in the agreement that ended the war.
But the Supreme Court said the panel could not offer amnesty in the
most serious cases.
"Cases involving grave human rights violations can't be the subject
for amnesty and where amnesty should be granted the participation
and consent of the victims is compulsory," Baburam Dahal, assistant
court spokesman, said on Friday.
Rights workers accused both the security forces and the rebels of
abuses such as killings, rape, torture and disappearances during the
war.
Human rights lawyer Hari Phuyal welcomed the court's ruling as a
"landmark decision". Victims of abuse and their families were more
cautious.
"The decision has raised our hopes for justice," said Dev Bahadur
Maharjan, who said he was tortured after being arrested by the
security forces in 2003.
[to top of second column] |
"It is up to the government to implement the order now. We'll wait
and see how the government fulfils its responsibility."
The Supreme Court and lower courts have issued warrants in abuse
cases in the past but those orders have not been implemented and no
arrests have been made.
In January last year, an army colonel on holiday in Britain was
arrested on charge of torturing two people. He is the most senior
Nepali officer to be arrested in connection with abuses during the
conflict.
Setting up the commission could be delayed as political parties are
struggling to pull together a coalition after elections in November
produced a deeply fragmented parliament.
U.N. human rights officials have said perpetrators of serious war
crimes should be punished to ensure peace can be sustained in one of
the world's poorest countries.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; editing by Jo Winterbottom and Robert
Birsel)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
