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Home > Nepali Supreme Court Rejects Amnesty for War Crimes (February 26, 2015)

Nepali Supreme Court Rejects Amnesty for War Crimes (February 26, 2015) [1]

Blog Name: 
International Law in Brief [2]
Author: 
Monica Moyo

On February 26, 2015, the Nepali Supreme Court rejected [3] amnesty for persons who committed serious human rights abuses during the decade-long civil war between government forces and Maoist rebels that killed more than 17, 000 people. Both groups were accused of war crimes, and in 2014 the Nepali legislature passed a bill [4], the TRC Act, establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission on Enforced Disappearances, with discretion to grant amnesty to perpetrators. The legislation was controversial [5] and condemned by Navi Pillay [6], former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as “deny[ing] the right of thousands of Nepalese to truth and justice.” In rejecting the amnesty provision, the three-judge bench stated that “the consent of the victims is necessary for any reconciliation.”


Source URL: https://www.asil.org/blogs/nepali-supreme-court-rejects-amnesty-war-crimes-february-26-2015

Links
[1] https://www.asil.org/blogs/nepali-supreme-court-rejects-amnesty-war-crimes-february-26-2015
[2] https://www.asil.org/blog-name/international-law-brief
[3] http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-nepal-rights-idUSKBN0LV0CG20150227
[4] http://jurist.org/paperchase/2014/04/nepal-legislature-passes-amnesty-bill-for-former-rebels-and-security-forces.php
[5] http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Nepal-TRC-Act-Briefing-Paper.pdf
[6] http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13163&LangID=E