Nepal extends term of probe panels

Nepal has extended the tenure of two transitional justice mechanisms by a year, which was established with the mandate of investigating war-era rights violation-related cases, authorities said.Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari approved an ordinance paving way for the extension of the term of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission of Enquiry on Enforced Disappearance (CEED), which were also mandated to provide justice to the victims of the armed conflict that ended in 2007 in Nepal.“As the president approved the ordinance, the term of the two transitional mechanisms has been extended by a year,” Bhesh Raj Adhikari, an aide to the president, told Xinhua, on Saturday.The Nepal government had forwarded the ordinance two weeks ago regarding the extension of these two crucial commissions. The two commissions were initially set up in February 2015, eight years after the government and then rebel Maoist party signed the landmark Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) that ended armed conflict in the Himalayan nation.The commissions are mandated to launch a probe into all cases of human rights abuses committed by both the Maoist party and the state forces during the 10-year conflict (1996-2006) that claimed over 13,000 lives while leaving thousands displaced and disappeared.The two commissions will study and investigate around 60,000 complaints related to murders, rapes, and disappearances, officials said.Conflict victims complain that they are not getting justice even 10 years after the signing of the comprehensive peace deal between the government and the then rebels.