Sep 12, 2016- A proposed amendment to the Transitional Justice Act prohibits amnesty for perpetrators of grave rights violations, as defined by the international laws. The provisions, if endorsed, will end the prospect of amnesty for crimes of rape, murder, torture, and disappearance, among others. Section 26 (2) of the Act states the transitional justice commissions cannot recommend amnesty ‘in the case of the perpetrator who was involved in rape’, while other offenses of grave nature could be pardonable. The major changes in the Act come in line with a Supreme Court verdict as well as international human rights laws to which Nepal is a party. The national and international rights communities had opposed the provisions. According to Attorney General Raman Shrestha, the amendments will be based on the proposal prepared by his predecessor Hari Phuyal, who had drafted a comprehensive amendment plan, acceptable to all the parties. The new amendment draft obtained by the Post also incorporates a provision allowing transitional justice bodies to recommend action against the perpetrators directly to the attorney general. The draft also proposes authorizing the TJ bodies to provide interim relief. Neither the Truth and Reconciliation Commission nor the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has the right to offer any kind of relief to conflict victims. The draft envisages a Transitional Justice Special Court to look into the cases recommended by the commissions for prosecution. Also proposed is the transfer of cases sub judice in regular court to the new court.