The recommendation committee formed to select new office-bearers for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has called for applications from interested candidates.

The committee, led by former chief justice Om Prakash Mishra, had endorsed its working procedure on Sunday before announcing the vacancies on Monday.

Eligible candidates will have to submit their applications to the committee by April 15.

The Mishra-led committee, after evaluating the applications, will recommend the names to the government for appointments.

To become a member of either of the commissions, one should have a master’s degree, have no political party membership at the time of appointment and must have contributed to the field of human rights, law, social work or conflict resolution. To qualify for the post of the chairperson, the candidate should be a retired justice of the Supreme Court, chief judge of High Court or a person with the qualification to become an apex court justice.

Prem Bahadur Khadka, a member of the committee, told the Post that they will finalise the names after evaluating the applications and consulting the stakeholders.

“We are planning to hold consultation with the conflict victims on Sunday,” he said.

The victims’ groups have been warning not to take ownership of the new leadership if they were not consulted in the selection process.

The second amendment to the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, 2014 has set April 13 as the last day for the incumbent leaderships of the two commissions.

Each commission will have five office-bearers including a chairperson. The incoming members of the two commissions will have a maximum of two years to complete the investigations into over 60,000 cases and recommend appropriate actions against the perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations.

Meanwhile, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has submitted its report to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat incorporating the works it has accomplished in the last four years.

After completing its preliminary investigations, the commission has concluded that out of 3,197 filed cases, 2,518 persons have been confirmed as victims of enforced disappearance. The commission has also traced 23 people, who were claimed to have been disappeared as per complaints registered by their families.

“Their families had filed complaints in hopes of getting compensation from the state,” Lokendra Mallick, chairperson of the commission, told the Post.

The 491-page report, however, does not talk about the action to be taken against the perpetrators as the commission could not complete detailed investigation into any of the cases.

Mallick claimed that lack of law to recognise enforced disappearance as a crime was another factor that kept the commission from recommending actions.

“But we have set the foundation. It would be easier for the new team to take the investigation process forward,” he told the Post.


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