Community Mediation Program: Best Alternative Towards Peace and Justice
By SHAMBHU PRASAD KATTEL
Community Mediation Program (CMP), as the first initiative towards peace and justice in the country, was implemented by Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT), Nepal in March 2001. Later on, the program was replicated by other non-governmental organisations like Institute for Good Governance and Development (IGD), Centre for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRd), Pro-Public, (RUDUC) and so on. CVICT's CMP has completed its three years' pilot phase with successful result and extended as Community Mediation Extension Program (CMEP) in the same districts since June 2004 for three more years. Initially, it was started for three years in 15 VDCs of Ilam, Jhapa and Saptari districts of Eastern Development Region through partner NGOs. After extension, the project is operating in 30 VDCs of each project district.
The main thrust of CMP is to improve the delivery of justice particularly for women, poor and deprived people through development of community mediation forums at local level. The project follows multi-pronged approach, linking grassroots level activities in the project areas with the policy-making processes at national level, to promote peace and justice through community mediation in Nepal . More specifically, it recognises the need of informal community level institutions, VDCs and their roles on mediation process as well as the formal justice delivery forums to increase safety, security and access to justice for rural people, especially women and members of marginalized groups.
The project provides mediation services through its partner organizations and Human Rights and Mediation Committees (HRMCs) at local level as well as alert disputing parties about making informed choices.
The program supports VDCs, informal/volunteer community mediators and marginalized groups to strengthen the existing practices of mediation in the community or reform community institutions to promote access to restorative justice to women, poor, disadvantaged and other marginalized social groups. The district partner NGOs train indigenous community mediators, VDC representatives and local women leaders on human rights, paralegal education and mediation skills and set up Human Rights and Mediation Committee (HRMC) in each ward and VDC and a women committee which resolves local cases through mediation following rights-based approach.
Community mediation program resolves minor cases of community especially civil cases that can be resolved. Normally, minor cases escalate into grave crimes therefore CMP tries to resolve minor cases permanently finding out the root causes of a dispute. Therefore, in the present context of Nepal , CMP prevents people going to police and formal forums with minor problem, which ultimately prevent them from being tortured. In addition, all class, caste, ethnicity and gender, people have their representation in mediation committee and feel justice through the available services of community mediation. Therefore, there is no reason for them to go to Maoist Court for justice with minor problems or to join the Maoist to take revenge.
The overall objective of CMP is to make aware of community level people especially the marginalized groups, poor and women on human rights, laws of the state and mediation skills and processes, enable them to organise into mediation committees to protect their rights and to make justice accessible to all through right based approach of mediation (by community people for community people).
Community mediation program follows various activities at grass root levels which are described below one by one:
i. VDC Selection - Developed Action Plan with VDC : VDC for CMP implementation was selected on the basis of the interest of VDC authority to implement the program, number of disputes in the VDC and formal forums, availability of traditional dispute managing mechanism and practices, etc. After VDC selection, district team of CMP conducts a meeting with VDC and discuss about the sustainability of the program. Community mediation program is implemented in only those VDCs which are ready to include the program in their annual plan i.e. as a part of the VDC’s activity. Therefore, CMP implemented VDCs of Ilam, Jhapa and Saptari have already been included in the VDC’s annual action plan and have committed to continue it in the future.
ii. Multi-Party Meeting: Immediately after the VDC selection, all party meeting is organised in the VDC office. At the request of district staff of CMP, VDC secretary dispatches a letter to the representatives of political parties and social workers of the VDC and ask them to participate in the meeting. In the meeting, CMP staff seek consensus of all political parties to implement the program.
iii. Community Awareness Program: Awareness creating among the community people about the use and benefit of CMP is the main activity of the mediation program. District staff of CMP like field officer, program coordinator and legal officer visit wards of each VDC and conduct an awareness raising program. Mainly, CMP staff clarifies about the merits of CMP, mediation process and importance of the use of CMP for protection and promotion of human rights in the present context.
iv. Mass Meeting and Mediation Committee Formation: After awareness raising program, mass meeting is conducted in each VDC where people are invited from all wards especially representatives of all categories of people like ethnic minority, low caste groups, gender, etc are invited for the meeting. The meeting discusses about the merits and demerits of CMP, its application and continuation in future and finally forms a mediation committee taking representation of all sections of the community.
v. Training to the community mediators: District partner NGO organises training to the mediation committee members. The training enhances the skills and knowledge of committee members on human rights, basic laws and mediation skills and processes. This training empowers committee members to be mediators who have to play roles of neutral facilitator while settling disputes. This is the training through which a man changes his traditional dispute management attitude and practice and establishes in the community as a mediator. Therefore, this training is designed residential to make impressive and practical.
vi. Dispute Settlement: After receiving the basic training, the mediation committee members (mediators) settle dispute following rights based approach. Normally, mediation session are held in VDC office, school, public ground and other public places. Interested individual can attend a session and observe the processes. If the case is confidential then only disputing parties along with one or two mediators attend the session and facilitate for mediation.
A mediator always appears in mediation session as a neutral facilitator and helps disputants to settle their cases themselves. There are 30 percent representation of women in each mediation committee and enough number of representations of other caste and ethnic groups. Mediation is a skill used by mediators to settle a dispute.
vii. Interaction: CMP conducts two types of interactions: one is among the mediators as an experience sharing and another is between mediators and representatives of formal forums. The latter interaction creates a forum between mediators and government officials of the district in which the mediators describe their success that helps understand the achievement of the program to the government representatives of the district and other related stakeholders.
viii. Legal Support: Legal support is a component of the program which is provided to a disputant who is economically poor and unable to go to the court for justice. But all poor and unable disputant who have to go to the court will not get the support. Only those disputants receive legal support who are financially not sound is ready to settle the case locally through mediation whereas his opponent does not want to settle the case locally but wants to go to court. In this condition it is clear that the second party of a dispute is economically and politically powerful and is not ready to settle the case through mediation. In this circumstance, legal support is provided and it is found helpful for making justice access to poor and marginalised people.
ix. Networking and Advocacy: CMP creates a network among the mediators and between mediators and other justice delivery institutions (judicial and quasi-judicial bodies) in the districts. Due to such network there is coordination between mediation committee and judicial and quasi-judicial bodies which ultimately helps people to be access to justice.
(Kattel is an anthropologist associated with CVICT)
