Taking Stock
Although Rayamajhi Commission has submitted its final report, the eleventh hour differences among its members have dented its credibility
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
When it was formed on May 5, its chairman former Supreme Court (SC) judge Krishna Jung Rayamajhi had made tall claims. He had repeatedly stated that nobody was beyond the commission’s jurisdiction. “We have the mandate of the people,” he had stated.
After six months when he submitted the final report about the repression of April People’s Movement, Rayamajhi now claims that since the commission did not have authority to probe the King’s actions, the report does not mention the King’s name for action. “But the report has indicated that then head of the government was mainly responsible for the repression,” he says.
 |
PM koirala receives the report : Will it be implemented ?
|
However, the 1184-pages long report does recommend action against 202 persons including then Head of Government King Gyanendra. The report has recommended actions against the entire member of then Council of Ministers including its then chairman King Gyanendra.
Likewise, it has also recommended actions against security chiefs, top administrators, royal advisors and so on. It has advised taking action against them on charges of human rights violations, corruption and abuse of authority.
It suggests enactment of new laws to prosecute the accused persons under charge of human rights violations. The report has found ministers Kamal Thapa, Shrish SJB Rana and Tanka Dhakal as well as then army chief Pyara Jung Thapa guilty of misusing state funds. The commission has recommended departmental action against the current army chief General Rukmangat Katawal and chief of Armed Police Force Basudev Oli.
Meanwhile, A number of events have taken place in recent times that have dented the credibility of Rayamajhi report with people now fearing its fate will be similar to that of Mallik Commission report, which was released after 1990’s people’s movement.
First of all, the November 8 agreement between the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and the Maoists stated that a separate investigation would be conducted “about those who were involved in gross violation of human rights at the time of the conflict and those who committed crime against humanity.” The agreement states that “a high level Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be formed to create an environment for social reconciliation.”
As the human rights organizations have also started demanding such a Truth and Reconciliation Commission – which was able to reconcile differences in South African society after the end of apartheid regime – it appears that the current report’s recommendations may not be implemented.
Although Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has assured the Commission members that their efforts will not go wasted, the fact that the report was not made public indicates otherwise. Last week, talking to journalists in Biratnagar, PM Koirala had also said that once the report prepared by the Rayamajhi Commission is submitted, the government will study it before taking decisions about actions against culprits. He said the government would also take action against the King if required.
Furthermore, the major differences among the commission members, which erupted at the eleventh hour, has deeply hurt the credibility of the report. The two members – Ram Kumar Shrestha and Dr. Kiran Shrestha have refused to sign the final report expressing dissatisfaction over what they called as ‘feeble’ recommendation, particularly in relation with the action against the King and other top officials. The disagreement erupted after the final report of the commission recommended action against the former home minister Kamal Thapa; royal advisors Satchit SJB Rana and Sharad Chandra Shah; former army chief Pyara Jung Thapa; former police chief Shyam Bhakta Thapa; former armed police chief Sahabir Thapa; and former chief of National Investigation Department Deviram Sharma only on the charge of misusing state coffer instead of slapping them charges of murder.
The Shrestha duo, in fact, submitted a separate report to the Prime Minister on Monday (November 20) stating their differences.
The Commission had interrogated over 600 persons. The five-member commission also undertook a number of field missions to study the allegations of repression first hand.
PM Koirala has assured that the report will be tabled at the House of Representatives. But since the tenure of the House is set to expire in less than a week (as per November 8 agreement, interim legislature will replace the House by November 26), it is unclear if the Maoist-included interim parliament will own up the report with similar zeal and take action based on its recommendations.
