A group of human rights defenders submitted a joint memorandum to Peace Minister Rakam Chemjong regarding some critical amendments to be made in the latest draft bill on the formation of a commission on disappearance at the latter's ministerial residence at Harihar Bhawan, Pulchowk, in the early hours of the morning on August 30, 2009. The memo-submission event was timed to coincide with the International Day of the Disappeared -2009.

The memo was jointly submitted by a group of representatives from several national, regional and international human rights organizations including Accountability Watch Committee (AWC), Advocacy Forum (AF), Amnesty International (AI), Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and Informal Sector Service

To make the legislation on disappearance in line with the Supreme Court verdict of June 1 2007 and relevant international standards, the memo stressed on a host of amendments including:

§ Defining ‘enforced disappearance’ consistently with the internationally recognized definition and recognizing that, under some circumstances, the act of enforced disappearance amounts to a crime against humanity;

§ Defining the modes of individual criminal liability, including responsibility of superiors and subordinates, consistently with internationally accepted legal standards;

§ Establishing a minimum and a maximum penalty for the crime of enforced disappearance as such and for the crime of enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity;

§ Ensuring the independence, impartiality and competence of the Commission of Inquiry into enforced disappearances;

§ Ensuring that the Commission of inquiry into enforced disappearances is granted the powers and means to be able to effectively fulfill its mandate;

§ Ensuring that all aspects of the work of the Commission of Inquiry into enforced disappearance respect, protect and promote the rights of victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators;

§ Ensuring that the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry are made public and implemented.

The full text of the memo can be accessed via the link :

http://www.advocacyforum.org/DisappearanceMemoEnglish.pdf