HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS PORTAL
6 June 2022
6 June 2022
Ensure Victim’s Right to Justice
Today marks the 17th year of the tragic Badarmude incident. On today’s day, 42 people were killed and 68 others injured when CPN-Maoist cadres detonated an electric ambush in a passenger bus. No. 1 Kha 3245 near Bandarmudhe river on the border of then Kalyanpur VDC-1 and 4. Three security personnel and other civilians were killed in the electric ambush that was detonated in the bus on June 6, 2005.
A statement issued by CPN (Maoist) Chairperson Prachanda on June 6, 2005, immediately after the Bandarmudhe incident acknowledged their involvement in the incident. The statement also committed to investigating and bringing out the truth of the incident.
The Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) was signed on November 21, 2006, to end the armed conflict. The accord mentioned a commitment to addressing the issues related to justice for the conflict victims, however, this has not been addressed to date. The goal of establishing a peaceful society has not been achieved. It is the responsibility of the conflict victims to resolve the conflict peacefully through justice reparation and institutional reform.
Justice and redressal have been mentioned in the cases of serious human rights violations during the armed conflict period including in the Bandarmudhe incident. Although the then CPN-Maoist Central Committee’s Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been reiterating his commitment to providing justice to the victims at different times after changing the practice of adopting the political system, the victims have not been relieved of their pain.
Due to the incompetence of the policy and legal framework adopted to investigate the incident, the lack of determination and the manipulation of political forces, doubts have arisen about the truth of the incident, its reparation and justice. We summon the Government of Nepal to ensure the victims’ right to justice considering the Comprehensive Peace Accord, its ongoing public commitments and the Supreme Court’s decisions on the Transitional Justice.
Dr. Indira Shrestha
Chairperson, INSEC
