Successfully Conducted a Workshop on Nepal’s Transitional Justice (TJ) with Experts from Nepal.
The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) Successfully Conducted a Workshop on Nepal’s Transitional Justice (TJ) with Experts from Nepal.
ND-Burma organized the workshop on 4–5 May 2026. During the workshop, Dr. Mandira Sharma, founder of Advocacy Forum-Nepal and currently Director for Asia and the Pacific at the International Commission of Jurists, and Bikash Basnet, Executive Director of Advocacy Forum-Nepal, led discussions on Nepal’s transitional justice (TJ) experience.
The workshop highlighted that Nepal’s 1996–2006 conflict formally ended with the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord, which introduced transitional justice mechanisms. The law establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Commission on Enforced Disappearances, and the Special Court was enacted in 2014 and later amended in 2024. Although two commissions have been established, justice for victims remains limited, and civil society organizations continue to advocate for credible, victim-centred processes.
Both experts shared lessons from post-conflict Nepal, including how lawyers, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations initiated and advanced transitional justice efforts, pursued justice for victims through strategic advocacy and litigation, and challenged impunity for perpetrators. They also discussed the current status and ongoing challenges of Nepal’s TJ process.
Workshop participants also had the opportunity to review the National Unity Consultative Council’s (NUCC) transitional justice policy and discuss its strengths, weaknesses, and areas requiring further development.
In Burma/Myanmar, civil war has persisted since independence in 1948, accompanied by widespread human rights violations and decades of military impunity. Following the 2021 attempted military coup, the Spring Revolution gave rise to both peaceful and armed resistance and to the emergence of new political actors such as the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the National Unity Consultative Council and the National Unity Government.
Efforts are underway to establish a federal democratic system and to develop transitional justice approaches suited to the country’s context. In this regard, learning from the transitional justice experiences of other countries is crucial for Burma/Myanmar in developing effective TJ policies and implementation strategies aligned with local realities.
