CCPR/C/114/D/2038/2011 under articles 6 (1), 7, 9, 10 (1), 16, 23 (1) and 24 (1), all read in conjunction with article 2 (3) of the Covenant. 3.10 The authors argue that the State party has continued to violate their rights under article 7, read alone and in conjunction with article 2 (3) of the Covenant. They have suffered anguish and distress since 2002 due to the arbitrary deprivation of liberty, illtreatment and enforced disappearance of their eight relatives, as well as to the failure of the authorities to carry out any effective investigation concerning the fate and whereabouts of their relatives. 3.11 The authors submit that the State party has also violated their rights under articles 17 (1) and 23, read alone and in conjunction with article 2 (3), by forcibly entering their homes and removing their relatives, which has resulted in an abrupt and complete separation from them. 3.12 The authors request the Committee to recommend that the State party (a) order prompt, impartial and thorough investigations concerning the fate and whereabouts of their eight relatives; (b) release their relatives, should they be alive and, in the event of their death, to locate, exhume, identify and respect their mortal remains and return them to the family; (c) provide information to the authors on the progress of the investigations; (d) bring the perpetrators before a court for prosecution, judgement and sanction; and (e) provide the authors and their relatives, should they be alive, with adequate compensation that covers material and moral damages, as well as other measures of reparation, including measures of rehabilitation12 and satisfaction. In particular, the authors request that the State party publicly acknowledge its international responsibility. As a guarantee of non-repetition, the State party should ensure that enforced disappearance and torture constitute autonomous offences under its criminal law, amend its legislation so as to ensure that habeas corpus is an available and effective remedy in case of enforced disappearance, set up an independent commission to investigate enforced disappearances, ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and fully implement the recommendations made by OHCHR in relation to the enforced disappearances in Bardiya district. State party’s observations on admissibility 4.1 By note verbale of 10 June 2011, the State party submitted its observations, challenging the admissibility of the communication on the grounds of failure to exhaust domestic remedies. 4.2 It notes that the 1990 Constitution explicitly prohibited torture and other cruel inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment, and that a person subjected to such treatment was entitled to adequate compensation in accordance with the 1997 Compensation relating to Torture Act. Therefore, the authors could have filed a petition under the Act, by which a decision by a court has to be made within 90 days. Likewise, they failed to submit a petition invoking the State Cases Act. 4.3 The National Human Rights Commission is an independent and impartial Commission established under the Human Rights Commission Act of 1997. It is vested with the statutory power to conduct enquiries into human rights violations, to require any person to appear before it, and to gather, receive, examine and assess information and 12 8 See E/CN.4/1998/43, para. 75.