CCPR/C/114/D/2038/2011 evidence. The Commission can recommend that the Government give compensation to a victim and punish perpetrators. 4.4 The State party informs the Committee that two investigative committees headed by Joint Secretaries at the Ministry of Home Affairs were established in order to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of the persons that were reported as disappeared during the armed conflict. It points out that the Army and the Police have also conducted departmental-level enquiries and held several personnel responsible. Further, to address the situation of disappeared persons, it decided to establish a commission to investigate cases of disappearances and a truth and reconciliation commission, in compliance with article 33 (s) of the 2007 Interim Constitution of Nepal and with clause 5.2.5 of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 21 November 2006. To this end, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Bill and the Enforced Disappearance (Offence and Punishment) Bill have been submitted to the parliament. By the time the State party submitted its observations, the bills were pending approval. The two commissions to be formed after endorsement of those bills will investigate cases that occurred during the armed conflict and bring to light the truth about these cases. State party’s observations on the merits 5.1 On 10 January 2012, the State party provided its observations on the merits of the communication. It reiterates its previous observations that the authors have not exhausted domestic remedies and that the communication should be declared inadmissible pursuant article 5 (2) (b) of the Optional Protocol. 5.2 The State party informs the Committee that the two bills for the establishment of a commission on disappearance and a truth and reconciliation commission were pending approval in a parliamentary committee. It points out that those bills were drafted with extensive interaction with stakeholders and members of the international community, and that their provisions are in accordance with international standards. 5.3 The State party remains committed to investigating, prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators and providing compensation to the victims of the human rights violations committed during the armed conflict between 1 February 1996 and 2006. It notes that the authors have already received interim relief. Authors’ comments on the State party’s observations 6.1 On 18 April 2012, the authors submitted their comments on the State party’s observations. 6.2 The authors reiterate that they have exhausted all domestic remedies. They argue that in general a writ of habeas corpus is the remedy best suited to redressing the violation concerned by producing the disappeared person and thereby ending the unacknowledged detention. It is therefore the most appropriate immediate remedy to protect the rights of a person taken by the authorities. However, the regulations concerning such writs and the manner in which the courts in the State party handle habeas corpus petitions make them ineffective. The authors further claim that it is the responsibility of the State party to carry out ex officio a full and thorough investigation into the allegations of torture and enforced disappearance at the earliest possible opportunity. 6.3 The ruling of the Supreme Court of 1 June 2007 has not yet been fully implemented. Although the State party granted the families of disappeared persons an interim relief of Nr 100,000, it has failed to implement the other directives, such as criminalizing enforced disappearance or prosecuting the perpetrators. 9

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