Conflict Victims' Committee

The Conflict Victims Committee (CVC) is a group of victims from the recently concluded ten-year civil war. They suffered at the hands of both state security forces and Maoists and are based in Bardiya District of the Midwestern Region, one of the districts most affected by the conflict. The members of the CVC belong to the indigenous Tharu community, who suffered a large number of disappearances during the conflict. The disappearances were reportedly committed mostly by security forces, though the Maoists also stand accused of multiple acts.

Thousands of people were reportedly disappeared during the decade long conflict in Nepal. In 2003 and 2004, Nepal recorded the highest number of enforced disappearances in the world. Though the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance have expressed their commitment to address the issue of enforced disappearances in both the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim Constitution, the whereabouts of hundreds of disappeared remain unknown. To date, not one single perpetrator has been held accountable and Nepal has not ratified the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 December 2006.

CVC was formally established in early 2007 when victims decided to get together to support each other in their quests to find the whereabouts of disappeared family members. Members also seek to obtain reparations and accountability from the perpetrators. The group numbers 217 victims, predominantly women.

CVC is increasing its activities and is receiving wide support from the international community, including from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, the British Embassy, and the International Commission of Jurists. In January 2007, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, visited the group at a village in Bardiya.

The CVC requested protective accompaniment from PBI in early 2007. PBI started accompanying CVC in February 2007, and since then has provided protective accompaniments on a regular basis in Bardiya and Banke districts, as well as in Kathmandu. An important aspect of PBI’s international presence is also to provide moral support to the group. Members of the CVC have on various occasions expressed appreciation of the moral support they receive from PBI’s presence and how it helps them to conduct their activities.