Nepal

This number increased exponentially during the ten-year conflict between Maoist guerrillas and the government in Kathmandu. More than 10,000 people died in the 1996-2006 war and more than 1,300 were reported as missing.

Under the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed in November 2006, a Commission to Investigate Enforced Disappearances was to be established, but this was delayed by successive governments. A government initiative to drop proceedings against those accused of human rights violations, including murder and abductions, during the conflict, was challenged by the Supreme Court in 2012. In April 2014 a transitional justice bill mandating the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission to Investigate Enforced Disappearances was finally passed. Human rights groups have criticized the legislation, but its supporters insist that although it has been drafted in the context of transitional justice and with a view to facilitating implementation of the peace settlement, it will not allow impunity for serious crimes.

In February 2015, amid continuing controversy over their remit and the capacity of the existing legal system to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations, including enforced disappearance, are brought to trial, the two commissions were created.

The Network of Families of the Disappeared, Nepal (NEFAD) brings together families of the victims of enforced disappearance to advocate for truth and justice.