‘Still disappeared’: reconstructing the 1990 ‘truth commission’ in Nepal

Abstract

Experts agree that in 1990, Nepal established a truth commission to investigate disappearances that allegedly happened between 1960 and 1990. Little is known about this truth-seeking mechanism. Most of what has been published refers to the Mallik Commission, a better-known commission established also in 1990. This Research Note presents new data on the Committee on Disappearances. It examines the process through which the Committee came to be and speculates that the main purpose for its establishment might have been to examine the disappearances of seven people in relation to the 1985 bombing, a series of explosions targeting the monarchy. The Note presents the main findings compiled in the Committee’s final report and examines the reasons why the final report was never published.