Lack of political will to blame, says the judiciary
IMPUNITY WATCH
KAMAL RAJ SIGDEL
In what appears to be an unsettling picture of impunity in Nepal, over 300,000 people, most of them criminals, convicted by the court have been walking free -- and without a fear of being caught.
This figure, which is one percent of Nepal’s current estimated population, made availabe to the Post by the Judiciary Execution Directorate (JED) does not include the criminals currently in the prisons or custody.
The latest data collected from the courts across the counrty revealed that there are over 100,000 court verdicts unimplemented, leading to impunity for an average of three lawbreakers in each case. “The exact number of convicts enjoying impunity could be more than 300,000 as most of the verdicts have more than three convicts,” said Y.P. Basyal, chief of JED.
Though the directorate is yet to collect and varify the details of the absconding convicts, the officials said, the list includes political leaders, businessmen and professional gangsters.
The survey also revelas that Kathmandu is the worst district with heighest number of criminals on the loose. As per the survey report, which contains data of of all 75 districts, the top five worse performers are: Kathmandu (with 12,046 verdicts unimplemented), Saptari (10,355), Sunsari (5,235), Parsa (5,047) and Rupendehi (3,691).
According to Kathamndu District Court records, the oldest unimplemented verdict dates back to 1951 and none knows whereabouts of the convicts as very few details remain safe. “Some of the convicts could be already dead,” said a court official.
Despite the horrific picture of impunity, the response is miserably slow. As the government failed to effectively enforce court decisions, the Supreme Court last year established JED to take up the job. But with only half a dozen staff and no separate security back up, the JED has been able to nab only 297 out of over 36,000 absconding convicts in Kathmandu. It is yet to start its work in other districts.
“We are trying to first prepare the database before we move to full operation,” said the JED Chief. “But the impunity is so high and widespread that without strong and separate police force, we are unable to nab all the criminals.”
The Supreme Court, in its original plan, had proposed the governmetn for arranging about 1,000 security personnel for JED which is in limbo “due to the political intability”.
“If the government really wants to control crime in the society, it should show will power to implement all these verdicts,” said Rajendra Acharya, Director at JED. “The impunity is in fact encouraging criminals to repeat crimes.”
| Top 10 worst impunity | |
| Districts | Dead Verdicts? |
| Kathmandu | 12,046 |
| Saptari | 10,355 |
| Sunsari | 5,235 |
| Parsa | 5,047 |
| Rupendehi | 3,691 |
| Banke | 1953 |
| Dhanusa | 2317 |
| Jhapa | 1811 |
| Kaski | 1005 |
| Kanchanpur | 964 |
| Total | 44,424 |
| Total (all 75 districts) | +100,000 |
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