The Nepali government has finally ordered a probe into hundreds of 'disappearances'

An investigation into the fate of hundreds of people in Nepal who disappeared during the 10-year Maoist conflict is to be led by a former Supreme Court judge.

The Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction announced that Judge Narendra Bahadur Neupane will head a special commission attempting to find those unaccounted for since 1996.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed the move by the Nepali government and, together with the International Commission of Jurists, challenged the country’s leaders to use the investigation to display their commitment to accountability and the rule of law.

Although estimates vary, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances believe that of the thousands of cases reported during the conflict, the whereabouts of at least 600 people remain unknown.

During the Maoist insurgency, Nepal gained the reputation of being one of the world’s most notorious countries for political disappearances. It is thought that the majority of people were taken by the country’s security services for suspected ties to the Maoists, but reports also suggested that children were abducted by Maoists as well.

After coming to power in April 2006, the interim government said it would launch an inquiry to find out what happened to the hundreds of missing people, but little materialised. HRW said that the government’s “failure to hold accountable even a single perpetrator of these enforced disappearances perpetuates the culture of impunity in Nepal”.

Judge Neupane has six months to complete his report.

Read more about the lingering impacts of the conflict in Nepal here.