Law on torture must Amend Kathmandu, June 26 - Lawyers and human rights activists, on Sunday, urged the government to amend the Torture Compensation Act 1996 and criminalize perpetrators of torture, so as to provide increasing number of torture victims with proper justice and compensation. Speaking at a seminar on "Situation of victims of torture in the present state of conflict and responsibility of the state" organized jointly by Nepal Bar Association (NBA) and Center for Victims of Torture (CVICT), NBA president Shambhu Thapa said the present government has remained indifferent to the plight of torture victims. Asserting that the government is engaged in proving Nepal as a failed state, Thapa said, "It is useless to think of getting justice for victims of torture without restoring complete democracy." Speaking on the occasion, Bhoj Raj Acharya, coordinator of Patan Appellate Court Bar Association, said, "The (Torture Compensation) Act is incomplete and should be amended to ensure victims the right to justice." Acharya claimed that the present legal system was not sufficient to ensure justice for torture victims. "None of the victims who have filed cases seeking justice have yet been compensated." He also argued that courts should be allowed to implement its decisions on torture victims. He, however, said it was impossible for torture victims to get justice in the present structure of the state.

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