KATHMANDU, June 13: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a directive order calling for the enactment of laws related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that explicitly address the use of child soldiers.
A full bench comprising Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Sunil Kumar Pokhrel and Shanti Singh Thapa observed that the third amendment to the TRC Act had excluded the use of child soldiers from the definition of a serious violation of human rights and directed that the issue be explicitly incorporated into the law.
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The bench concluded that the state is responsible for enacting laws that categorically prohibit the recruitment or use of children under the age of 18 in any military force and recognize such acts as punishable offenses. "A directive order has been issued accordingly to the concerned government bodies, asking them to take prompt action toward that end."
The petition was filed by Lenin Bista, a former child soldier during the armed conflict.
The order further states that child combatants who were not included in the army integration process were initially provided Rs 10,000 each and promised an additional Rs 200,000 in the future. However, not all of them received the promised amount, according to the order.
Similarly, the court issued a mandamus order directing government documents and archives to avoid using pejorative terms such as "disqualified" for those who could not be included in the army integration process.
