Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Nepal

Introduction

1. Human Rights Watch submits the following information regarding Nepal’s human rights record since its 2021 Universal Periodic Review (UPR), including efforts towards implementation of recommendations it accepted as well as developments in the human rights situation since then.[1] This submission is not a complete review of all recommendations supported by Nepal, nor a comprehensive review of Nepal’s protection of human rights. 

2. Nepal has taken only limited positive steps since 2021, including some efforts to protect migrant workers, and legislation to advance transitional justice. However, progress on transitional justice has been undermined by controversial appointments of commissioners, which has alienated victims’ groups. In most areas legislative action is lacking, and the government has often failed to effectively enforce existing laws to protect human rights.

3. Nepal has failed to implement numerous recommendations it supported in the previous review.[2] The UPR risks being ineffective if countries claim success by accepting recommendations without delivering identifiable outcomes.

Undermining Transitional Justice

4. During its third UPR cycle, Nepal supported at least 12 recommendations related to transitional justice, including to ensure the independence of the commissions and to bring perpetrators to justice.[3] Nevertheless, Impunity prevails for numerous, well-documented, grave violations and abuses committed during the internal armed conflict between Maoist insurgents and government security forces that lasted from 1996 to 2006. Victims’ groups do not regard the transitional justice commissions as politically independent.

5. The 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement included a commitment to reveal what happened to victims of enforced disappearance within 60 days, and to establish “a High-level Truth and Reconciliation Commission … to probe into those involved in serious violation of human rights and crimes against humanity.” For almost two decades these commitments have been thwarted by politicians’ efforts to protect alleged perpetrators. Two transitional justice commissions – the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappearances (CIEDP) – were first formed in 2015 and received over 60,000 complaints, but have failed to complete any investigations. A 2015 Supreme Court ruling struck down the enabling legislation because it allowed amnesties for serious crimes. In August 2024, Nepal’s parliament passed amendments to the law that victims’ groups broadly accepted as a viable basis to revive the commissions, although concerns about some provisions remained.[4] However, in May 2025 the appointments of new commissioners to the TRC and CIEDP were widely opposed by victims who said that the commissioners lacked credentials and independence and were chosen for their political affiliation.[5]

6. Nepal should:

• Enable a credible and victim-centric transitional justice process, which upholds international legal standards, including through effective accountability processes and reparations.
• After taking steps to secure the confidence and support of victims for the transitional justice process, the government should allow it to proceed without political interference.

The Right to Social Security

7. The government first introduced the Child Grant in five districts in 2009, with the intention to expand it into a universal social security program in all districts for all children. It is currently only available to children aged under 5 in 25 out of 77 districts, and Dalit children under 5 nationally.[6] In 2022, the Child Grant covered only about 45 percent of children under 5 and just 9.5 percent of all Nepali children. Eligible families currently receive a monthly payment of NRs. 532 (US$3.85) each for up to two children. Nevertheless, studies by the United Nations and academics have found that the Child Grant has already increased birth registration rates and enabled families to buy food, clothes, and afford other essential expenses. It also lowered the likelihood of child labor for the recipients and their siblings.

8. Nepal should:

• Progressively extend the successful Child Grant program until it includes all children and provides an adequate monthly payment.

Lack of Commitment to International Norms, Failure to Co-operate with Special Procedures

9. A 2017 amendment to Nepal’s penal code (in effect since August 2018) made torture a crime in domestic law.[7] Yet there has been no successful prosecution for torture to date, although there have been numerous well documented allegations of torture in police custody. A six-month statute of limitation on filing complaints is a major obstacle to justice. The government has failed to comply with a January 2020 Supreme Court order to establish an independent mechanism to investigate allegations of torture by security forces.

10. In 2021, Nepal accepted recommendations to consider extending a standing invitation to special procedures[8], but it has not extended an invitation.

11. In 2018, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women recommended that Nepal endorse the Safe Schools Declaration, which aligns with the 2011 decision of Nepal’s council of ministers declaring all schools “zones of peace.” However, Nepal has not done so.

12. Nepal should:  

• Enforce the law criminalizing torture, including by establishing an independent authority to investigate torture allegations.
• Ratify international human rights instruments including, but not limited to, the Optional Protocol of the Convention Against Torture, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the Rome Statute.
• Endorse the Safe Schools Declaration.
• Extend a standing invitation to special procedures mechanisms.

Freedom of Expression

13. In 2021 Nepal accepted numerous recommendations to protect freedom of expression.[9] However, Nepal merely noted recommendations to “[r]eform the Electronic Transactions Act to eliminate the criminalization of speech,” and to abolish the offence of criminal defamation.[10] The Electronic Transactions Act, a law purportedly to prevent online fraud, continues to be used to arrest and prosecute journalists and members of the public for legitimate online expression.[11]

14. A proposed new law, the Social Media Bill, would create vague new criminal offences related to online expression, punishable with jail terms of up to five years and fines up to NRs1.5 million (US$10,800).[12]

15. Nepal should

• Stop abusing the Electronic Transactions Act to restrict freedom of expression, and amend the law so it can no longer be abused for that purpose.
• Withdraw or amend the Social Media Bill, and ensure that any new legislation upholds international legal standards on freedom of expression.
• Repeal laws that make defamation or libel a criminal instead of a civil matter.
• Empower the NHRC in full accordance with the Paris Principles. Ensure that future appointments of commissioners uphold the body’s political independence. Any future legislation relating to the NHRC should safeguard and enhance the commission’s independence, resources and authority.
• Implement the recommendations of the NHRC.

The National Human Rights Commission

16. In its 2015 and 2021 UPRs, Nepal accepted recommendations to strengthen the independence of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).[13] However the government’s actions since then have undermined the commission’s independence, while also ignoring its recommendations.

17. In 2022 the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)’s Sub-Committee on accreditation (SCA) recommended that the NHRC’s status be downgraded from “A” to “B” because controversial appointments of commissioners[14] in 2020 “could adversely impact the actual and perceived institutional independence of the NHRC,” and “information provided by the NHRC does not demonstrate adequate efforts in addressing in a timely manner human rights issues such as discrimination against women, caste, indigenous, LGBTQ and minorities, nor has it spoken out in a manner that promotes and protects all human rights in line with the Paris Principles.”[15] However, the SCA deferred the implementation of the decision and the NHRC ultimately retained its “A” status at subsequent reviews.

18. The government is preparing new legislation relating to the NHRC which is not yet publicly available.

19. Recommendations by the NHRC – especially to prosecute alleged perpetrators – are routinely ignored. In October 2020, the NHRC published 20 years of data, naming 286 people, mostly police officials, military personnel, and former Maoist insurgents, as suspects in serious crimes.[16] It said that the government had mostly failed to act against suspects, despite being informed of the commission’s findings. In 2025 the media reported that the NHRC had made 444 recommendations over the previous 4 years, and the government had implemented none of them in full.[17] Frequently the government pays compensation to the victims of rights violations but fails to take action against perpetrators.

20. Nepal should:

• Empower the NHRC in full accordance with the Paris Principles. Ensure that future appointments of commissioners uphold the body’s political independence. Any future legislation relating to the NHRC should safeguard and enhance the commission’s independence, resources and authority.
• Implement the recommendations of the NHRC.

Migrant Workers

21. In 2021 Nepal accepted several recommendations to uphold the rights of migrant workers, millions of whom have left Nepal for employment abroad.[18] Migrant workers often take out informal loans at exorbitant interest rates to pay recruitment fees, and experience abuses by foreign employers and domestic recruitment agents including wage theft, contract violations, and death and chronic illness linked to unsafe working conditions.[19] Thousands of Nepali workers die every year from preventable causes, yet their deaths are neither properly recorded, investigated nor compensated.

22. In December 2022, Nepal adopted guidelines to expand its contribution-based Social Security Fund to include migrant workers. Nepal has also entered into bilateral agreements with destination countries intended to provide better protection for workers. However, abuses remain prevalent.

23. Nepal imposes deployment bans on domestic work, which disproportionately affect women. Although these rules are intended to protect Nepali women, they discriminate on the basis of sex and gender and place an unreasonable restriction on their rights to travel and work. In effect this provision also makes women more vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation and abuse because they are forced to use irregular channels when seeking employment abroad. 

24. Nepal should:

• Take concrete steps to ensure migrant workers are not charged exorbitant recruitment fees, including strengthening monitoring of recruitment agencies, empowering migrant workers with accurate information and accessible grievance mechanisms, and advancing labor agreements for host countries to ensure that hiring companies cover all costs and fees associated with recruitment.
• End discriminatory provisions affecting women’s employment abroad such as deployment bans on domestic workers, and instead strengthen measures for their protection by prioritizing safe labor migration through bilateral agreements, ensuring strong support from Nepali embassies in destination countries for workers in distress, and implementing effective training and awareness programs.
• Accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and ratify the International Labour Organization Domestic Workers Convention.
• Prioritize the health of migrant workers overseas, including by adopting thorough pre-departure medical screenings and training programs. Make agreements with host country authorities to promote stronger health protection policies such as risk-based heat protection measures, improved access to healthcare, and life insurance coverage. Collaborate with host country authorities to ensure that the prevention of migrant deaths is a top priority, and when such incidents do occur, ensure all deaths are properly investigated, recorded and their families adequately compensated.

The Rights of Women and Girls

25. In 2021, Nepal accepted numerous recommendations to address sexual and gender-based violence.[20] Since then, there has been an increase in reports of rape and sexual violence.[21] Rates of reporting may have increased, but large numbers of assaults are still believed to go unreported. The statute of limitations for rape cases was extended in 2022 to two years (or three years when the victim is a minor), but even these time limitations remain a barrier to justice and foster impunity for rape.[22]

26. In 2021 Nepal supported four recommendations on ensuring the equal right of men and women to confer citizenship on children and spouses.[23] These recommendations were designed to address constitutional provisions that impose discriminatory restrictions on children’s citizenship if their father is absent or not Nepali. The 2023 Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill (2023) brought about some changes but retained significant discriminatory aspects. Millions of Nepalis are estimated to lack citizenship documents because they cannot prove that their father is Nepali.[24] Nepali women also face limitations on passing citizenship to a foreign spouse that do not apply to Nepali men married to foreigners.

27. In 2021 Nepal accepted five recommendations on ending child marriage.[25] Although illegal under domestic law, child marriage remains widespread. 

28. Although abortion is widely available in Nepal, it is not free from legal barriers.[26] Ending a pregnancy after 28 weeks of gestation is illegal even when necessary to save the woman’s life, and legal abortion is limited to 12 weeks in other cases. In 2021 Nepal supported a recommendation to decriminalize abortion but has not reformed the law.[27]

29. In 2021 Nepal supported a recommendation to provide the National Women’s Commission with a complaint mechanism and the authority to issue binding rulings.”[28] However the commission still has only advisory powers.

30. Nepal should:

• Abolish the statute of limitations for rape and improve police performance in cases involving gender-based violence, including through training, and disciplinary action against officers who decline to pursue criminal investigations.
• Adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes a definition and prohibition of discrimination against women and guarantees effective remedies for victims.
• Amend or repeal all discriminatory constitutional provisions to guarantee that children or spouses of Nepali women may acquire Nepali nationality under the same conditions as children or spouses of Nepali men.
• Decriminalize abortion.
• Move forward in fully implementing a national action plan to end child marriage, with the goal of ending all child marriage by 2030 as per the SDGs.
• Empower the Women’s Commission to make binding rulings.
• Ratify ILO Convention 190 against violence and harassment in the workplace.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Sex Characteristics

31. Nepal has a record of relatively progressive legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people, including landmark Supreme Court rulings legalizing same-sex marriage[29] and upholding the right of a transgender woman to change her gender on official documents.[30] However, these rulings are not consistently implemented by officials.  

32. Nepal should:

• Consistently implement court rulings to recognize same-sex relationships.
• Allow transgender and intersex people to change their name and gender on official documents based on self-identification and not any medical or other intervention.
• Adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes protections against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Caste Discrimination and Minority Rights

33. In 2021 Nepal supported recommendations to address caste and ethnic discrimination, including by effectively implementing the 2011 Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability (Offence and Punishment) Act.[31] However, marginalized caste and ethnic groups remain more vulnerable than others to abuses including rape, murder, excessive use of force by police, and torture in police custody. Despite its prevalence, caste discrimination is rarely prosecuted under the 2011 law.

34. The 2015 Constitution created the National Dalit Commission, National Inclusion Commission, Madhesi Commission, Tharu Commission, Muslim Commission and Indigenous Nationalities Commission to uphold the rights of marginalized groups, but they either no have commissioners or less than a full set of commissioners. All have weak mandates.

35. Nepal should:

• Ensure that all criminal complaints of caste or race-based discrimination are formally recorded by law enforcement, and that officials who fail to do so are sanctioned.
• Empower the commissions representing marginalized groups and appoint commissioners.
• Ensure that official data captures correlations between caste and ethnicity and inequality.

Meaningfully implement and strengthen policies to improve the inclusion of marginalized groups in the public sector.

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