Nepal signed up to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1991. By doing so, it accepted the obligations set out in the treaty to respect and protect people’s human rights and to provide a remedy if and when these rights are violated.
When Nepal does not provide an appropriate response to the crimes listed in the ICCPR, it has agreed that individuals can take their case directly to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC). The HRC is a group of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the ICCPR, and it can determine whether rights have been violated by States and what the State should do to make amends.
Find out more about the HRC and its procedures
So far, the Human Rights Committee has issued 27 decisions (also called “Views”) relating to cases of gross human rights violations. In each of them, it found that Nepal is responsible for extremely serious violations of the ICCPR.
In each case, the Human Rights Committee has reminded Nepal that international law requires it to provide the victims and their families with an effective remedy, including investigations into the facts, prosecutions of those responsible, compensation, rehabilitation, and other forms of reparation, including satisfaction for the victims, such as apologies or memorials. In a number of cases it has also recommended that specific pieces of legislation are amended or introduced. However, apart from the provision of very small amounts of money to some of the victims under a general “interim relief” policy, almost nothing has been done.
Find out more about implementation status
The NGOs collaborating to the Real Rights Now portal call for the government of Nepal to fully implement the Views of the Human Rights Committee – by providing the recommended remedies and reparation – without any further delay.