KATHMANDU: The Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) has raised concern over the apathetic attitude on the part of the government in dealing with the concerns of the stakeholders while dealing with the transitional justice process.
“Even after 14 years of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA), there has been little progress in transitional justice, which has resulted from the lack of commitment to address the issues among political parties and other stakeholders,” its Nepal Human Rights Year Book 2021 has said.
INSEC, a non-government organization working in sectors such as human rights and social justice said that violence against children and women has also continued to increase in the country.
“There have been cases of failure of the state to bring suspects of crime under the judicial process, and that of police denying to register cases; there has also been lack of efforts to seek and arrest suspects who have absconded after committing crimes,” it said.
The annual report further stated that the practice of reconciling cases of violence against women have also continued and there are still tendencies to keep these incidents within the family rather than report them to authorities.
“There is urgent need for effective implementation of human rights action plans, the localization of sustainable development goals, and for ending both impunity and growing criminalization of politics by ensuring the accountability towards the commitment,” it added.
Meanwhile, stating that the lockdown imposed to stem the spread of coronavirus in the country had a direct impact on the lives of the people and disrupted services to all organs of the state, it said that the judiciary was also affected and many human rights issues of citizens remained overshadowed.
“The Supreme Court had made special efforts to ensure that the Courts remained operational to hear writs on habeas corpus and from juvenile correctional institutions, and requests for arrest warrants,” it said.
The Supreme Court, according to the report, issued various directives and rulings on the right to health, the right to food, and the right to enter one’s own country, which were major challenges during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Likewise, the INSEC’s yearbook has also highlighted the State’s insensitivity to transitional justice since 2007.
“This year, the Supreme Court quashed the government’s petition seeking a review on an earlier judgment where the Court had said those guilty of serious human rights violations during the conflict could not be provided amnesty and pardon,” it added.
The report has also raised the issue of the dissolution of the House of Representatives saying, “After Prime Minister KP Oli recommended the dissolution of the House of Representatives on December 20, which was approved by the President at the same day, the Constitutional Bench headed by the Chief Justice began hearing all the petitions challenging the dissolution.”
It has also stated that the ongoing political tussles within the ruling Nepal Communist Party obstructed efficient implementation of several government directives and policies.
“The infighting in the NCP was also a reason for the sudden halt to the budget session of Parliament, which prevented the enactment of various bills that under consideration, including the bills on the Citizenship Act, National Human Rights Commission Act, Media Council Act, and other human rights-related acts,” it said.
The report has also raised dissatisfaction over the work of parliament saying, “The work was not effective owing to different circumstantial factors and tensions within the ruling party.”
The issues raised in the parliament were neither given importance they demanded nor were they addressed, it added.
“Instead, the act avoiding parliamentary scrutiny and issuing ordinance was preferred by the government,” the report said adding that a number of bills that had been under consideration for a long time still remained unresolved.
Likewise, it further stated that there was no discussion in the parliament on the bill related to the National Human Rights Commission and the bill on the Media Council that had triggered widespread protests.
“Issues such as low turnout of MPs in the parliament, the Parliamentary Development Fund, and long-standing obstructions of sessions continued this year as well,” the report said adding that the legitimacy of the directives and decisions made by the parliamentary committees was put into question as concerned bodies of government that neglected the directives.
The report has also raised the issue of the parliamentary activities taking place without a Deputy Speaker throughout the year.
Likewise, the report also said that even in the age of science and technology, women in certain parts of Nepal continued to be abused on the accusation of practicing witchcraft.
“Every year, women are victimized by their families and neighbors of such accusations but not all of the cases are reported,” it said, adding, “The accusation of witchcraft is an act that is punishable by the law and therefore, there is need for strict enforcement to ensure that the practice is rooted from society.”
Likewise, the situation of child marriage in Salyan District is alarming, according to the report. “Yet there was a lack of coordination between federal, provincial, and local government agencies for addressing the problem of child marriage,” it said adding that there were also indications that the different programs for ensuring the law enforcement to reduce the child marriage is not effective and had not been adequate for addressing the problem.
“Further, there had been little change in traditional cultures and social group specific beliefs regarding child marriage. The local governments lacked effective strategies against child marriage,” it said.
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