Kathmandu, April 30
A new report by Amnesty International reveals Nepal’s persistent human rights challenges throughout 2023, including excessive use of force by security forces, suppression of free expression, and systemic discrimination.
According to the report, the government suppressed criticism by restricting protests, using unlawful force, and forcibly dispersing and detaining demonstrators.
The report cites an incident in which police arrested and detained three individuals for four days for chanting anti-government slogans during a Hindu festival in Kathmandu.
It further states that journalists, activists, and online critics faced intensified restrictions on freedom of expression. Between January and December, the Freedom Forum recorded 57 incidents involving threats, arrests, and mistreatment by local authorities and political party members, including gender-based violence against female journalists.
The report covers various aspects of human rights, including freedom of assembly and expression, press freedom, impunity, LGBTI rights, violence against women and girls, discrimination, forced evictions, migrants’ rights, detainees’ rights, and the right to a healthy environment.
Although three same-sex marriages were officially registered in 2024, the report notes that registration did not confer full marital rights.
Regarding violence against women and girls, the report states that despite legal prohibitions against child marriage, child labour, and chhaupadi (the banishment of menstruating women and girls to huts), such harmful practices and gender-based violence continued.
“Between July 2023 and June 2024, police recorded over 16,000 domestic violence cases. Many incidents remained under-reported due to stigma and systemic barriers,” the report states.
Caste-based discrimination, including untouchability, also persisted. Despite existing legal frameworks, widespread impunity for caste-based violence hindered access to justice—especially for Dalits, and more specifically, Dalit women and girls.
In terms of housing rights, the report notes that hundreds of families living in informal settlements remained at risk of forced eviction by local authorities. Although the dissolved National Land Commission was reinstated in October by the new government, no significant action was taken before the end of the year to allocate land and housing to the landless, Dalits, and those in informal settlements.
Nepal also faced significant environmental challenges. Torrential rains during the monsoon season in June and September caused flash floods and landslides, killing more than 300 people in Kathmandu and surrounding districts.
“According to the World Weather Attribution initiative, this flooding was linked to urbanization and climate change,” the report concludes.
