Nepal ‘committed to protecting human rights’

Nepal is fully committed to protect and promote human rights as well as address the issue of transitional justice, foreign secretary Shanker Das Bairagi has said at a session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. This is Nepal’s first participation in a UNHRC session as a member. Nepal has recently extended the term and mandate of two transitional justice bodies to probe and find out the truth of abuse of human rights cases during the decade-long civil war.Addressing the high level segment of the session, Bairagi said the constitution of Nepal consolidates inclusive democratic polity, pluralism, the rule of law, representative and accountable government, social and economic justice, and universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms, the foreign ministry said in a statement in Kathmandu. He reiterated Nepal’s commitment to fully address the issue of transitional justice. “Nepal represents a unique case study of a successful peace process from an armed conflict into a democratic political transformation. At the heart this lies the aspiration and strong national commitment to ensure equal rights to all of our people,” the foreign secretary said. He added that with successful conclusion of the elections to local level, provincial assemblies and federal parliament and formation of government in each tier of federal structure, Nepal’s constitution has come into full implementation. “The elections have brought a transformative effect in the empowerment of women, indigenous people, Dalits, Madheshis, persons with disabilities and they are now at the forefront of political and development process,” he said. Stating that the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism has successfully evolved to become a hallmark of positive international co-operation in the realm of human rights, Bairagi said Nepal remains constructively engaged with the UN Human Rights mechanisms. He also mentioned the recommendations received during Nepal’s second cycle of review under the UPR two years ago are now being implemented in earnest.