‘Protecting human rights a challenge’

Kathmandu, December 8

Chair of the National Human Rights Commission Anup Raj Sharma today said there were many challenges to protect and promote human rights in the country. He said this after submitting the rights body’s annual report to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Sharma said the bill brought by the government to amend the NHRC Act was aimed at curtailing the independence and autonomy of the rights body. He said there were ambiguities in the powers between the NHRC and other constitutional commissions. Sharma said the conflict victims had not been able to get justice even 13 years after the end of conflict.

Sharma said people were still deprived of enjoying their constitutional rights as problems of child marriage, violence against women continued unabated in the country and people lacked access to justice and health services. Sharma said the government was not paying attention to the concerns of deprived communities, indigenous nationality, differently abled, Dalit, women, senior citizens and sexual minorities.

Stating that impunity was still a challenge, Sharma said the NHRC was not getting cooperation from the government and its recommendations were not being implemented by the government.

According to the annual report, NHRC received 232 complaints this year and it carried out its investigation in 600 complaints including those lodged in previous years. The rights body decided and issued recommendation in 82 cases besides carrying out 219 human rights protection programmes. It has published 26 reports this year.

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