KATHMANDU, AUGUST 13

Lawmakers across party lines have expressed solidarity with the National Human Rights Commission to retain its 'A' grade status in the Global Alliance of Human Rights Institutions.

Legislators, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire, have also expressed commitment to uphold the NHRC's long history after consultations with it.

'It is really heart-wrenching that the NHRC is going to be downgraded,' said Speaker Devraj Ghimire. 'As the speaker of the House, I am with the NHRC on retaining its status and I request all the lawmakers to do the same,' he added.

With NHRC on the brink of losing its position in the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, it has accelerated its activities to retain its status. Similarly, lawmakers have shown their commitment and determination to work sincerely to ensure the positive image of the NHRC.

Chief Whip of the largest party in the Parliament Nepali Congress Ramesh Lekhak said, 'I express my commitment to protect the NHRC from degradation. The NHRC should now work towards making itself robust. We are happy to cooperate, coordinate and implement it.' He further said, 'It's not just about losing our position. It's about losing the reputation in the international arena, not of NHRC alone, but our country as a whole. So, let's keep competent people in the NHRC, amend the acts and make our human rights watchdog institution robust and vibrant.'

Similarly, deputy parliamentary leader of CPN-UML Subas Chandra Nembang said the downgradation should not happen at any cost. 'This is a matter of prestige and honour of the entire Nepali people. If it's degraded, the whole mechanism of the nation will be degraded,' said Nembang, adding, 'Let's not let it happen. Let's rectify our weaknesses immediately through amendment within a certain time frame and make the government do necessary work to retain the status.'

Earlier, after interviews with NHRC and review, the Subcommittee on Accreditation of the GANHRI in October last year recommended degrading the NHRC to 'B' from 'A'. SCA has argued that the major reason for downgradation is the appointment of chief commissioners at the NHRC. It has also raised its concern about the NHRC's capabilities to demonstrate adequate efforts in addressing human rights issues such as discrimination against women, caste, indigenous, LGBTQ and minorities issues in a timely manner. The NHRC has not spoken out in a manner that promotes and protects all human rights in line with the Paris Principles, it said.

The SCA has recommended the NHRC to adopt a process that promotes merit-based selection and pluralism to ensure public confidence in the senior leaders as well as independence of the National Human Rights Institution.

Talking to THT, Joint Secretary at NHRC Navaraj Sapkota said, 'If we lose NHRC's status, it is going to affect the image of the country in the United Nations Organisation as it is directly connected with it. Similarly, we are also going to lose our various privileges such as expressing our views in the United Nations Human Rights Council and voting on any of its decisions.'

'Only countries with 'A' status in GANHRI can enjoy such privileges either in GANHRI or Asia Pacific Alliance. Similarly, we have never been downgraded since NHRC's inception. Therefore, it is very crucial for us to retain the status to protect our identity and enjoy the privileges,' he added.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 14, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.