KATHMANDU, JUNE 26
Amnesty International Nepal and Advocacy Forum-Nepal have urged the government to take urgent action to end torture, custodial deaths and impunity, warning that Nepal continues to fail in meeting its constitutional and international human rights obligations.
In a joint statement issued on Friday to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the two organisations expressed concern over the continued reports of torture and ill-treatment in police custody, prisons, child correction homes and other detention facilities.
According to Advocacy Forum-Nepal, 29 custodial deaths and 22 cases of torture have been documented since 2024. The organisations cited the recent deaths of 21-year-old Shabir Baksh in police custody in Surkhet on June 13 and 23-year-old Shree Krishna BK in Sindhuli in April, where allegations of torture have been raised.
The statement also noted that Indigenous and Dalit detainees continue to face disproportionate risks of torture and abuse due to entrenched caste- and ethnicity-based discrimination.
Amnesty International Nepal Director Nirajan Thapaliya said torture remains absolutely prohibited under both Nepal's Constitution and international law, but survivors and victims' families continue to be denied justice while perpetrators rarely face legal consequences.
The organisations also raised concerns over excessive use of force by security personnel during protests, forced evictions and in child correction facilities, citing the killing of five children during unrest at a child reform home in Banke in 2025.
While welcoming the recent conviction of 15 individuals, including seven police personnel, over the 2023 deaths of two inmates at Sankhuwasabha District Prison as a positive step towards accountability, the organisations said isolated convictions are insufficient to address systemic impunity.
The statement further criticised the lack of progress in delivering justice to survivors of torture committed during Nepal's decade-long armed conflict, arguing that existing laws, including the six-month limitation period for filing torture complaints under the National Penal Code, remain inconsistent with international human rights standards.
Amnesty International Nepal and Advocacy Forum-Nepal called on the government to amend the Penal Code and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, remove the statute of limitations on torture offences, ensure independent investigations into all allegations of torture and custodial deaths, fully implement recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission, ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT), and provide victims with truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence.