South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) extend warm greetings to all friends who will be commemorating the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” yet today, the fight against violations of human rights remains a daily struggle for millions around the globe. This year with the focus on “human rights defenders who act to end discrimination” this day aims to highlight and promote the achievements of human rights defenders and will intend to inspire a new generation of defenders to speak up and take action.
The rich diversity of cultures and religions seen in the South Asian region should help to strengthen fundamental human rights in all communities. Instead we are faced with armed conflicts which lead to the breakdown of infrastructure and civic institutions, to greater human suffering and increased poverty, which are ultimately the violations of the rights of people. Every year, thousands of people are imprisoned for political reasons, often without charges or trials. Torture and ill‐treatment by law enforcement agencies are common, and have lead to many deaths in custody. Hundreds more are victims of extra‐judicial executions or forced “disappearances”. Gender injustice is seen in all South Asian countries and minorities continue to face serious threats and are frequently excluded from effective and meaningful participation in the economic, political, social and cultural life of their countries.
After a string of news reports on the exploitation and the great hardships of Nepali women domestic workers (housemaids) in the Gulf countries, the government started restricting the movement of Nepali women into the Gulf from early 2009. But implementing such a restriction was always going to be tricky as of every 100 Nepalis who enter the workforce each year, 75 leave for abroad, with women comprising a bigger and bigger share of this figure each passing year. Despite the risks involved, many Nepali women continue to be lured by lucrative Gulf destinations like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The state has long been in a fix. Does it have the right to curtail the voluntary movement of women? (The 2007 Foreign Employment Act forbids gender-based discrimination against women who want to work abroad.) If not, would it not be a better option to better regulate women migration to the Gulf rather than cut it out outright, which, as is proving to be the case, is a near- impossible task? Despite government restrictions, Nepali women continue to go to the Gulf, mostly through Indian backchannels. Although just 23,000 women are registered with the government as working in the Gulf, unofficial estimates put the number at closer to 200,000. It is thus clear that that the number of undocumented women migrant workers (WMWs) has increased tremendously which makes any kind of oversight on them very difficult.
In recent years, Nepal has lost the glory it once enjoyed in the international arena for its endemic corruption and impunity. While the world is marking International Anti-Corruption Day, rising incidences of corruption raise fears that the country will become a failed state.
International graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) has indicated that both the government and the political parties have paid no heed to digging out the causes behind the growing corruption. TI ranked Nepal 146th out of 178 countries, three notches down from last year, in terms of transparency. Just two years ago, Nepal had ranked 121st on the anti-corruption scale. That’s enough to understand how corruption is thriving in Nepal.
Many blame political instability for the abuse of state funds, which is partly true; but there are other structural and cultural reasons. The major reasons behind the growing corruption are the government’s delay in appointing commissioners at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and in electing people’s representatives at the local bodies. The CIAA’s ability has been affected by the fact that, for more than a year, the agency has been without a chief commissioner and other commissioners.
In May this year, the government made a big show when Nepal ratified the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as its Optional Protocol. The government was expected to guarantee disabled Nepali citizens their rights as dictated by the UN after the ratification. A big statement, one could say, given the nature of our government. And stories from the visually-impaired relegate this pompous statement to pure inaction in implementing the Convention.
Nineteen-year-old Manil Maharjan, a plus-two graduate, faces major challenges in getting enrolled in a university as he is partially blind. Manil had access to Braille only up to grade six and was abandoned by his school thereon. “There aren’t enough books with Braille and Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY), and I have suffered because of that,” he says. “My brothers and sisters would read aloud for me to catch up with my studies after grade seven.” School officials did not help him at all; he was made to take written tests on his own without the help of a substitute writer. But despite the indifference, he managed to score well consistently.
The government for the first time has readied a national action plan to ensure women’s participation in every step of the peace process as well as to meet the United Nation Security Council’s (UNSC) resolution on women and peace and security.
The 18-member steering committee headed by Deputy Prime Minster Sujata Koirala has already approved the plan. It will soon be forwarded to the Cabinet for its approval, according to officials.
Once the Cabinet endorses the document, each ministry will devise a five-year implementation plan to ensure meaningful participation of women in the decision-making level and women’s security, among others.
Subjected to gender-based violence, life for Ramita Khanal (name changed) was no better than a nightmare until a few years ago. Heavy doses of violence had such an impact on her that she now tends to abhor all the…
In the current political impasse, which has catalysed the institutionalisation of impunity in the country, human rights defenders (HRDs) and especially women human rights defenders (WHRDs) face grave challenges and thus are vulnerable to multiple forms of violation, some even claiming their lives? Existing protection and security mechanisms for WHRDs are dysfunctional. These mechanisms have to be reviewed in the wake of newer and more unconventional challenges being faced by WHRDs on a daily basis. WHRDs have to undergo risks of a dual nature: they are vulnerable because of the fact that they are women (strong patriarchal norms and values act against them); and second, that they fight not for their rights but for the rights of others. Stigmatisation has crippled the lives of the WHRDs and hence heightened the lack of recognition of the invaluable contributions, roles and responsibilities of these defenders.
From defending the rights of the LGBTIs, indigenous minorities, differently-abled individuals, and Dalits to raising issues of discrimination, lawlessness, and patriarchy, WHRDs are working to the best of their abilities and capacities so that others can live a just and meaningful life free from threats and violence. Because of the fact that they challenge the orthodoxy of society, WHRDs bear the major brunt—murder, domestic violence, kidnapping, threats, and character assassinations among others. We have names like Uma Singh who lost her life in the fight for protecting the rights of others; Monica Jha, the Tarai-based journalist who receives regular threats of murder because of her outstanding contribution to advocating for others’ rights and who is yet resolute, despite the warnings, to making lasting change in society.
Frequent arguments I heard as a child between Saane, our tenant, and his wife still echo in my mind, even after 26 years. I used to ask mom—”Why does Saane, the rickshaw-puller, have to drink and batter his wife…