10 August 2012. Advocacy Forum (AF) and Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) jointly organized a two-day intensive seminar on 8 and 9 August 2012 in Dhulikhel. The seminar was attended by a group of human rights lawyers and activists.
In the seminar titled ‘the Rule of Law and Criminal Justice’, the discussion was focused on a wide-ranging issues including civil liberties, opportunities, income of people and a large number of issues relating to the recent developments in Nepal.
In terms of civil liberties, the participants appreciated the expansion of freedoms in Nepal, especially people’s freedom of expression after the 1990s. Observing the situation in terms of civil opportunities, the participants held that new opportunities may have risen for the small group of people in power and those close to them but that the ordinary people only marginally benefited from such opportunities and also the rich, the powerful and the politically influenced have made gains through the means of income whereas the poor, still, continue to depend on foreign remittance.
The participants observed that while some democratic achievements have been made in the area of development of the basic institutions, there is no attempt at all to bring about comprehensive reforms. The talk of the democratic reforms has not translated into efforts to improve the basic institutional structure of justice in Nepal.
There were lengthy discussions on the situation of the police. The participants concluded that in Nepal there is hardly any discussion focusing on improving the policing system in the country. They believed that human rights abuses like arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and extrajudicial killing form an integral part of its functioning and due to a lack of independent system of investigation into the complaints of abuses by the police, victims are deprived of justice they are entitled to.
Several lawyers also raised concerns over the repeated threats and disrespect from the police while making intervention on behalf of their clients. They opined that much improvement is needed in building a professional relationship that respects the rights of the clients as well as the lawyers. Institutional reforms, including police reforms, have not yet become significant part of discussions and debates in the political discourse. Several participants felt that action is required to trigger public discussions on the issue of such reforms.
