AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

protests which resulted in the killing of 27
men, four women and six children, and other
incidents, was established but made little
progress.
MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS
The recruitment industry continued to be
poorly regulated and allowed for the
widespread abuse of migrants’ rights.
Subjected to extortionate recruitment fees,
Nepalese working abroad were exposed to
debt bondage, labour trafficking and forced
labour. The abuse of migrants in destination
countries was facilitated by, on the one hand,
restrictive labour migration laws and, on the
other hand, poorly implemented laws. There
were few investigations into or prosecutions
of local agents and private agencies for
such abuses.
Labour migration law and policy were
ineffective, and there was little improvement
in protection mechanisms for migrant
workers. The government’s no-fee
recruitment system largely failed because it
was inadequately implemented or monitored.
As a result of age restrictions placed on
women migrant workers, women frequently
turned to informal channels to undertake
foreign employment which left them
susceptible to human trafficking.
TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT
Torture in police custody continued,
particularly during pre-trial detention to
extract confessions and intimidate people.
In September, the Torture and Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (Control)
Bill was tabled before Parliament but had not
been adopted by the end of the year. It
contained provisions that did not meet
international human rights standards, such
as an overly narrow definition of torture and a
90-day time limit for registering complaints.
In February, Kumar Lama, a Nepal Army
Colonel, was tried by a UK court under the
universal jurisdiction principle on two charges
of torture committed in Nepal. He was
acquitted of one charge in July and released
in September after the prosecuting
authorities decided not to proceed to a retrial
on the second charge, as the jury had been
unable to reach a verdict.
IMPUNITY
In May, the ruling Communist Party of Nepal
Unified Marxist Leninist and the Communist
Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) agreed an
amnesty for perpetrators of human rights
abuses during the conflict. In July, the
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)
and the Nepali Congress agreed to form a
coalition government with an understanding
that the Commission on Truth and
Reconciliation (TRC) and the Commission on
Investigation of Enforced Disappeared
Persons (CIEDP) would focus on
reconciliation and compensation, and not
prioritize criminal prosecutions for past
human rights violations.
The 2014 Truth and Reconciliation
Commission Act retained language which
allowed amnesties for serious crimes under
international law, despite the Supreme
Court’s ruling against these provisions in
2015. The government did not amend the
law. The TRC and the CIEDP began
registering complaints in mid-April, 14
months after their establishment. Officials of
both commissions raised concerns about
government delays and non-co-operation,
lack of resources and unrealistically short
deadlines for filing cases.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
In April, the office of Prime Minister Oli
summoned commissioners of the National
Human Rights Commission for questioning
about a statement they made while Nepal
was being examined under the UN Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) process.
In May, Kanak Dixit, a journalist and
activist, was arrested by the Commission for
the Investigation of Abuse of Authority on
corruption charges. Ten days after his arrest,
the Supreme Court ruled that his detention
was illegal and ordered his release. Kanak
Dixit said his arrest was an attempt to silence
his critical views. In the same month,
Canadian national residing in Nepal, Robert
Penner, was arrested and deported for
270 Amnesty International Report 2016/17