Mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Our new research examines the contemporary human rights situation of indigenous peoples (IP) in Nepal. By way of context, Nepal has around 26.5 million IP, comprising at least 35 per cent of the total population. Alternatively known as Adivasi, some organisations claim the actual proportion would be closer to 50 per cent if some presently unrecognised IP groups were included.
The country has a raft of legal duties on equality, ethnicity and human rights set out in the constitution, domestic legal code and UN human rights treaties. Unlike neighbouring India and Bangladesh, the government also recognises indigeneity. In the wake of the Maoist rebellion and end of monarchy, under the new constitution (c. 2015) over 60 IP groups are officially recognised. Further measures have been introduced to support IP, such as the Indigenous Nationalities Commission.
Despite these advances, our new study confirms how indigenous people in today’s Nepal continue to suffer extensive rights violations. We examined civil society submissions to the latest Universal Periodic Review, the five yearly human rights monitoring exercise conducted by the United Nations. Whilst the Government of Nepal’s asserts that, ‘Nepal believes in the universality of human rights and considers all human rights are indivisible, interrelated, interdependent and mutually reinforcing’. Civil society organisations’ submissions to the latest UPR reveal manifold rights violations experienced by IP that can best be understood with reference to Vašák’s classification of different generations of human rights.
First-generation rights are the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to fair trial, equality before the law, and other civil and political rights. Our analysis shows how IP routinely suffer violations, including violence and killings at the hands of authorities, security forces, and forestry officials. CSOs also allude to the suppression of human rights defenders and campaigners. There are also shortcomings in IPs’ access to justice, and they are underrepresented in the judiciary.
Second generation rights address social and economic inequalities and require active state involvement. Our analysis reveals intersectional inequality and discrimination, notably affecting women and disabled IP. Moreover, this study shows IP predominate in informal employment. Through poverty, they have to migrate from their homelands to access temporary, insecure work. They are often subject to trafficking, exploitation and the toxic legacy of bonded labour. They have limited access to social protection, healthcare and education.
Vašák’s third-generation rights have particular relevance to IP. They are solidarity rights and are set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Our analysis reveals IPs’ languages and culture are being undermined by failings in government policy (notably, inadequate resourcing of schooling in local languages) and displacement by major development schemes undertaken without Free, Prior, Informed Consent. Thus, IPs’ land, forests, waters and natural resources are under threat due to the aggressive development projects, such as hydropower generation, and road expansion, as well as declarations of national parks and protected areas on IPs’ land.
Overall, our new study shows widespread, systemic violation of IPs’ human rights. This points to the urgent need for strengthened civil society activism to address this issue. Time is not on the side of the smaller IP communities. Their survival is in question if remedial action is not forthcoming soon.
The full findings can be found in the forthcoming open access paper:
Chaney, P. (2025 forthcoming) Critical Analysis of Civil Society Organisations’ Perspectives on the Contemporary Human Rights Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Nepal, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Sage. https://journals.sagepub.com/home/JAS
This research was funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences and the research team comprises Paul Chaney (Emeritus Professor, WISERD Cardiff), Professor Sarbeswar Sahoo (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi), Dr Reenu Punnoose (Indian Institute of Technology, Palakkad) and Dr Haneefa Muhammed (Independent Researcher, Palakkad).
Image credit: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz via pexels.