Saving National Human Rights Commission

The decision to downgrade the NHRC’s status raises questions over our commitment to human rights.

The Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) is set to execute its decision to downgrade the status of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal, in August 2023. The nature of the NHRC’s inception and evolution differs from other existing National Human Rights Institutions. The government formulated the NHRC as a statutory body under the Human Rights Commission Act 1997, with the UN General Assembly Resolution 1992/54 as its reference. This commitment to the Paris Principles allowed the Commission to obtain its “A” status, even when it operated under the monarchy’s rule in Nepal. The Commission ascended to a constitutional body in the Interim Constitution of Nepal in 2007, and later in the 2015 Constitution.