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Human Rights
International law and rights
Today human rights are no longer a matter only of concern or interest to the state. There is an elaborate international and regional system of rights binding all states, consisting of:
- International norms and treaties such treaties dealing with protection against racial discrimination, the rights of women, and children; regional norms (but not in Asia).
- international and regional committees set up to monitor implementation of these treaties (in most cases these committees, while able to interpret state obligations, have no enforcement powers) – for example the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the UN Human Rights Council which now monitors the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- Humanitarian intervention when the UN or regional organisations intervene to stop extreme forms of oppression by a state of its people, as in the former Yugoslavia or East Timor
- Establishment of international tribunals for punishing serious violations of rights, including the Rome treaty setting up a permanent international criminal court
- And there is the doctrine, known as universal jurisdiction, or the "Pinochet doctrine", that national courts can try and punish nationals of any state for crimes against humanity wherever they might have been committed.
Nepal's International Obligations
Nepal is a party to a number of International Human Rights Treaties. In the table attached you can see which these are, and also how up to date Nepal is in reporting on its human rights performance to the relevant committees. If this Table says Nepal acceded to or has ratified a treaty it is a party and is bound. If it has signed, there is still a need for ratification before Nepal is bound. No action means Nepal has not become a member. The information in this Table is taken from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights website.
There is a page on the website of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which provides links to information about the UN and human rights in Nepal – click here. And the Nepal country office website is here.
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