The State of the World's Human Rights; Nepal 2025

Law enforcement authorities used lethal force against protesters. Authorities continued to misuse the law to silence critics. Victims questioned the selection of commissioners investigating conflict-era human rights abuses. Discrimination and violence against women and Dalits persisted.

Background

Following widespread protests, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on 9 September. Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was appointed as head of an interim government. Elections were scheduled for March 2026.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

Law enforcement authorities continued to use lethal and less-lethal force against protesters. In March, authorities used live ammunition in response to pro-monarchy protests in the capital, Kathmandu, killing 29-year-old Sabin Maharjan. According to the police, law enforcement authorities shot and injured another 20 individuals. Protesters set fire to a building, killing a journalist trapped inside.

On 8 September, law enforcement agencies responded to a “Gen-Z” youth-led protest against corruption and a sweeping ban on social media with unlawful use of lethal and less-lethal force, including live ammunition. A total of 76 people died and 2,000 were injured during the protests, which lasted for two days.¹

Freedom of expression

The Social Media Bill, tabled in January, was still pending before the National Assembly at year’s end. The law would allow the government to order social media platforms to remove content and provide user details without judicial warrant, and for users to be fined or imprisoned for posting false or misleading information. In July, authorities blocked access to the messaging app Telegram, citing its use in unlawful activities. In September, a further 26 social media platforms were blocked, triggering protests.

In February, the Supreme Court released the full text of its 2024 decision to uphold section 47 of the Electronic Transaction Act, a provision misused for repressing online expression.² In June, journalist Dil Bhusan Pathak was charged under the provision for his video report on the alleged business dealings of senior political figures.³

Right to truth, justice and reparation

The government failed to deliver truth, justice and reparations to victims of grave human rights violations committed during the 1996-2006 conflict.

In May, the government appointed commissioners to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons. Many victims’ groups boycotted the commissions citing lack of trust and transparency in the selection of commissioners.⁴

In a positive development, in July, the Supreme Court ordered the government to reopen an investigation against former Speaker Agni Sapkota into the murder of Arjun Lama in 2005.

Detainees’ rights

Prison authorities failed to take adequate measures to address overcrowding of prisons and prevent violent clashes between detainees. In August, a clash among detainees at Bardiya prison resulted in 10 injuries and a separate clash between detainees at Kailali Prison resulted in one death and 47 injuries. In July, 13 detainees were injured in a clash at Siraha Prison; in November, a detainee at the same prison was beaten by other detainees.

In December, the National Human Rights Commission reported that it had received 14 complaints under the UN Convention against Torture during the year. The commission made recommendations relating to three complaints, none of which were implemented by the government.

Discrimination

Despite laws against caste-based discrimination, numerous incidents of discrimination and violence were reported against members of the Dalit community, including by authorities and against children. In February, a local priest in Achham district refused to apply tika, a Hindu ritualistic forehead mark, to students and parents of the Dalit community. Also in February, police authorities attempted to break off a consensual inter-caste marriage. The Supreme Court intervened, issuing an order upholding the couple’s right to marry.

In March, authorities in Siraha district demolished the house of Deepak Malik Dom and scraped away the upper layer of soil claiming that the land had been rendered impure for mahayagya, a Hindu ritual.

In October, a group of people demolished the homes of five Dalit families in Siraha district after a local dispute.

Gender-based violence

Coercion of survivors to settle gender-based violence cases informally continued. On 12 February, village leaders in Siraha imposed fines on three men who had allegedly raped a 17-year-old Dalit girl, Rinku Kumari Sada, and forbidden her family from approaching the police. On 13 February, she was found dead in her home. Police arrested eight people on 7 March.

In April, 24-year-old Dalit woman, Ananda Devi Sadaya, apparently died by suicide in Siraha after authorities failed to investigate two men for her attempted rape in 2024.

The illegal practice of banishing menstruating women and girls to huts and sheds continued. While staying in these isolated and remote huts lacking basic infrastructure, in January a 40-year-old woman was injured in a leopard attack and in July a 28-year-old-woman died after being bitten by a snake.

Migrants’ rights

In May, senior government officials were implicated in a human trafficking scheme that took bribes from prospective Nepali migrant workers to clear airport immigration without valid employment visas and other documents required for travelling abroad for work.

Indigenous Peoples’ rights

In January and February, law enforcement authorities in Taplejung district used arbitrary force and firearms in confrontations with members of the Indigenous Limbu People who were objecting to the construction of a cable car that passed through their sacred ancestral land. The confrontations led to several injuries. Despite failure to ensure the Limbu People’s free, prior and informed consent for the project, and despite key project documents not being made public, in May, the Supreme Court allowed construction to proceed.

Right to housing

In December, the Supreme Court overturned the government’s decision to dissolve the Land Issue Resolving Commission and its district committees. The commission was formed in 2024 to verify claims of landless squatters and informal settlers and issue land ownership certificates.

1. Nepal: “We Went There to Raise Our Voice, Not to Be Killed”: Nepal’s Deadly Crackdown on Protesters, 8 December ↩︎
2. “Nepal: Editors’ interaction program on transitional justice and freedom of expression held”, 3 July. ↩︎
3. “Nepal: Arrest warrant against journalist Dil Bhusan Pathak an attack on media freedom”, 13 June. ↩︎
4. “Nepal: Ensure credible transitional justice appointments”, 12 May. ↩︎