Background

In April, the fourth elections for the National Council, the upper house of the bicameral parliament, were held with a voter turnout of 54.64%. Twenty candidates were elected by voters as representatives of the 20 Dzongkhags (districts). Bhutan and China held their 25th round of boundary delineation talks in October. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), led by former prime minister Tshering Tobgay, and the newly formed Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) emerged as the two largest parties in the primary round of the fourth National Assembly elections held in November. The Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa party led by incumbent prime minister Lotay Tshering failed in the first round.

Freedom of expression

Civil servants remained barred from sharing information relevant to public interest with the media under Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations 2018 and Section 39 of Bhutan’s 2010 Civil Service Act. Bhutan’s press freedom ranking dropped from 33rd to 90th, according to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index. Journalists experienced challenges in obtaining access to state-held information.

Detainees’ rights

At least 37 prisoners who were convicted in the 1990s for “offences against the Tsa-Wa-Sum (king, country and people)”, as defined by Bhutanese law, and who were subjected to torture at the time of arrest and trial and denied access to defence lawyers, remained in detention in poor conditions. They received inadequate food, heating and bedding and were denied regular communications or visits from their families.

Women’s and girls’ rights

Despite commitments in the National Plan of Action to Promote Gender Equality in Elected Offices, only nine women were registered as candidates in the National Council elections; one woman was elected in April. At the end of the year, fewer than 10% of registered candidates for the National Assembly elections in December 2023/January 2024 were women: three each from the PDP and the BTP.

In October, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns about failures to address negative gender stereotyping and the lack of women’s political participation.

The CEDAW Committee also recommended measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against ethnic minority women.

Economic, social and cultural rights

Bhutan does not have a comprehensive social protection policy and many people, such as those with disabilities and LGBTI people, faced challenges in accessing social protection programmes.

In June, the National Assembly adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with four reservations. Bhutan is the only country in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation that has not ratified the Convention.

The CEDAW Committee expressed concern over the reduction in the female labour force from 61.2% in 2019 to 53.5% in 2022 and recommended that measures to increase women’s access to employment be introduced.

Youth unemployment increased from 5.5% in 2004 to 15.7% in 2019 and remained a challenge. A pattern continued of youth migrating from rural to urban settings and seeking employment overseas due to lack of opportunities in Bhutan.