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58th HR Day |
58th International Human Rights Day
(10 December 2006)
Citizens'
Memorandum Submitted to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Honorable Mr Shubhash Chandra Nemwang
Honorable Speaker Mr Subhash Chandra
Nemwang,
Recalling the ratification and commitments
of Nepali State to the international human tights
and humanitarian laws and values and principles of
the human rights.
Reminding people's sovereign mandate
for institutionalisation of democracy, peace and progress
expressed through repeated historic people's movement
and struggles and promises made by the Nepal Government
to guarantee the sovereignty of Nepalese people and
addressing the existing class, caste, ethnicity, geographical,
gender and other social problems by democratic restructuring
of the state and social, economic and cultural transformation
of Nepali society through the constituent assembly.
Recalling the commitments expressed
by the state in various national and international
forums for the eradication of poverty, guarantee of
food sovereignty, gender equity, end of discriminations
and exploitations, protection and fulfilment of rights
and freedoms of dalit, indigenous nationalities, children,
differently able persons and geographically excluded
communities.
Keeping in mind the approval of
this citizens' memorandum by about three dozens of
leading civil society federations, alliances, associations,
organisations and user groups in their meeting on
7 December 2006 by clearly mentioning the people's
agenda to be compulsorily included and addressed in
the upcoming interim constitution, interim parliament,
interim government and new constitution to be drafted
through the constituent assembly elections for a permanent
solution of the social, economic, political and cultural
inequalities on the ground of caste, class, gender,
ethnicity and geography,
We, the representatives of the under
mentioned federations, alliances, associations, organisations
and groups, submit this memorandum to the Speaker
of the House of Representatives (HoR) on behalf of
Nepali citizens. We believe that the Speaker, and
through him the Nepal Government, shall seriously
take the issues mention in the memorandum in the process
and outcome of drafting of interim constitution, forming
interim parliament, interim government and drafting
of a new constitution through constituent assembly
elections.
Our Concerns
- The upcoming interim constitution,
interim parliament and interim government should
be inclusive in all manners. The State should ensure
the proportional representation of all castes, classes,
ethnicity, gender and excluded communities in the
upcoming constituent assembly elections and drafting
of a new constitution.
- The State
should constitutionally guarantee the provisions
for poverty eradication and ensure people's right
to food sovereignty.
- The State
should immediately act on its commitments made through
the Declaration of HoR on 30 May to ensure 33 percent
representation of women in all state apparatus,
and this number should gradually increase to 50
percent. Right to reproductive health and maternity
protection of women should be constitutionally guaranteed.
Provision of receiving citizenship certificate in
the name of mother should be made constitutional.
Compulsory representation of women should be ensured
in the peace building, post conflict reconstruction
and state restructuring process.
- Though the practice of caste
discrimination and untopuchability is declared illegal
and punishable by law, it still claims in existence
in a society. For its behavioural elimination and
make the country a discrimination-free state in
real sense, the State should declare the period
of 2007 to 2017 as Dalit Decade and launch effective
campaign against discrimination and untouchasbility
in the entire period. The state should provision
special rights and periodic reservation for dalits.
A constitutional National Dalit Commission should
be established for the protection, promotion and
fulfilment of dalit rights.
- Respectful representation of
the persons with disability in all sectors of the
state should be provisioned. At least 10 per cent
representation of such persons should be ensured
in the constituent assembly and their representation
should be guaranteed in the restructuring of the
state.
- Proportional
and equitable representation of the ethnic minorities,
dalits and women should be guaranteed while drafting
the interim constitution, forming the interim parliament,
interim government and the constituent assembly.
- New Constitution
to be drafted through the constituent assembly elections
should be the basis of common agreement of all.
It should duly uphold the values and principles
of human rights, inclusion and proportional representation,
and guarantee the economic, social and cultural
rights of the people, proportional representation
of all in state apparatus through restructuring
of the state on the basis of caste, ethnicity and
regional autonomy.
- New Constitution
should adopt the principles of linguistic and dialect
equality. The Constitution should ensure the right
to language and dialect of all social groups as
their human rights. Freedom of language, religion
and culture should be guaranteed and Nepal should
be declared as a secular state in the constitution.
- Education
should be guaranteed as a human right of all citizens.
Free education and compulsory primary education
should be guaranteed in the constitution as the
right of the child and define as State responsibility
to protect, promote and fulfil it.
- Youth
leadership should be ensured and institutionalised
in all state apparatus through democratic process.
- All rights
of the children including their right to development
and protection should be guaranteed. Special measures
should be provisioned to protect the children at
risk and in hazardous conditions. Similarly, the
concept of children as zone of peace should be respected.
- Rights
to access and control over natural resource management,
conservation, protection and utilization should
be ensured to the local people. Right to safe drinking
water and right to health should be guaranteed as
basic rights of the people.
- Rights
of the workers to control the means of productions
and distributions including the land should be guaranteed
constitutionally. A national campaign should be
launched by the State to eliminate the labour exploitation
and forms of slavery and servitude like Haliya,
Kamlari, Charauwa and Balighare systems. Unequal
distribution and ownership of land should be brought
to an end and the land should be redistributed in
a justifiable way by enacting a new legislature.
- All the
working class groups should be guaranteed with the
trade union rights. A special mechanism should be
enacted to ensure the representation and access
of workers in decision-making and implementation
levels, and in the inclusive democratic state governance
system.
- Farmers'
right to control of means of agricultural production
and distribution should be ensured. Their rights
to access and control food should be guaranteed.
- Housing
rights should be recognised as human rights. Housing
rights should be constitutionally guaranteed especially
for the squatters and urban poor.
- Social
security right to the senior citizens should be
guaranteed in the new constitution. The State should
enact institutional provisions for the protection
and empowerment of senior citizens, thus transferring
their skills, knowledge and experiences to the new
generation.
- The professional
rights of all professional groups should be respected.
- All human
rights of all citizens should be constitutionally
protected, promoted and fulfilled.
- The State
should guarantee the social as well as economic
security to the family of martyrs and those injured
in the people's movement.
- The State,
by fully upholding the recommendations of high level
probe commission formed to investigate the incidents
of suppression of people's movement in April 2006,
should immediately bring to justice those who are
found guilty of suppressing the movement, and bring
to an end the state of impunity.
- Respecting
the spirit and aspiration of the people's movement,
the State should recognise the National Human Rights
Commission as a constitutional body and extend all
supports for its independence, autonomy and institutional
development.
- As Nepal
is now entering in the national reconstruction process
through broader peace negotiation, the State, while
reconstructing the basic development infrastructures,
should formulate a National Reconstruction Plan
especially targeting for the badly disrupted areas
by the armed conflict and ensure people's right
to sustainable development.
- The State should guarantee the
people's right to participate in the on-going peace
building process and post conflict reconstruction.
We, on the occasion of 58th International
Human Rights Day (10 December 2006), submit this citizens'
memorandum to the Honourable Speaker of HoR, and through
him to the Nepal Government, with our concerns to
be addressed while drafting the interim constitution,
forming the interim parliament, interim government
and enacting the new constitution through the constituent
assembly elections.
On Behalf
of Citizens' campaign for Democracy and Social Transformation
- All Nepal National Free Student
Union
- All Nepal Peasants' Association
- All Nepal Women Association
- ActionAid Nepal
- Civic Solidarity for Peace
- Dalit NGO Federation
- Defend Human Rights Movement
Nepal
- Democratic Confederations of
Nepalese Trade Unions
- Democratic National Youth Federation
- Employee Federation, Nepal
- Federation of Community Forest
User Groups - Nepal
- Federation of Drinking Water
and Sanitation Users - Nepal
- Feminist Dalit Organization
- General Federation of Nepalese
Trade Unions
- Himalayan Grassroots Women's
Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI)
- Human Rights Alliance
- Inter Religious Council Nepal
- National Federation of Disabled-Nepal
- National Federation of Irrigation
Water Users Association-Nepal
- National Forum for Advocacy,
Nepal
- National Land Rights Concern
Group
- Nepal Federation of Indigenous
Nationalities
- Nepal Forum for Environment Journalists
- Nepal Student Union
- Nepal Student Union (Democratic)
- Nepal Tarun Dal
- Nepal Tarun Dal (Democratic)
- Nepal Trade Union Congress
- NGO Federation of Nepal
- South Asia Alliance for Poverty
Eradication
- Teachers Union, Nepal
- Women Security Pressure Groups
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