Legislation limiting the rights to freedom of expression and privacy remained pending. Security forces detained individuals for “spreading misinformation” and criticizing the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Protesters were detained and security forces continued to use excessive force to...

PRESS RELEASE Nepal must urgently remove the restrictive statute of limitations on cases of rape and other sexual violence through amendment as it continues to be a barrier for survivors in access to justice, said Amnesty International today while expressing solidarity with the ongoing protests...

Amnesty International presented this oral statement during the UN Human Rights Council’s adoption of the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Nepal on 8 July 2021. The government supported 195 of 233 recommendations made to Nepal by the Council. Amnesty International called on Nepal to...

Nepal is facing a public health crisis since April 2021 as the second wave of Covid-19 in the country wreaks havoc on its fragile health care system. Immediate action is needed from both the government of Nepal and the international community to support the public health sector, which is teetering...

“It’s that time of the month.” “Red October.” “On the blob.” Many people would rather call menstruation anything than what it is. But in parts of the world the stigma around menstruation goes far beyond euphemisms. For some girls, menstruating means being hidden away in cattle sheds or banned from...

To mark International Women’s Day 2019, we spoke to six women human rights defenders, each from a different country in South Asia. We asked them about their struggles, where they derive their strength from, and what challenges they face. AFGHANISTAN: Laila Haidari Laila Haidari is a rights...

It’s awards season in Hollywood, and a year since a #MeToo-dominated Oscars ceremony made sexual harassment a global talking point. Critics will be watching to see what, if anything, has changed in the film industry since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke. But the #MeToo movement has made ripples...

2018 has been a difficult year for human rights in South Asia. Crackdowns on the Right to Freedom of Expression intensified across the region. Enforced disappearances continued to scar communities in Pakistan and Bangladesh; civilian casualties remained at record highs in Afghanistan, civil society...

The new Constitution of Nepal, written in 2015, significantly widened the scope of human rights protections—including through strengthening the guarantee of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR). Nepal is also a state party to many key human rights treaties including the International...

Responding to the death in Bajura district, Nepal, of a woman and her two young sons who had been forced to sleep in an outhouse during her menstruation, a practice known as Chhaupadi, Amnesty International said, the authorities must take urgent action to eradicate this discriminatory, harmful...

Amnesty International is calling on the Qatari authorities to ensure that a draft domestic workers law currently under consideration provides robust legal protections from abuse and enforceable mechanisms for workers to hold abusive employers to account

The UN Human Rights Council adopted the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of Nepal on 16 March 2016 during its 31st session. Amnesty International is concerned by several provisions of Nepal’s new Constitution, adopted on 20 September 2015, which do not adequately protect the rights of women...

We look back at how your campaigning for My Body My Rights has changed women’s lives around the world. Thousands of you joined us in standing up for sexual and reproductive rights through Amnesty’s My Body My Rights campaign. Launched in 2014, the campaign is founded on the principle that we all –...