Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/nepal.txu

Text File | 1996-01-05 | 13KB | 280 lines

TITLE: NEPAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995



Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution specifies that the State shall not
discriminate against citizens on grounds of religion, race,
sex, caste, or ideology.  However, there is a caste system.
Discrimination against lower castes and women is common,
especially in the rural areas of western Nepal.

     Women

Although the Constitution strengthened provisions regarding
women, including equal pay for equal work, the Government has
not taken effective action to implement this provision.  Women
have benefited from various changes in marriage and inheritance
laws.  In 1994 the Supreme Court struck down as
unconstitutional provisions of the Citizenship Law that
discriminated against foreign spouses of Nepalese women.
However, many laws remain discriminatory.  The law grants women
the right to divorce--but on narrower grounds than those
applicable to men.  The Law on Property Rights also favors men
in a number of ways, including the division of family property,
inheritance, and land tenancy.

Women face discrimination, particularly in rural areas, where
religious and cultural tradition, lack of education, and
ignorance of the law remain severe impediments to their
exercise of basic rights, such as the right to vote or hold
property in their own names.

According to the 1991 census, the literacy rate among females
is 26 percent, compared with 57 percent among males.  Human
rights groups report that girls attend secondary schools at a
rate half that of boys.

Women's rights groups report that wife beating is common.
Little public attention is given to violence against women in
the home and the Government made no special efforts to combat
it.

Trafficking in women is a deeply ingrained social problem in
several of the poorest areas.  Estimates of the number of
Nepalese girls and women working as prostitutes in India range
between 150,000 to 200,000, although prostitution in the
Kathmandu Valley is also a problem.  A children's human rights
group states that 20 percent of the prostitutes are younger
than 16 years old.  Women and girls are usually coerced into
prostitution, but the extent of coercion is difficult to
determine.  Newspapers occasionally report the arrest of those
attempting to abduct young women or dupe them into going to
India.  Economic incentives entice many other women.  In many
cases, parents or relatives sell women and young girls into
sexual slavery.  Among the Badini and Devaki of western Nepal,
religious prostitution is a continuing problem.

The Government prosecutes some cases of coercive trafficking
but takes few measures to stop it.  The spread of the acquired
Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in India's red-light districts
has discouraged the Government from promoting the return and
rehabilitation of Nepalese prostitutes.

Government efforts focus more on preventing voluntary
prostitution than on rehabilitation or prevention of coercive
trafficking.  The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare sponsors
job and skill training programs in several poor districts known
for sending prostitutes to India.  Several NGO's have similar
programs.

There is a growing number of women's advocacy groups, and
nearly all political parties have their own women's groups.
Female Members of Parliament have begun working for the passage
of tougher laws for crimes of sexual assault, but have had
little success so far.

     Children

The Child Act of 1992 provides legal protection for children in
the workplace and in criminal proceedings.  Although it calls
for the establishment of child welfare committees and
orphanages, few such facilities have been established.  The
Labor Act of 1992 prohibits employment of minors under 14 years
of age, but employees widely ignored the law.

Children under the age of 16 work in all sectors of the
economy.  Children's rights groups estimate that up to half of
Nepal's children are engaged in income-generating activities.
At the beginning of 1994, child labor in the carpet industry
was prevalent, but the problem lessened by year's end.
Government officials and carpet manufacturers concerned about
negative publicity moved to eliminate child labor and some
factories are establishing schools to retrain child laborers
(see Section 6.d.).

Prostitution and trafficking in young girls are serious
problems (see Section 5.).

Approximately 80 innocent children under the age of 12 are
incarcerated with their parents because the Government has not
established juvenile homes (see Section l.c.).

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Nepal has over 75 ethnic groups speaking 50 languages.  The
Constitution provides that each community "shall have the right
to preserve and promote its language, script, and culture."  It
further specifies that each community has the right to operate
schools up to the primary level in its mother tongue.

Discrimination against lower castes is especially common in the
rural areas of western Nepal.  Although the public shunning of
"untouchables" has been outlawed, an exception was retained for
traditional practices at Hindu religious sites.  Economic,
social, and educational advancement tend to be a function of
historical patterns, geographical location, and caste.  The
spread of education and higher levels of prosperity, especially
in the Kathmandu valley, are slowly reducing caste distinctions
and increasing opportunities for lower socioeconomic groups.
Although higher and better educated urban-oriented castes
(Brahmin, Chhetri, and certain elements of the Newar community)
continue to dominate in politics and senior administrative and
military positions, the representation of other castes and
ethnic groups is slowly increasing.

The Government has moved slowly in establishing programs for
ethnic minorities and has not enacted any legislation to
safeguard their rights.  Most government officials are Brahmin,
Chhetri, or Newar.  Other groups or castes not in the governing
elite are unable to participate fully in decisions affecting
their lands, cultures, traditions, and the allocation of
natural resources in their territories.

In remote areas, school lessons and national radio
transmissions are often conducted in the local language.
However, in areas with nearby municipalities, education at
primary, secondary, and university levels is conducted almost
exclusively in Nepali.  Human rights groups report that the
languages of the small Kusunda, Dura, and Meche communities are
nearly extinct, and that non-Hindu peoples are losing their
culture.

     People with Disabilities

There are no government programs specifically designed to deal
with the problems faced by disabled persons, nor has
legislation been enacted to mandate accessibility to public
buildings or to employment, education, and other state
services.  Persons who are physically disabled normally rely on
family members to assist them.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution provides for the freedom to establish and join
unions and associations.  It permits restrictions of unions
only in cases of subversion, sedition, or similar conditions.
Following the beginning of the political transformation in
1990, trade unions are still developing their adminstrative
structures to organize workers, bargain collectively, and
conduct worker education programs.  Although trade unions were
initially associated with political parties, they are becoming
increasingly independent.

Union participation in the formal sector is significant, but
this sector employs a very small portion of the labor force.
In 1992 the Parliament passed the Labor Act and the Trade Union
Act and formulated enabling regulations.  However, the laws
have not yet been fully implemented.  The Trade Union Act
establishes the procedures for establishing trade unions,
associations, and federations.  It also protects unions and
officials from lawsuits arising from any actions taken in the
discharge of union duties, including collective bargaining.

The law permits strikes, except by employees in "essential
services" such as water supply, electricity, and
telecommunications.  The Government is empowered to halt a
strike or suspend a union's activities if the union disturbs
the peace or adversely affects the nation's economic
interests.  Under the Labor Act, a legal strike must be
approved by 60 percent of a union's membership in a vote by
secret ballot.  However, several illegal strikes took place in
1994, especially to protest retrenchment in public enterprises
under the Government's administrative reform program.  Most
received little publicity and were ineffective.

Even though implementing legislation is not yet in place, some
unions are moving ahead quickly.  The Nepal Trade Union
Congress, a national federation representing nearly 200,000
members, held its first national convention in February.


The Government does not restrict unions from joining
international labor bodies.  Several trade federations and
union organizations maintain a variety of international
affiliations.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Labor Act provides for collective bargaining.  Although the
organizational structures (e.g., labor courts) to implement the
Act's provisions have not been established, collective
bargaining has been the primary mechanism for setting wages
since April 1990.  An estimated 20 percent of wage earners in
the organized sector are covered by agreements.

Other than the Trade Union Act, there are no legal provisions
prohibiting discrimination against union members or organizers
by employers.  There are no export processing zones.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution prohibits traffic in human beings, slavery,
serfdom, or forced labor in any form.  The Department of Labor
enforces laws against forced labor in the small formal sector
but is unable to enforce the law outside that sector.

Large numbers of women are forced to work against their wills
as prostitutes (see Section 5).  Bonded labor is a continuing
problem, especially in agricultural work.  Bonded laborers are
usually members of lower castes.  Over 25,000 ethnic Tharu
families are estimated to be under the "Kamaiya" or bonded
labor system in the Terai region.  The Government has not yet
enacted legislation or taken other significant steps to address
the problem.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The Constitution stipulates that children shall not be employed
in factories, mines, or similar hazardous places.  The law
establishes a minimum age for employment of minors at 16 in
industry and 14 in agriculture.  Children between the ages of
14 and 16 are limited to a 36-hour workweek.  Despite the law,
child workers are found in all sectors of the economy (see
Section 5).

Up to half of Nepal's children are engaged in income generating
activities, mostly in agriculture.  At the beginning of 1994,
children constituted as much as one-third of the workers in the
export-oriented carpet industry.  This figure dropped to about
5 percent at year's end after negative publicity prompted the
Government and manufacturers to move to eliminate child labor
in carpet factories.  The Government is working with the carpet
industry to establish a certification for carpets made without
child labor.

The Department of Labor's enforcement record is improving.  In
the urban formal sector, it has had some success in enforcing
laws relating to permanency, minimum wage, and holidays.
Government inspectors are also increasing their monitoring of
the abuse of child labor in carpet factories.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Labor Act sets a minimum monthly wage of $23 (1,150 rupees)
in factories and in the organized labor sector.  This wage is
sufficient only for the most minimal standard of living.  Rates
in the unorganized service sector and in agriculture are often
as much as 50 percent lower.  The International Labor
Organization has noted that the Government has undertaken an
effort to ensure that female workers receive equal pay for
equal work.

The Labor Act calls for a 48-hour workweek, with 1 day off per
week, and limits overtime to 20 hours per week.  Health and
safety standards, and other benefits such as a provident fund
and maternity benefits, are also established in the Act.
Implementation of the new Labor Act has been slow, as the
Government has not created the necessary regulatory or
administrative structures to enforce its provisions.  Workers
do not have the right remove themselves from dangerous work
situations.  Although labor officers are authorized to order
employers to rectify unsafe conditions, enforcement of safety
standards has been minimal.