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Nepal – Women’s Tribunal Heard from Survivors of Sexual Violence
During Nepal’s Armed Conflict – Recommendations for Policy & Legal Reform
12 December 2014 - A Tribunal hosted by the Nepalese
National Human Rights Commission and convened by Nepalese organisations WOREC,
National Alliance for Women Human Rights Defenders, NagarikAwaj, and Advocacy Forum
on 8 December heard testimony from ten women who survived acts of sexual
violence and intimidation committed during Nepal’s armed conflict. The
proceedings of the Women’s Tribunal on Sexual Violence on Women During Conflict
coincide with deliberations in Nepal on the establishment of a Truth and
Reconciliation process that will shed light on crimes committed during the
ten-year conflict.
The women who testified in the Tribunal,most of whom had
not previously publicly shared their stories for fear of stigmatisation and
discrimination, gave harrowing accounts of rape, torture and subsequent
abandonment by their families and communities.
Findings
TheTribunal, whose jury was comprised of regional and
international human rights experts, made a number of findings and
recommendations. It found that rape and other acts of sexual violence were
committed during the armed conflict that were violations of Nepalese law, as
well as international humanitarian law and human rights law. It also found that
the majority of women did not make formal complaints about the violence they
had experienced because of factors including fear of social stigma and the lack
of an enabling environment for such complaints to be made. It was also found
that where complaints were made no action whatsoever had been taken by the
relevant authorities of the State to hold perpetrators accountable or bring
them to justice.
The Tribunal also found that, in most cases, the
significant physical and psychological trauma experienced by the women was
compounded by their subsequent forced eviction from their marital home,
stigmatisation, and discriminatory treatment by their families and communities.
This left most women in a deeply impoverished state, without access to
necessary medical and psycho-social support services. The Tribunal found that
the sexual violence experienced by the women was enabled by a number of social,
political and cultural factors, including historical and entrenched inequality
in power between men and women in Nepal, as well as discrimination on the basis
of class, caste and ethnicity.
Recommendations
The Tribunal made several critical policy and
institutional recommendations. It requested that the National Human Rights
Commission investigate the cases heard by the Tribunal and urgently address the
entitlement of survivors to justice, redress, compensation and other
reparations. It recommended that the Government of Nepal immediately make
available appropriate support services to the survivors and their families,
including medical, psycho-social, legal and livelihood support, and that the
Nepalese law governing rape and citizenship be reformed to be brought into line
with international standards, including by reforming the statute of limitations
applicable to rape. Finally, it stated that any transitional justice process
established by the Government, including a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC), must have the mandate to investigate and prosecute serious crimes,
including sexual violence, and provide meaningful accountability for human
rights violations committed during the armed conflict. It expressed grave
concern at the possibility that crimes of sexual violence would be subject to
mediation by the TRC, which would be contrary to international human rights
standards.
The proceedings of the Tribunal will be shared with the
Government of Nepal, the UN Human Rights Council, and other regional and
international agencies. A more detailed report of the Tribunal’s proceedings
will be published shortly.
The jury of the Tribunal comprised: Rita Thapa( founder
Tewa and NagarikAwaj, Nepal), TulikaSrivastava (South Asia Women’s Fund),
RoshmiGoswami (Urgent Action Fund, India, and Asia Pacific Women’s Alliance on
Peace and Security (APWAPS)), Tessa Khan (Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development and APWAPS), Kumi Samuel (Development Alternatives with Women for a
New Era – DAWN,Women and Media Collective, Sri Lanka, and APWAPS), and Lesley
Ann Foster (Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre, South Africa). Grace Harbour,
Legal Officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
provided legal advice on the process of the Tribunal.