Concerns on proposed legislation in Nepal

CSW is concerned by Clauses 154-156 of a bill entitled ‘Bill designed to amend and integrate prevalent laws relating to Criminal Offense’ currently being reviewed by the Nepali parliament. The bill was registered in parliament on 15 October 2014 by Narahari Acharya, former Minister of Law, Justice, Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs of Nepal. Citizens of Nepal were invited to submit their comments on the bill by 14 April 2016.

Certain clauses in Section 9, entitled ‘Offense related to Religion’, are not in keeping with Article 18 or Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Nepal is a signatory.

Clause 154 states that:

1. Nobody should hurt the religious sentiment of any caste, ethnic community or class by writing, through voice/talk or by a shape or symbol or in any other such manner.

2. Anyone committing the offense as per sub-clause (1) shall face up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of up to twenty thousand rupees.

The wording of this clause is similar to the blasphemy laws in Pakistan (Section 295, PPC), which make it a criminal offence to insult another’s religion. These laws are poorly defined and widely misused to settle personal scores, to target religious minorities or to further extremist agendas. Decades of misuse of the blasphemy laws have resulted in a situation where even voicing disagreement with these laws can lead to violence.

Clause 156 bans religious conversion by stating:

1. Nobody should convert the religion of other person or indulge in such act or encourage such an act.

2. Nobody should indulge in any act or conduct so as to undermine the religion, faith or belief that any caste, ethnic group or community has been observing since sanatan [eternal] times or to jeopardize it with or without any incitement to convert to any other religion, or preach such religion or faith with any such intention.

3. Anyone committing the offense as per sub-clause (1) and (2) shall face up to five years of imprisonment and fine of up to fifty thousand rupees.

4. If a foreigner is found to have committed the crime as per sub-clause (1) and (2), he/she will have to be sent out of Nepal within seven days of completion of the sentence as per this clause.

These provisions restricting religious conversion could be invoked against a wide range of legitimate expressions of religious faith, including the charitable activities of religious groups, or peacefully sharing or talking about one’s faith, which may be portrayed as attempts to forcefully convert others.

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