With the March 5 elections approaching, Amnesty International Nepal has called on all political parties and candidates to place human rights and the rule of law at the centre of their election commitments and governance priorities.

Making a public appeal, the international human rights organisation urged parties and candidates to commit to ending impunity and strengthening the rule of law, including ensuring independent investigations into unlawful killings, unnecessary and excessive use of force, torture and other ill-treatment, and other serious human rights violations.

The organisation also called on political actors to guarantee freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and to repeal or amend restrictive laws used to silence critics, journalists, activists and human rights defenders. It further pressed parties to carry out urgent reforms to ensure truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence for victims of the 1996–2006 armed conflict.

Amnesty urged political leaders to promote equality and non-discrimination, including through effective enforcement of laws prohibiting caste-based discrimination and other forms of exclusion. It also stressed the need to protect and advance the rights of women, girls and LGBTQI people, including by preventing gender-based violence and ensuring meaningful participation in political and public life.

Addressing climate change as a human rights priority is another key demand. The organisation said environmental policies should protect communities from climate-induced disasters and promote sustainable development while upholding the rights to health, housing and an adequate standard of living.

Amnesty further called for safeguarding civic space, saying journalists, human rights defenders, young people, climate activists and civil society organisations must be able to operate freely without harassment or intimidation.

Despite constitutional guarantees and Nepal’s ratification of key international human rights treaties—including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights—human rights protections are often not realised in practice, Amnesty said.

According to the organisation, political interference in independent institutions, lack of accountability and ineffective justice mechanisms continue to undermine the rule of law and deny victims their rights to justice and effective remedy.

The appeal outlines 10 priority areas for political parties: the right to freedom of peaceful assembly; freedoms of expression and association; the right to truth and justice for victims of past violations and access to justice. Likewise, non-discrimination and equality; the rights of women, girls and LGBTQI people; economic, social and cultural rights and climate justice; the rights of migrant workers; freedom from torture and other ill-treatment; and the protection of civic space and human rights defenders are other priorities it has urged the political to adopt.

Amnesty said placing these commitments at the heart of election platforms would be critical to strengthening democratic governance and ensuring that rights guaranteed on paper are meaningfully upheld in practice.