To Ambassador Dr. Arjun Kumar Karki
Embassy of Nepal
2131 Leroy Place, NW
Washington D.C. 20008
August 17, 2015
Dear Ambassador,
We write as a group of concerned individuals who are scholars, religious leaders, and human rights
advocates to respectfully draw your attention to the issue of religious freedom in Nepal. We appreciate
the grave importance and incredible intricacy involved in drafting a new constitution and the great
progress that has been made thus far. However, we must ask that more consideration be given to a
distressing section of the most recent draft of the constitution, and that the Constituent Assembly weigh
the possible negative implications this section will have for Nepalese society due to its potential to
violate multiple international agreements ratified by the government of Nepal, as well as the intrinsic
human rights of millions of Nepali citizens.
In a recently-released preliminary constitution, Section 31(3) reads:
No one shall behave, act or undertake activities that breach public order or break public
peace/peace in the community; and no one shall attempt to change or convert someone from
one religion to another, or disturb/jeopardize the religion of others, and such acts/activities
shall be punishable by law.1
Yet actual conversion to another religion or no religion is often impossible without the involvement of
others. Therefore, this section nullifies and criminalizes the freedom to share, change, and choose one’s
religion.
Religion is communal by its very nature; therefore a person’s decision to accept a particular religion or
no religion can only take place with the assistance of others from within that religious community. Very
few become Hindu except by being the taught by Hindus. The same is true for other religions.
In short, no religious conversion is possible without several “acts to convert another person from one
religion to another.” Since the proposed draft of the constitution criminalizes these acts, it in effect
makes conversion impossible – and thereby completely denies the freedom of people to choose and
change their religion. Section 31(3) would severely undermine freedom of religion in Nepal; an area that
should be dictated by the voluntary adherence of citizens to the dictates of their conscience, rather than
by the coercive force of law.
Nepal has acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which explicitly
provides for the right “in public or private, to manifest [one’s] religion or belief in worship, observance,
practice and teaching.”2 This has been further interpreted by General Comment 22 of the UN Human
1
Constitution of Nepal 2015, Preliminary Draft, Section 31(3).
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Dec. 16, 1966, S. Treaty Doc. No. 95-20, 6 I.L.M. 368 (1967),
999 U.N.T.S. 171.
2
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Rights Committee as necessarily including the right to “replace one’s current religion or belief with
another or to adopt atheistic views.”3
According to the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council (HRC), “the right to manifest one’s
religion includes carrying out actions to persuade others to believe in a certain religion.”4 The HRC
Rapporteur further noted that “proselytism is itself inherent in religion.” Section 31(3) therefore violates
the ICCPR.
Moreover, given that expressing one’s own religious views could result in another person’s conversion
and so constitute an “act to convert a person from one religion to another,” Section 31(3) also violates
Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).5 Article 18 guarantees the
“right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and to manifest that “religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 19 further ensures the “right to freedom of opinion
and expression” including the right to “impart information and ideas.” In reference to Article 19, the
HRC Rapporteur specifically stated that “[t]he right to freedom of expression as it is protected by
international standards ... constitutes an essential aspect of the right to freedom of religion or belief.” As
such, by criminalizing the act of sharing one’s beliefs, Section 31(3) undermines any true freedom of
speech, conscience and expression in Nepal.
According to Section 9 of the Nepal Treaty Act, 2047 (1990), Nepal is bound to implement the
requirements of international human rights conventions and all laws must be brought into compliance
with ratified treatises. As this act reads:
In case of the provisions of a treaty, to which Nepal or Government of Nepal is a party upon its
ratification accession, acceptance or approval by the Parliament, inconsistent with the
provisions of prevailing laws, the inconsistent provision of the law shall be void for the purpose
of that treaty, and the provisions of the treaty shall be enforceable as good as Nepalese laws.6
The freedom to share, choose, and change one’s religion are among the fundamental rights of man
necessary for a just society and the flourishing of its citizens, and since these freedoms always involve
“acts to convert a person from one religion to another,” the preliminary constitution violates the ICCPR,
the UDHR and numerous other international human rights agreements.
There is also ample evidence to suggest that heavy restrictions imposed upon freedom of religion and
expression encourages social and political instability by empowering radical elements of dominant
religious groups to marginalize and prosecute members of religious minorities. The instability caused by
this marginalization results in a long list of repercussions, from religiously-motivated violence and
negative international press to painful economic implications such as reduced foreign investment and
tourism.
3
Human Rights Committee, General Comment 22, Article 18 (Forty-Eighth Session, 1993), U.N. Doc.
HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 1 at 35 (1994), available at http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/gencomm/hrcom22.htm.
4
Rapporteur’s Digest on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, available
at http://www.ohchr.org/documents/issues/religion/rapporteursdigestfreedomreligionbelief.pdf.
5
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc. A/810 (1948).
6
Nepal Treaty Act, 2047 (1990), Section 9, available at
http://www.lawcommission.gov.np/site/sites/default/files/Documents/nepal-treaty-act.pdf.
2
As one Nepali Christian leader recently communicated to us regarding how the Christian minority
community in Nepal views the constitution as it is currently drafted, “Leave religions alone. Let people
have their choice of what they would like to follow according to their free will.”
We ask that you relay our concern to the government of Nepal and our hope that additional
consideration be given to Section 31(3) of the Constitution with the goal of promoting the freedom and
flourishing of all of Nepal’s citizens.
We would welcome an opportunity to visit with you about this further or to provide any assistance that
might be helpful in the formation of a Constitution that would ensure freedom of religion for all citizens
of Nepal.
Sincerely,
Elijah M. Brown, Ph.D.
Chief of Staff
21st Century Wilberforce Initiative
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