9 November, 2019
Amnesty International Nepal organised its 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Dharan sub-metropolitan city of Sunsari district on 8 and 9 November. The gathering of Amnesty Nepal’s group representatives from across the country shared a vision of taking actions towards ending the culture of deeply rooted impunity in Nepal by inspiring its members and supporters to “take injustice personally”.
On 7 November, a press meet was organised at Hotel Gajur, the venue of the AGM, and about a dozen local journalists attended the event. Journalists were handed out a press note and given a brief highlight of the AGM including information relating to the guests, issues being discussed at the AGM, among other things.
Opening session 
Honourable Justice Anup Raj Sharma, Chair of the National Human Rights Commission was the chief guest at the opening ceremony on 8 November. In his speech, Sharma focused on the worrying delay in resolving the transitional justice issues. He emphasized the need to adopt a holistic approach to transitional justice which not only sanctions the perpetrators but also guarantees reparations to victims’ and their families. He also highlighted a need for a strong mechanism and a very dedicated and cautious approach so as to safeguard the interests of victims and witnesses, particularly those who have suffered torture and sexual violence including rape.
Chair of the Conflict Victims Common Platform, Bhagiram Chaudhary, central committee member of Conflict Victims National Alliance, Devi Sunwar, Sunsari district court justice Maniram Neupane, Chair of the Constitutional Lawyers’ Forum, Raju Prasad Chapagai, and Amnesty’s International Board member Dr. Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, Amnesty Nepal’s former Chair and activist Charan Prasai were other speakers at the inaugural session. The speakers wished success of the AGM and urged Amnesty Nepal members to come up with critical human rights resolutions and a plan of action to confront the human rights challenges.
The international guest and Amnesty International’s International Board member Dr. Anjhula Mya Singh Bais gave a very inspiring speech at the inaugural session emphasizing how important it is to engage with a wider constituency of people including youths and women to strengthen the cause of solidarity, brotherhood and mutual cooperation to tackle the global human rights challenges occasioned due to phenomena such as climate change, international financial crisis and international terrorism. And that this could happen only with the strong leadership and vision of organisations like Amnesty.
After the opening session, the AGM participants took part in a silent protest march demanding an end to violence against women and regulation of sale of acid. Amnesty International Nepal’s youth members affiliated to Central Campus of Dharan Youth Network performed a street drama based on incident of an acid attack. The performers made a strong appeal to the government and by standers to ensure strict regulation of sale and purchase of acid.
Closed Session
The AGM’s closed session on 9 November started with the AGM Chair Surya Bahadur Adhikari appointing volunteers and tellers, endorsing the AGM agenda proposed by the Board and setting the ground rule of the AGM as well as informing about the quorum. The total presence of the eligible voting members was registered as 72.
Then presentations were made on various reports of the F/Y 075/076 : report on the the human rights activities, report of the board’s activities, financial report, and the Appeal Committee’s report which was followed by questions and answers and then approval by the plenary.
The AGM then went on to deliberate on the proposed amendments to Amnesty Nepal’s statute. A contentious proposition on the amendment was concerning the removal of the existing three term threshold to be elected to the board positions. The participants were divided on this proposal and the Chair and the General Secretary later came up with an alternative proposal which made the threshold limit to four term instead of completely removing it. When put to vote, the proposal did not garner the required 2/3 votes and thus failed. Other amendments to the Statute were however carried forward.
The closed session also approved the operational plan and the budget of the year 2020. Presentation on the current funding challenges as well as on the outcomes of the second Global Assembly were also made. The closed session then adopted two human rights resolutions: 1) resolution on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCRs) and 2) resolution on the Internal Measures to Mitigate Global Warming.
Closing Ceremony
Acting Chief and deputy mayor of Dharan sub-metropolitan city Manju Bhandari (Subedi) was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the AGM on the evening of 9 November. Pradip Pokharel, advisor of the Board congratulated Amnesty Nepal members for having successfully accomplished the AGM and coming out with important decisions and urged all of the membership to continue speaking out for the thousands of victims of conflict to enable them to access truth and justice. Bhandari thanked Amnesty Nepal for organising the AGM in Dharan, and shared her best wishes that Amnesty Nepal would be even more active and visible in its human rights advocacy work particularly raising mass awareness to combat gender based violence and addressing impunity. The 28th AGM was formally closed by Amnesty Nepal Chair Bikram Dhukuchhu by thanking all guests, participants, staff, volunteers, observers and supporters
Online and offline action
During the AGM, the volunteers and staff of Amnesty Nepal also conducted an online campaign demanding accountability from China about the hundreds of thousands of people missing in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. About a hundred signatures were collected. Likewise, they also organised an offline petition signing desk where the AGM participants asked the Social Welfare Minister Tham Maya Thapa to undertake initiatives to reform Nepal’s rape laws by removing the statutory provision of one year to file complaints of rape.
On 10 November, a press meet was organised to inform the local media in Dharan about the outcome of the AGM of Amnesty Nepal. The journalists were also provided Amnesty Nepal’s annual report that contained the audit report with the organisation’s annual income and expenditure details. The director responded to a number of questions of the journalists relating to Nepal’s current human rights issues including the transitional justice, ESCRs and the freedom of expression.