24 September, 2018
Amnesty International Nepal’s 27th Annual General Meeting has elected a new executive Board with Bikram Dhukuchu as the new Chairperson. Suresh Kumar Upadhyaya has been elected as the new Treasurer. The newly elected eleven-member Board includes Bipin Budhathoki, Parbata Acharya, Govinda Wagle, Karna Bahadur Kunwar, Shachita Kuikel, Nikhil Pokhrel, Mahesh Kumar Poudel, Sangita Chapagain, and Samikshya Koirala. The first meeting of the new Board held after the AGM on 24 September appointed Parbata Acharya as the Vice-chairperson, Karna Bahadur Kunwar as the General Secretary and Bipin Budhathoki as the Deputy General Secretary. The Board will be working in the policy development and goal setting of the organisation for a term of two years.
The AGM also elected Sudip Kumar Sharma Bhatta as the coordinator of Amnesty Nepal’s Appeal Committee. Naidoo Kumari Nepali and Jeevan Prasad Phuyal are the two other members elected to the Appeal Committee.
AGM (22-24 September)
Honourable former Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha was the chief guest in the opening of programme. In his speech, former Justice Shrestha expressed concern on the lax functioning of the judiciary due to frequent outside interference. Mayor of Ratnanagar Municipality Narayan Ban, leading human rights activists Charan Prasain, Kapil Shrestha and Kanak Mani Dixit also shared their views at the programme. Former President of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Harihar Birahi and former Chair of Nepal Bar Association Harihar Dahal then deliberated on the developments concerning the shrinking civil and political spaces around the world and in Nepal.
Following the opening ceremony, activists of Amnesty Nepal performed an action demanding freedom of press and justice to journalists who are under threat in different parts of the world. The action demanded immediate release of photo journalist Shahidul Alam of Bangladesh, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo of Myanmar and justice to journalist Gauri Lankesh of India who was murdered a year ago.
The first day of the closed session began with the presentation on global climate change and the challenges on human rights by Chairperson of Nepal Water Conservation Foundation Ngamindra Dahal. This was followed by presentations of the year’s activities and work-plan and budget of 2019 by Director Nirajan Thapaliya, financial report by the outgoing Treasurer Bikram Dhukuchu and report of erstwhile General Secretary Laxmi Niraula. Participants put forth their queries and suggestions during interactive sessions after each presentation. In the evening, youth activists of Rampur Youth Network performed a street drama calling for an end to violence against women at Bakular Chowk, a place sensitive to an incident of gross human rights violation during the conflict. The public action began with participants taking out a rally with banners and placards to Ratnanagar Municipality Office where the drama was performed.
The AGM went to vote for a new executive Board under the purview of Returning Officer Pradip Pokhrel on the second day of the closed session. The vote-count and result declaration took place simultaneously after that. Bringing the gathering to a formal close, a symbolic gesture of handing over of Amnesty Nepal’s board responsibility by the outgoing Chair Rajan Kuikel in the form of handing over a burning candle to new the Chair Bikram Dhukuchu was held.
Then the first meeting of the new Board was held immediately after the AGM.
A social audit of the organisation was undertaken on 25 September by inviting local media groups in Chitwan explaining them about Amnesty Nepal’s programme and financial report of the fiscal year 2074/75.