Shreya Ghimire
Human rights are the rights and freedoms that belong to each and every person by virtue of being human beings. All of us are entitled to these rights and freedoms regardless of our nationality, place of residence, sex, gender, color, caste or any other status.
As one of its Human Rights Education (HRE) efforts, Amnesty International Nepal (AI Nepal) recently released two short videos. These are based on this HRE handbook, prepared and published in August 2020. These videos are accessible on AI Nepal’s official Youtube [Part 1, Part 2], Facebook [Part 1, Part 2] and Instagram [Part 1, Part 2] pages. These videos provide basic information on human rights and the relevant international and national standards on some key human rights issues targeting school and college level students.
The first video makes a clear distinction between the concepts of Absolute rights and Relative Rights. The absolute rights cannot be restricted under any circumstances while relative human rights can be restricted under certain legal bases with a legitimate claim.
The video then briefly touches upon the evolution of the human rights movement: it was only after the atrocities of World War II that the importance of the protection of human rights was realized by the world leaders and many states committed to addressing this at the international level beginning with the adoption in1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR now serves as part of customary international law, and its provisions are binding to all UN member states.
The video gives a brief sketch of the key rights espoused in the UDHR like the right to life, right against torture, freedom of expression and opinion, right to education, right to social security and so on.
The video also highlights another important topic- Who is responsible for protecting our human rights? The video educates its viewers about the role of the state in protecting human rights as well as the role of the civil society to hold the state accountable in situations of human rights violation.
The second part of the two-part video focuses on clarifying and educating the viewers on Amnesty International’s stand on some human rights issues. Amnesty International holds that the death penalty breaches the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. One of the main takeaways from this is that the claims of countries practicing the death penalty that it deters people from committing crimes is wrong and not based on evidences.
Similarly, the video sheds light on Amnesty International’s support and advocacy for the right to safe abortion. It also elucidiates the situation of abortion rights in Nepal.
In too many countries in the world, people from LGBTI groups have to face discrimination on a daily basis as a result of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics. LGBTI groups are often prone to economic and social exclusion. In Nepal, although same-sex relations are not criminalized, same-sex marriage is still not legally recognized.meaning there is still a long way to go in terms of marriage equality.
The video expands on the concept of torture and ill-treatment. Torture is inhumane and can never be justified. Everyone’s safety is threatened when governments allow the use of it. The incident of the Nepal Army being accused of fatally assaulting 24-year-old Raj Kumar Chepang of Rapti Municipality, torturing him inside Chitwan National Park, leading to his death stands as a stark reality. Constitution of Nepal has criminalized torture, but is still prevalent during criminal investigations.
Everyone should be treated fairly regardless of their race, ethnicity, nationality, caste or any other status. These videos attempt to educate the viewers with basic knowledge of human rights and deeper insights to be aware and practice the rights that are granted to us as Human beings. Stating the articles in the constitution that grant and ensure our basic rights, the video also explains the steps taken by Amnesty to protect human rights and hold perpetrators to account.
It is also our duty to be aware of our own and others’ rights and call out for the respect, protection and fulfillment of these rights in order for us all to be able to live a life with justice and dignity. Let’s be aware that non of our rights are protected untill all of our rights are protected and guaranteed!
The Human rights Handbook prepared and published by AI Nepal is accessible on https://amnestynepal.org/publications/