United Nations expert on minority issues, Prof. Nicholas Levra, has noted that discrimination, difficulty in accessing justice, and impunity against minority communities including Dalits, Muslims, Christians, and Madhesis in Nepal are high.
What you should know
A United Nations study has shown that there is a high rate of impunity for crimes against the Dalit community, including violence related to inter-caste marriages, in Nepal. In addition, discrimination against religious minorities is also on the rise in Nepal and needs to be addressed urgently, UN experts have said.
At a program organized at the United Nations Assembly Hall in Lalitpur on Friday, minority affairs expert Prof. Nicholas Levra revealed the preliminary findings of a 10-day nationwide study conducted in Nepal, pointing out that while Nepal's legal and policy initiatives to protect minorities are good and progressive, there are problems in their implementation. He also said that ending centuries-old discriminatory practices is another major challenge.
Prof. Levra, who has studied discrimination against Nepal's Dalit women, Badi communities, people with disabilities, minority communities such as Madhesi, Muslims, Christians, and ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, is presenting a full report to the UN Human Rights Council in 2026.
'The high rate of impunity for crimes against Dalits is not good for Nepal,' he said. 'According to data received from the Attorney General's Office, 63 percent of cases related to violence against Dalits were acquitted in 2024.'
According to Prof. Levra, in most cases involving minorities, the plaintiffs or witnesses fall prey to social pressure and withdraw their complaints or refuse to give statements in court due to lack of faith in the justice system.
‘To ensure the rights of minorities and empower them, it is necessary to punish those who commit crimes against them,’ he said. ‘It has been found that Dalit women find it difficult to register a complaint of sexual violence at the police office. Dalit desks have been set up in all 253 police stations in Nepal, but most of these desks are limited to name plates.’ He pointed out that since the people working at those desks are not Dalits, it is difficult for people from the Dalit community to access the justice process.
Although there is no hostility between religious groups in Nepal, tensions are on the rise, said Prof. Levra, the UN Special Rapporteur. He believes that tensions are increasing, especially between the Muslim and Hindu communities in Madhesh Province. ‘Such tensions are often triggered by the activities of the Hindu community in India against the Muslim community, however, there has not been a situation of alarming tension in Nepal so far,’ he said, ‘In addition, the anti-conversion provisions in Nepal’s national penal code have sometimes been used to persecute some religious communities, especially the Christian community.’ He said that when people from backward communities embrace religions including Christianity out of frustration due to their socio-economic conditions, it is interpreted as forced conversion.
He mentioned that people from the Dalit community are socio-economically backward and also have a weak position in employment, resources and education as a challenge. In addition, clothes and books are also a financial burden for children from Dalit and minority communities, and some children from this community drop out of school because they do not understand the Nepali language.
‘Many Dalits and people from other communities do not have access to land or real estate, and some landlords in the city and market do not even offer rooms to Dalit students,’ he said.
Women and girls belonging to minorities or Dalit communities, people with disabilities, and members of the third gender community face additional discrimination, as seen in Prof. Levra’s study. ‘Nepal has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention on refugees either,’ he said, ‘especially Tibetans have not been issued refugee cards.’ This has led to extreme discrimination such as children not having birth certificates.’
