children’s right to an identity “including nationality, name and family relations”. 58 Article 2 of
the CRC further obliges Nepal to uphold Convention rights (including the child’s right to acquire
nationality), without discrimination on the basis of the parent’s sex,59 and Article 3 stipulates
that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
76. Denial of the right to nationality and resultant statelessness also undermines various
obligations under the ICCPR. The obligation to ensure the right of every person to leave and
return to their “own country”60 is clearly put at risk in situations where the persons cannot
travel due to a lack of a citizenship certificate. The right to recognition as a person before the
law,61 the right of every child to be registered immediately at birth and to acquire a
nationality,62 the right to take part in public affairs and to vote63 and the right to equality before
the law64 are all violated by Nepal’s institutional citizenship framework, which has led to
children and women being denied citizenship certificates. Further, these provisions must be
understood in the context of Article 2(1) of the ICCPR, which obliges Nepal to:
“respect and ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction
the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.”
77. Nepal has also failed to fulfil its legal obligations under CEDAW, namely to safeguard against
gender-based discrimination and uphold women’s equal nationality rights in national law.65
Gender-based discrimination that denies women equal rights with men to confer nationality
on children and spouses and the right to acquire, change, and retain nationality are in direct
contravention of this obligation. In CEDAW’s concluding observations on the sixth periodic
report of Nepal (October 2018), the Committee made a recommendation that Nepal:
“repeal all remaining constitutional and legal provisions that discriminate against
women and girls, particularly in the areas of nationality, distribution of marital property
upon divorce and access to employment abroad.”66
Recommendations
78. Based on the above analysis, the co-submitting organisations urge reviewing States to make
the following recommendations to Nepal:
I.
In line with obligations under CEDAW, take immediate steps to amend or repeal all
gender-discriminatory provisions in the Constitution and Nepal Citizenship Act and
Rules, grant Nepali women the right to confer citizenship on children and spouses and
to acquire, change, and retain citizenship on an equal basis with men, regardless of
their marital status, and ensure the effective implementation of the law. This involves
as a first step, passing the Amendment Bill to the Nepal Citizenship Act, without diluting
58
CRC, Article 8.
CRC, Article 2.
60 ICCPR, Article 12
61 ICCPR, Article 16.
62 ICCPR, Article 24.
63
ICCPR, Article 25.
64 ICCPR, Article 26.
65 CEDAW, Article 9.
66 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Nepal (23
October 2018), p 3.
59
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