The promise unfulfilled: justice for survivors in Nepal
This week, PBI UK welcomes esteemed lawyer and human rights defender Mandira Sharma to London, to discuss transitional justice, sexual violence, and the rule of law. As part of this conversation, Mandira is attending the 2022 International Ministerial Conference on the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, meeting with the UK government and parliamentarians, and speaking to allies to find new avenues for justice in Nepal.
Meet Mandira
Mandira Sharma is a lawyer, activist, and co-founder of Advocacy Forum - Nepal’s leading organisation of human rights lawyers. For over two decades, she has worked tirelessly to promote human rights and the rule of law by monitoring and documenting cases of human rights violations, and challenging injustice at the national and international levels.
Her courage and tenacity in bringing justice to victims of the Nepali civil war saw her awarded the Human Rights Watch's prestigious Human Rights Defender Award in 2006. She recently received her PhD from the University of Essex, for her research into the design of truth and justice mechanisms in the transitional justice process. Alongside her work with Advocacy Forum, Mandira is a Senior International Legal Adviser for South Asia and Myanmar at the International Commission of Jurists.
Above: Mandira describes how Advocacy Forum’s work changed the course of Nepal’s history
Mandira and her colleagues work at significant personal risk. Her efforts to represent victims of abuse, and draw greater attention to the issue of impunity, have led to them being seen as a threat by those they are trying to bring to justice. The Advocacy Forum team have experienced direct and indirect threats, assaults, defamation, and incitement to violence in the media.
Sexual violence in Nepal
Sexual and gender-based violence remains endemic in Nepal, and survivors face significant difficulties accessing justice. Unlike victims of other conflict-related human rights violations (such as extrajudicial executions, disappearances and displacement), survivors of sexual violence and torture received little relief, truth, or justice.
Survivors lack formal recognition, which prevents them from accessing health care, psychosocial support, and other assistance. Survivors also struggle with practical issues - particularly around the transfer or establishment of control, ownership over, and access to land or property; access to education and registration of children; and access to documentation.
In this recent article, Mandira provides a reflection on the Nepalese government’s failure to recognize rape and sexual violence as heinous crimes. She explains that although many people are starting to recognize the violence against women and rape, these problems have been invisible for quite some time. Moreover, an overly restrictive statute of limitations extinguishes survivors’ right to justice, and presents significant challenges to human rights defenders to take on cases of sexual and gender-based violence. In May, protesters took to the streets to demand reform to this law, which requires survivors to file claims within a year of assault, and to call on the Government to act on the mounting case numbers.
Support this work today
PBI UK is able to bring defenders like Mandira, Carlos, Reynaldo, Diana, and Sebastian to the UK only because of the generosity of people like you. This week is the Big Give: where for every £10 you donate, PBI UK receives £20. Help us bring more activists to those who can make a difference, and double your impact, by giving generously today.
