Legal prohibition on cow-slaughter in Nepal infringes indigenous peoples’ rights, UN experts told

Two Nepali non-governmental organizations have submitted an urgent communication to UN rights experts informing that legal prohibition on cow-slaughter in Nepal infringes indigenous peoples’ right to freedom of religion and cultural rights and threatens the secularity of the Nepali state.

Lawyers' Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples and National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination sent in the joint communication on Friday to four UN Special Rapporteurs on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression the Field of Cultural Rights, and the Freedom of Religion or Belief.

“The communication is submitted to raise the issue of the continued prosecution of indigenous peoples under Nepal’s law against cow-slaughter—a law deeply rooted and wholly justified by Hindu (and therefore non-secular principles) and one which historically has been used to carry out the State’s forced cultural assimilation of indigenous peoples and to forge a homogenous identity for Nepali citizens,” the NGOs write.

गौबधमा कानुनी प्रतिबन्धको व्यवस्था नेपालको संविधानमा प्रत्याभूत धर्म निरपेक्षता विपरित भएको भन्दै सो व्यवस्था खारेजीको माग गर्दै हालिएको रिट सर्वोच्चद्वारा खारेज

Click here to read the Supreme Court order

Cases of persecution of indigenous peoples in Nepal under law against cow-slaughter reported in 2012/13

Indigenous peoples in Nepal continue to be persecuted under its law against cow-slaughter—a law deeply rooted and wholly justified by Hindu (and therefore non-secular principles) and one which historically has been used to carry out the State’s forced cultural assimilation of indigenous peoples and to forge a homogenous identity for Nepali citizens.

The act violates namely article 8 of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that states that “indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.” Further, under Article 1 of UNDRIP and Article 3 of International Labour Organisation Convention No. 169 (ILO C. 169), indigenous peoples are due the full measure of human rights and fundamental rights promised to all peoples under international human rights law—including the rights to freedom of religion, equality before the law and minority rights to cultural expression as protected respectively in Articles 18, 26 and 27 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).