Gay Resolution | Society | wavemag.com.np

Agenda Item 17

I am Sunil Babu Pant from Nepal and I am a gay man. I wish to draw the attention of the Commission, through the Chair, to the situation of people in Nepal who express their non-heterosexual orientation and gender identity.

Nepal does not have the explicit criminalization of homosexuality that many other countries in the south Asian region do. However, Nepal shares the cultural heritage of the region; this has given impunity to law enforcement agencies, including the police and the army, to target and oppress anyone who expresses a different sexuality or gender identity. The government of Nepal has by and large, been a silent spectator to this. Whenever incidents of such violence or torture have been brought to their notice, they have only paid lip service and done nothing substantive to redress the situation.

Let me give two examples to this Commission. On the 6th December 2003, two metas, or men with a feminised manner—namely Mani Jung Lama and Jai Bahadur Lama—were picked up by the armed police, and taken to an isolated location where they were raped by more than ten policemen and beaten. They were then left there, presumed dead. They were found with their hands tied, barely alive.

The Blue Diamond Society, an NGO working for sexuality and gender orientation rights, took them to the hospital. After much insistence, BDS forced the police to institute a case. While they attempted to file the complaint, police responded with statements such as "metas deserve to be raped, so why should a case be filed for such a rape?" The active resistance of the police has ensured that there is still no progress in the investigations. No charges have been brought nor perpetrators arrested –even though they can be easily identified by the victims.

Also recently, two lesbians from the rural area of Hetuda, Mira and Laxmi, were subjected to severe and illegal pressure from their families to get married to men. They were constantly harassed and suffered violence because of their refusal. Ultimately Mira was driven to attempt suicide in order to escape. She was saved by her brother and was taken to the hospital. Thereafter, both escaped and came to Kathmandu, where Blue Diamond Society gave them shelter and support. The families of both, however, conspired with the police and filed false charges against the NGO, of trafficking and also the ridiculous charge of converting their daughters into hijras (or transgender persons). They also threatened to murder the staff of the NGO. The police were informed of such threats but have chosen to take no action.

The two cases I have mentioned are not isolated incidents. They indicate a daily pattern – the silence of the government and the impunity enjoyed by police and army violate the rights to life, personal dignity, bodily integrity, and security of all persons who are non-heterosexual and express their sexuality and gender identity. This affects their economic standing and also impedes their health—as interventions to prevent HIV/AIDS amongst them cannot take place in a positive and safe environment.
The government, the police and the army have often used the civil war with Maoists as an excuse to justify their violations of human rights, but these violations of basic rights of life are never justifiable. I urge the Commission to hold Nepal responsible for its acts of omission and commission against expressions of gender identity and sexual orientation, and to employ its moral pressure, influence and powers of persuasion to summon it back to full respect for basic human rights.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Sunil Pant