KATHMANDU, Feb 26: Nepal has reiterated its stance on ending the death penalty globally, considering right to life as a sacred and inviolable as well as a basis for all human rights.
Addressing a high level panel discussion on the question of death penalty in Geneva of Switzerland today on the sidelines of the 40th meeting of the United Nation Human Rights Council, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali shared that the first moratorium on death penalty was made in Nepal in 1931 with some exception to Army and Sedition related cases. He asserted that even in the times when death penalty was not abolished in Nepal in the past, none life was taken expect in some "rarest of the rare cases", referring to the Army and sedition crimes related cases.
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Gyawali also shared that several political changes and legal reforms had contributed to abolitionist agenda including the amendment to the National Code in 1964 that had abolished death penalty in general, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Shedding light on the constitutional provisions of Nepal on the death penalty, he said that the Constitution that came into being in 1990 had explicitly prohibited any law providing for capital punishment while the new Constitution in Nepal has completely abolished death penalty.
Minister Gyawali attributed to the success of abolishment of capital punishment in Nepal to conscious effort of the stakeholders including political leaders, civil society, human rights defenders and the media.
