Public Awareness

Civil Liberty & Human Rights

Simply civil liberty implies political liberty that one's freedom to exercise one's rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country. But often people have to fight for their civil rights with the government that which violates civil rights in the name of Democracy with the vested interests of head of the states like 21st centuries' dictators, totalitarians and so called democratic political leaders and political parties.

Civil liberty is the fundamental individual right protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference. 

Civil liberties are protections from the power of governments. Examples include the right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from slavery and forced labor, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, and the right to marry and have a family. These are usually guaranteed and protected by a constitution or by adherence to an international treaty. More more 

The question was asked in 1948 at the United Nation after Second World War: Do all human beings have basic human rights?

Miraculously, the United Nations General Assembly voted almost unanimously to declare that human beings do, in fact, have basic human rights and they actually took it upon themselves to state what those rights were. (No nation voted against the proposition although there were eight abstentions and two not present for the vote.) The document they adopted is called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Every country that signed the Declaration, the United States among them, promised to teach and inform all its citizens of the rights and obligations enumerated therein and to strive to see to it that the Declaration's goals and aspirations would be achieved.

But do all member states of the United Nations have fulfilled the commitments? Perhaps the most of the most prosperous nations might have achieved the protections of human rights violation through rule of law. But the more than half of the member states of the United Nations have failed have failed in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America and have still not fully complied with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For example, the appointment of Chief District Officers is the administrative logistic of the oligarchic governance that Rana regime had initiated to appoint their family lineage to control the district - usually called General or Badahakims.

Such appointees of Democratic government will violate the civil liberty of people of Nepal and restrict people to administer their home districts and villages by themselves.  

Appointees of the government have put local people in fear and despair for last 250 years. Therefore people of the districts of Jumla, Humla and other remote districts of Nepal used call those appointees the chiefs of Gorkhali Sarkar. People did not know who are these appointees as they know their own district and village electoral members of assemblies.  

Such administrative logistics  of  the government must be dismantled with the electoral  Federal government system that allows people to rule their home districts and villages by themselves. 

Nepal's new constitution must guarantee the civil liberty, human rights and human duties with sovereignty in people of Nepal to govern themselves with the Federal Electoral system of the governance.   

As adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, December 10, 1948

Preamble

Whereas, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas, disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas, it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas, it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas, the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.

Whereas, Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Whereas, a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore, the General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Articles

ARTICLE 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

ARTICLE 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

ARTICLE 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

ARTICLE 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

ARTICLE 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

ARTICLE 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

ARTICLE 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

ARTICLE 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

ARTICLE 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

ARTICLE 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

ARTICLE 11. (1) Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offense on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offense was committed.

ARTICLE 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

ARTICLE 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country.

ARTICLE 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecution genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

ARTICLE 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

ARTICLE 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitations due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

ARTICLE 17. (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

ARTICLE 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others, and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

ARTICLE 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

ARTICLE 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

ARTICLE 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

ARTICLE 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

ARTICLE 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

ARTICLE 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

ARTICLE 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

ARTICLE 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

ARTICLE 27. (1) Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

ARTICLE 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

ARTICLE 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

ARTICLE 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, December 10, 1948.

Human rights violations by the royal state and the Maoists insurgency  were of inhuman, ruthless teachers, disappearance of human life publicly and in hide, displacements, rapes, robberies, confiscations of the properties and so on.

Average Nepali people are prone to abuse of human rights violation not only by the state and its ruling elites but also by the practice of child labor, sex labor trafficking, socio-religion (caste) discrimination, feudal oligarchic rules, regulations and administrative logistics of governance.   

The new constitution of Nepal after national assembly election must comply fully with The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

The Civil Society of Nepal must watch the process of writing new constitution of Nepal vigilantly.  This must be the most urgent moment for the civil society to guard the fundamental human rights of people that the new constitution can protect with its legislative, executive, and judiciary procedure in government, supreme court and the Parliament 

Make sure that the new constitution of Nepal establishes the electoral Federal government system that complies the full political rights and duties to the people of Nepal to govern themselves their districts and villages autonomously.  

Dedication:
This web site www.nepalcivilsociety.org is dedicated to the Civil society of Nepal. It is to honor the work of all members of Civil Society of Nepal  who dedicated their lives to the Liberty of People of Nepal. The purpose of this web site is to promote the movement of Civil Society as part of Nepali culture with the objectives to protect civil liberty of people of Nepal through public awareness.

Individuals who are interested to contribute in processing information for Nepal Civil Society works on this site in English and Nepali are most welcome to join the design and development of this website. Please contact Anon Liberty (Who is Anon Liberty?) at anon@nepalcivilsociety.org