In light of recent parliamentary debates and renewed calls by some lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty in Nepal, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) strongly opposes any return to capital punishment and urges the government and Parliament to uphold the constitutional prohibition against the death penalty. As a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the permanent abolition of the death penalty, Nepal is bound to uphold abolition. Reinstatement would not merely reverse the protection guaranteed by its Federal Constitution, it would also violate Nepal’s international obligations, which no constitutional amendment should set aside.

The recent calls to reintroduce the death penalty follow the reported rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in Jeetpur-Simara Sub-Metropolitan City of Bara district in Nepal. ADPAN unequivocally condemns this horrific crime and calls for a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation, accountability through fair trial, and meaningful support for the victim’s family. However, the demand for justice must not be a pretext for restoring state executions through an amendment of the Federal Constitution. ADPAN welcomes the ministers’ acknowledgment of the constitutional and international legal constraints on capital punishment and calls on the government to make an unequivocal commitment that forthcoming criminal justice reforms will preserve abolition.

Nepal officially abolished capital punishment in two key stages: first under its 1990 Constitution, and then across all criminal laws in 1997. The country reinforced this commitment internationally by ratifying the ICCPR in 1991 and its Second Optional Protocol in 1998. Under Section 41(f) of the National Penal Code Act 2017, murder following rape is punishable by life imprisonment, which is the maximum penalty permitted under Nepal’s Constitution. The Second Optional Protocol has no withdrawal clause as abolition is legally considered irrevocable.

The death penalty does not advance justice, nor does it uniquely and effectively prevent sexual violence. Whilst the case has caused huge public uproar and investigations into Nepal’s criminal justice system, there is no solid or widely accepted evidence that capital punishment is a solution to sexual violence. Implementing harsher laws following public outcry is regressive and a populist measure driven by political motivations rather than evidence. Imposing capital punishment also creates a perverse incentive for perpetrators to silence victims, whilst simultaneously suppressing reporting in cases where the offender is known to the victim or their family. Focusing solely on punishing the perpetrator further fails to address the underlying patriarchal beliefs that generate, encourage, and sustain sexual violence. 

A holistic, victim-centred approach is needed to address sexual crime, addressing systemic barriers such as flawed investigations, low conviction rates, and victim retraumatisation. Capital punishment will not deliver justice or meaningful protection for survivors of sexual crimes. 

As such, ADPAN urges the Nepali Government to:

• Continue honouring its binding commitments under the ICCPR and its Second Optional Protocol by upholding its absolute prohibition of capital punishment.
• Abandon reactive, populist legislative measures, and instead consult with gender justice experts, criminologists, and victim-advocacy groups to draft evidence-based policies.
• Improve investigation standards, evidence collection, and forensic medical capacity to increase the certainty of conviction rather than the severity of punishment.