NHRC urges parties to respect voters' privacy, rights

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which has been monitoring the human rights situation in the upcoming House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5, has emphasised the need to make elections human rights-friendly by strictly adhering to the election code of conduct.

The Commission has found that some leaders and candidates have used abusive language and made hateful statements against other parties, leaders and candidates, violating the election code of conduct.

The Commission held discussions with the heads and representatives of various organisations involved in election supervision regarding the effectiveness of monitoring and oversight on Thursday. Participants in the discussion stressed the need to make the elections human rights-friendly.

Issuing a press statement on Thursday, the NHRC stated that digital content undermining the dignity of individuals has been created and circulated, breaching the election code of conduct.

It was also found that the right to secret voting and the right to privacy have been violated by asking voters about their party preferences, recording video and audio and posting such content on social media. Voter education has not been effective, and some political party offices have been vandalised.

The Commission has urged all concerned parties to refrain from making hateful accusations against one another during the election period, to avoid misusing social media, to respect voters’ privacy, to refrain from publishing and broadcasting misleading news, to stop violent activities, to strengthen voter education and to ensure that the election is conducted in a human rights-friendly manner by fully complying with the election code of conduct.