Joel Veldkamp raises concerns about religious freedom in Nepal at the Human Rights Council. csi
MEDIA RELEASE
Today at the UN Human Rights Council, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) raised the alarm about Nepal’s 2017 anti-conversion law.
In an oral statement during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues on March 17, CSI warned that the law was increasingly being used as a pretext for arresting Christians.
CSI’s representative, Joel Veldkamp, noted that the Special Rapporteur, Professor Nicholas Lavret, had recently made a country visit to Nepal, and that in its response to his report, the Government of Nepal had claimed that Pastor Keshav Raj Acharya “was arrested and prosecuted not because he belongs to [the] Christian community but he violated criminal laws.”
Veldkamp noted that the “criminal law” in question, Article 158 of Nepal’s 2017 penal code, is itself a violation of religious freedom, and therefore a threat to religious minorities in Nepal.
Article 158 prohibits “any… conduct” to “convert anyone into another religion, whether by inducement or not.” Breaking this law is punishable by five years in prison.
“This law directly contradicts Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right of individuals to change their religion and to try to persuade others to change their religion,” Veldkamp said.
Pastor Keshav Raj Acharya was repeatedly jailed from 2020 to 2021, on various charges of “proselytism.” He is currently serving three years of probation following his conviction.
Veldkamp highlighted how the law was being actively used to restrict religious freedom in Nepal. In one of many cases, on December 24, 2024, another pastor was arrested while distributing Christmas gifts to children in a community school. He also faces charges of “proselytizing.”
Veldkamp noted that the anti-conversion law is being applied in a highly selective way. “Despite a strong social movement in Nepal to re-convert Christians to Hinduism, we are not aware of any cases of members of the Hindu majority being prosecuted under this law,” he said.
