A/HRC/31/9 57. The Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Dilli Raj Ghimire, responded to some questions regarding ratification of treaties, standing invitations, the right to education and refugees and asylum seekers. He appreciated recommendations received, including to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He noted that Nepal had become a party to 162 multilateral treaties and a signatory to 26, including 24 human rights-related treaties. The State’s policies on the political and governance system, reflected in the Constitution, entailed maintaining the rule of law by protecting human rights and implementing treaties to which Nepal was a party. It was as important to effectively implement treaties as it was to join them. Nepal was in the process of developing the policy, legal and institutional infrastructure necessary to implement the above-mentioned treaties in its territory. As part of the action plan on the universal periodic review and the human rights action plan, the Government had submitted some important bills to the legislature for enactment. Nepal was also in the process of establishing the requisite framework to ratify other treaties, as appropriate and in due course. 58. Nepal appreciated recommendations made to extend a standing invitation to special procedure mandate holders. Nepal indicated that it had already received visits by various special procedure mandate holders. It recognized the contribution that they could make to developing human rights norms and the protection of rights on the ground. With the promulgation of the Constitution, Nepal was engaged in the formulation of laws and institutional framework. In that context, Nepal would consider the requests for visits already made by mandate holders. 59. In article 24 of the Constitution, untouchability in both public and private places and discrimination in workplaces on the basis of untouchability were prohibited. The right of Dalits to participate in all State bodies on the basis of the principle of proportional inclusion was a fundamental right. It was the obligation of the State to make special provision for their empowerment, participation and representation in public places and to support them in the areas of employment, health, social security, housing and provision of land to landless Dalits within three years. Dalits had the fundamental right to free education up to higher education level through scholarships. Moreover, the Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability Act was being implemented. Cases of discrimination against Dalits had been prosecuted under that law. In that regard, the Government was focusing on capacitybuilding of law enforcement officials, awareness-raising, ensuring Dalits’ access to justice and avoiding delay in the investigation of any cases. An integrated action plan was also being prepared to curb de facto discrimination. 60. In relation to the right to education, in particular the issue of dropouts, Nepal mentioned that the right to access compulsory and free basic education and free education up to secondary level had been guaranteed by the fundamental law. Persons with disabilities also had the right to free basic education in script and sign language. The Government had submitted a bill to the legislature to amend the existing Education Act to implement the provisions mentioned. Progress had been made in terms of the net enrolment rate, the literacy rate, the number of trained teachers and investment in the education sector. Nepal had also adopted a number of specific measures to tackle dropouts. Measures to combat child marriage had been adopted, and the country was also focusing on multilingual education. 61. In relation to the issue of refugees and asylum seekers, Nepal was not a party to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and was not in a position to accept refugees because of internal capacity constraints. Despite those constraints, it had accepted a great number of refugees in the past. Nepal did not have an issue with asylum seekers per se, however there were a number of persons from various countries who had violated visa regulations by overstaying or were entering Nepal with fake passports or visas. Nepal had 8