Visitor from Australia
Ms. Margaret Reynolds, Chairperson, International Advisory Commission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative visited the Commission on 28 September 1999 and had a meeting with the Chairperson, Members and senior officers of the Commission.
Welcoming her to the Commission, Chairperson Mr.Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah expressed appreciation of her impressive track record in the field of human rights. Speaking of the problems dealt with by the Commission, he said that the sheer size of the population of India and the magnitude and variety of the issues that came before the Commission, would be inconceivable elsewhere. While the Australian Human Rights Commission received about 1200 complaints in a year and the New Zealand Human Rights Commission received around 280, the Indian Commission expected to receive some 60,000 complaints in the year ending March 2000. The Chairperson then briefed Ms. Reynolds on the areas of work of NHRC, referring to its efforts both in respect of corrective justice and societal issues. He observed, for instance, that there were 375 million children in India below 14 years of age; 20 – 25 million were born each year, of whom some 8 – 10 million died before completing one year. Given these facts, the Commission was understandably laying a great deal of emphasis of the rights of the child and social and economic rights more widely. Speaking, illustratively, of India ratifying the UN Convention against Torture, he said that ratification without the building of the needed infrastructure would have little practical effect. He regretted that champions of human rights in developed countries often themselves had scant understanding of economic, social and cultural rights. This was hurting the concept of the universality, individuality of rights and affecting the balanced growth of human rights, not least in developing countries
Talking of Australia, Ms. Reynolds observed that human rights problems in her country were on a smaller scale than in India, but much still remained to be done, not only in respect of civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights. The working of the Australian Human Rights Commission had also been put under a great deal of pressure as the result of sharp budgetary cuts. Ms. Reynolds then spoke of the damage that earlier policies had done to the indigenous people of Australia and the efforts being made in recent years to improve their situation and protect their rights.
Shri Virendra Dayal, Member, NHRC emphasised the need for National Commissions to collaborate and cooperate with each other and referred to the work of the International Coordinating Committee of these institutions and the value of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Institutions. While noting that human rights were universal and indivisible, he stressed the need – in this age of globalization - to carry the message of human rights to international financial institutions and not State-players, such as multinational corporations. He observed that the financial crisis, in South-East Asia was far more than that : it was human crises and a human rights crisis, in which women and children in particular had seen their lives turned upside-down owing to financial and monetary policies over which they had no control. He urged the United Nations and the Commonwealth to pay greater attention to effects of global economic and financial developments on human rights.
Welcoming her to the Commission, Chairperson Mr.Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah expressed appreciation of her impressive track record in the field of human rights. Speaking of the problems dealt with by the Commission, he said that the sheer size of the population of India and the magnitude and variety of the issues that came before the Commission, would be inconceivable elsewhere. While the Australian Human Rights Commission received about 1200 complaints in a year and the New Zealand Human Rights Commission received around 280, the Indian Commission expected to receive some 60,000 complaints in the year ending March 2000. The Chairperson then briefed Ms. Reynolds on the areas of work of NHRC, referring to its efforts both in respect of corrective justice and societal issues. He observed, for instance, that there were 375 million children in India below 14 years of age; 20 – 25 million were born each year, of whom some 8 – 10 million died before completing one year. Given these facts, the Commission was understandably laying a great deal of emphasis of the rights of the child and social and economic rights more widely. Speaking, illustratively, of India ratifying the UN Convention against Torture, he said that ratification without the building of the needed infrastructure would have little practical effect. He regretted that champions of human rights in developed countries often themselves had scant understanding of economic, social and cultural rights. This was hurting the concept of the universality, individuality of rights and affecting the balanced growth of human rights, not least in developing countries
Talking of Australia, Ms. Reynolds observed that human rights problems in her country were on a smaller scale than in India, but much still remained to be done, not only in respect of civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights. The working of the Australian Human Rights Commission had also been put under a great deal of pressure as the result of sharp budgetary cuts. Ms. Reynolds then spoke of the damage that earlier policies had done to the indigenous people of Australia and the efforts being made in recent years to improve their situation and protect their rights.
Shri Virendra Dayal, Member, NHRC emphasised the need for National Commissions to collaborate and cooperate with each other and referred to the work of the International Coordinating Committee of these institutions and the value of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Institutions. While noting that human rights were universal and indivisible, he stressed the need – in this age of globalization - to carry the message of human rights to international financial institutions and not State-players, such as multinational corporations. He observed that the financial crisis, in South-East Asia was far more than that : it was human crises and a human rights crisis, in which women and children in particular had seen their lives turned upside-down owing to financial and monetary policies over which they had no control. He urged the United Nations and the Commonwealth to pay greater attention to effects of global economic and financial developments on human rights.