ADDRESS OF DR. JUSTICE A.S. ANAND, CHAIRPERSON, NHRC ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY ON 10TH DECEMBER, 2003
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all very warmly to this function to observe the Human Rights Day.
International Human Rights norms received an impetus five and a half decades ago following the harrowing experience of mankind of death and destruction caused by two World Wars. The world community was appalled by man's capacity to destroy himself. For the first time the concept of Human Rights asserted itself formally and prominently in an official international document, namely the U.N. Charter. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which followed on the 10th December, 1948 was a declaration of value judgments: Thereafter, came the two Covenants in 1966 : One on Civil and Political Rights and the other on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The UN Charter hoped to save succeeding generations from self-destruction by proclaiming and establishing equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family - great or small, virtuous or vicious, rich or poor, wise or foolish and their inherent dignity, regardless of birth, status, race, colour, sex, language, religion or political or other opinion. Unfortunately, at the beginning of this Millennium, no country can look back on its own record of Human Rights with any sense of pride. Estimates say that in the last century some 100 million persons have been killed in armed conflicts and 120 million more deaths have resulted from politically - related violence. These events amply prove the crucial linkage between the protection and promotion of Human Rights on the one hand and freedom, justice and peace in the world on the other.
Though, the Human Rights movement in India has come a long way, and many Human Rights centered legislations have also been enacted by the Legislatures but unfortunately most of these rights exist only in the statute books and are ignored in reality. The level of poverty in India is appalling and there is no denying the fact that poverty is destructive of all rights. Besides, in India today the greatest and the most urgent challenges of Human Rights are in the areas of maternal and child care, child education, child labour, child abuse, bonded labour, trafficking in women and the protection of minorities and the weaker sections of the society like Scheduled Castes and Dalits. These great societal issues are not issues of excellence but of survival. Unless Human Rights are made the focal point in good governance, no progress is either possible or sustainable as no amount of economic development can be sustained without a baseline of respect for Human Rights.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the "Paris Principles" by the United Nations General Assembly. The principles relating to the status of national institutions, which have come to be called the 'Paris Principles' were endorsed by the General Assembly on 20 December, 1993. The principles affirm that national institutions are to be vested with competence to promote and protect human rights and given as broad a mandate as possible, set forth clearly in a constitutional or legislative text. These principles, inter-alia, envisage that national institutions be set up and function with functional and financial autonomy. The National Human Rights Commission in India was set up in 1993 and has now completed 10 years of its existence and entered in to the eleventh. This affords us an opportunity to reflect and introspect.
The Commission, in its short journey of ten years, has zealously guarded itself against any pressures and its actions speak loud and clear in this regard. Armed with the provisions of the statute under which it has been set up, the Commission has relentlessly endeavoured to be at the vanquard of the battle to curb violation of human rights happening anywhere in the country when brought to its notice. In a nation of over one billion people, this is indeed an uphill task. An idea of the magnitude of the task before us can be gauged by the fact that the Commission has received over 47,000 complaints upto now in the current financial year, while it received about 70,000 complaints last year. The Commission considers human rights to be non-negotiable and inalienable.
The "better protection" and promotion of human rights is an important goal of this Commission. The Commission is of the firm view that increased respect for human rights makes an effective contribution to the promotion of peace and stability. The Commission seeks to catalyse various stakeholders in the struggle to protect and safeguard human rights of the citizens of the country. It is our duty under the Statute to remind governments that they must fulfill their promises and honour their legal and constitutional obligations to protect the human rights of their citizens who are not mere subjects but have rights to be respected by the State and its manifold instrumentalities.
With every passing year, the conviction has grown in the Commission that the right to life with human dignity requires respect for the totality of the human person. And this has led to a further conclusion that it is essential for the Commission to focus, in equal measure, on Economic, Social and Cultural rights as well as on Group rights, just as it does on Civil and Political rights. The indivisibility and inter-related nature of rights is a reality and there is a symbiosis between them. Of the many human rights failures today, those in economic, social and cultural areas are particularly widespread across the nation. The denial of right to education, health, livelihood (food, clothing, shelter etc.) to millions of our compatriots drives them to the margins of human existence. Poverty is the most serious violation of human rights. Human deprivation in all its manifestations is an affront to human rights and all that a civilized society stands for. The weaker sections of society suffer the most from such failures, which are the root of serious social and economic problems faced by our society. The effective way to solve such problems and ensure civilized existence of our people is to guarantee human rights of the weaker sections of society in full measure.
These considerations underpinned the Commission's interventions in the case of suicides of farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Again it was these considerations, which made the Commission to take up starvation deaths in several pockets of the country for an in-depth scrutiny. The Commission took up conditions of camps for Kashmiri migrants and urged the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to take urgent ameliorative measures.
The serious problem of trafficking in women and children has been of concern to the Commission. In response to a suggestion made by the U.N. High Commissioner, a Focal Point on Trafficking has been set up in the Commission headed by a Member.
There are significant challenges in the field of protection of girl child, elimination of child labour, violence against women, custodial violence and abuses during investigations. The NHRC is taking serious note of these issues. In fact, the Commission monitors programmes relating to child and bonded labour under a remit from the Apex Court.
It is the belief of the Commission that all rights are inter-related and inter-dependent. Apart from working for the eradication of bonded and child labour, rights of the child, women, dalits, minorities and other marginalized groups, the Commission has also undertaken work in other fields, such as, public health, right to food etc. The Commission has endeavoured to promote a culture of human rights in the country by pressing for the introduction of human rights education in the curricula, from schools up to the university. It has involved NGOs in its efforts to spread human rights awareness at the grass root level: it has sought to bring about a greater sensitivity among civil servants, police and security personnel and members of the judiciary by re-orienting their training programmes.
The Commission has been especially concerned with the rights of the weakest sections of society, notably the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In furtherance of its statutory responsibilities, the Commission has accorded the highest priority to end discrimination against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and in seeking to eradicate two pernicious practices which largely affect members of these communities viz., manual scavenging and bonded labour. It is a matter of shame indeed that the "inhuman" practice of manual scavenging still persist in several pockets of the country even after 56 years of independence and 10 years after the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 came in to force. The Commission is coordinating its activities closely with all concerned Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations in an effort to end these practices and rehabilitate those who have been affected by them.
In addition to taking a number of steps to protect the rights of the disabled, the Commission mobilized support in favour of a binding international treaty on the theme of disability. In partnership with the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions and the British Council, the Commission organized an International Workshop of National Institutions from the Commonwealth and Asia-Pacific in May, 2003. The Commission emphasized that an exclusive Convention is necessary to give "status, authority and visibility" to disability issues which cannot be achieved through the process of reform of existing international instruments and monitoring mechanisms. Moreover, a single comprehensive treaty would enable the State parties to understand their obligations in clear terms and it would set clear targets for the development of disability-inclusive infrastructure and processes and shift the focus from mere welfare to rights of the disabled. Recognizing its pre-eminent position in the protection of human rights, the Commission held the chair of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC), a representative body of national human rights institutions established for the purpose of creating and strengthening national human rights institutions which are in conformity with the 'Paris Principles', from 1996 to 2000. It voluntarily stepped down from the position of the Chair in favour of other national institutions. Within the Asia-Pacific region too, the Commission plays an active role, through the Asia Pacific Forum of National Institutions which is a grouping of national institutions of the region. Currently, the Commission holds the Chair of the Forum.
During the course of the year, the Commission took up serious issues concerning right to fair trial, protection of witnesses and victims of crime in a criminal trial and the efficacy of criminal justice delivery system. The Commission is of the firm view that whenever a criminal goes unpunished, it is the society at large, which suffers because the victims become demoralized, and criminals encouraged. Because of the absence of any legislation on the subject, the Commission filed a special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court on 31 July 2003 in which it has requested the Apex Court to lay down guidelines and directions in relation to protection of witnesses and victims of crime in criminal trials which can be adhered to both by prosecuting and law enforcement agencies as well as the subordinate judiciary. This is considered essential in order to enhance the efficacy of the criminal justice delivery system.
I now wish to refer to one other aspect. There is a lot of talk of terrorism these days and of even a "war against terrorism". Commission is of the view that terrorism poses a grave threat to human rights. International terrorism is a modern form of warfare against liberal democracies. The goal of these terrorists is to destroy the very fabric of democracy and it would be wrong for any democratic state to consider international terrorism to be "someone else's" problem. The terrorist acts are part of a broad campaign aimed at the disintegration of democratic societies. The liberal democracies must, therefore, acknowledge that international terrorism is a collective problem. When one free nation is under attack, the rest must realise that democracy itself is under attack. The oft-repeated cry "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is but one manifestation of the widespread confusion about the morality of terroristic forms of violence. The recent decision of a court in United States is a pointer in that direction.
Another unfortunate trend in violations of human rights is ever-growing religious fundamentalism and use of terrorist activities for imposing "their will". While all faithful believe in harmony and brotherhood in religion, it is the misguided fanatics who do not value human life and in the name of religion resort to all types of attacks on human rights. They violate the human rights of the fellow citizens without any justification whatsoever. Society's response to such type of terrorism has to be clear and effective. Indifference of the society to such acts encourages the fundamentalists - loud and positive condemnation of their activities by the society, on the other hand may discourage them. A violent group whatever its politics, has no right to kill, and no claim to such a right must ever be allowed to override the right of the majority of citizens to live in peace.
By virtue of the responsibilities entrusted to NHRC, the Commission needs to be constantly vigilant and outspoken in the defence of human rights. In a democratic polity it is essential, that criticism, is received with respect even if not always with full agreement. The capacity, to differ with civility and mutual respect, is the hallmark of a democratic society and essential to the well being of a society. I need say no more on this issue except to remind ourselves of the wise message given by the Supreme Court of India, in a different context, more than fifteen years ago in 1986. The apex Court said:
"Our tradition teaches tolerance;
our philosophy preaches tolerance;
our constitution practices tolerance.
Let us not dilute it".
We need to constantly remind ourselves all the time of these words of wisdom.
We are grateful to His Holiness for having kindly accepted our invitation inspite of his busy schedule, which takes him to all parts of the Globe as a harbinger of peace. Your benign presence on this occasion, Your Holiness, has been, both, an education in simplicity and moderation and a window for all that is noble and pure in this world.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you indeed for your patience.
******
International Human Rights norms received an impetus five and a half decades ago following the harrowing experience of mankind of death and destruction caused by two World Wars. The world community was appalled by man's capacity to destroy himself. For the first time the concept of Human Rights asserted itself formally and prominently in an official international document, namely the U.N. Charter. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which followed on the 10th December, 1948 was a declaration of value judgments: Thereafter, came the two Covenants in 1966 : One on Civil and Political Rights and the other on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The UN Charter hoped to save succeeding generations from self-destruction by proclaiming and establishing equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family - great or small, virtuous or vicious, rich or poor, wise or foolish and their inherent dignity, regardless of birth, status, race, colour, sex, language, religion or political or other opinion. Unfortunately, at the beginning of this Millennium, no country can look back on its own record of Human Rights with any sense of pride. Estimates say that in the last century some 100 million persons have been killed in armed conflicts and 120 million more deaths have resulted from politically - related violence. These events amply prove the crucial linkage between the protection and promotion of Human Rights on the one hand and freedom, justice and peace in the world on the other.
Though, the Human Rights movement in India has come a long way, and many Human Rights centered legislations have also been enacted by the Legislatures but unfortunately most of these rights exist only in the statute books and are ignored in reality. The level of poverty in India is appalling and there is no denying the fact that poverty is destructive of all rights. Besides, in India today the greatest and the most urgent challenges of Human Rights are in the areas of maternal and child care, child education, child labour, child abuse, bonded labour, trafficking in women and the protection of minorities and the weaker sections of the society like Scheduled Castes and Dalits. These great societal issues are not issues of excellence but of survival. Unless Human Rights are made the focal point in good governance, no progress is either possible or sustainable as no amount of economic development can be sustained without a baseline of respect for Human Rights.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the "Paris Principles" by the United Nations General Assembly. The principles relating to the status of national institutions, which have come to be called the 'Paris Principles' were endorsed by the General Assembly on 20 December, 1993. The principles affirm that national institutions are to be vested with competence to promote and protect human rights and given as broad a mandate as possible, set forth clearly in a constitutional or legislative text. These principles, inter-alia, envisage that national institutions be set up and function with functional and financial autonomy. The National Human Rights Commission in India was set up in 1993 and has now completed 10 years of its existence and entered in to the eleventh. This affords us an opportunity to reflect and introspect.
The Commission, in its short journey of ten years, has zealously guarded itself against any pressures and its actions speak loud and clear in this regard. Armed with the provisions of the statute under which it has been set up, the Commission has relentlessly endeavoured to be at the vanquard of the battle to curb violation of human rights happening anywhere in the country when brought to its notice. In a nation of over one billion people, this is indeed an uphill task. An idea of the magnitude of the task before us can be gauged by the fact that the Commission has received over 47,000 complaints upto now in the current financial year, while it received about 70,000 complaints last year. The Commission considers human rights to be non-negotiable and inalienable.
The "better protection" and promotion of human rights is an important goal of this Commission. The Commission is of the firm view that increased respect for human rights makes an effective contribution to the promotion of peace and stability. The Commission seeks to catalyse various stakeholders in the struggle to protect and safeguard human rights of the citizens of the country. It is our duty under the Statute to remind governments that they must fulfill their promises and honour their legal and constitutional obligations to protect the human rights of their citizens who are not mere subjects but have rights to be respected by the State and its manifold instrumentalities.
With every passing year, the conviction has grown in the Commission that the right to life with human dignity requires respect for the totality of the human person. And this has led to a further conclusion that it is essential for the Commission to focus, in equal measure, on Economic, Social and Cultural rights as well as on Group rights, just as it does on Civil and Political rights. The indivisibility and inter-related nature of rights is a reality and there is a symbiosis between them. Of the many human rights failures today, those in economic, social and cultural areas are particularly widespread across the nation. The denial of right to education, health, livelihood (food, clothing, shelter etc.) to millions of our compatriots drives them to the margins of human existence. Poverty is the most serious violation of human rights. Human deprivation in all its manifestations is an affront to human rights and all that a civilized society stands for. The weaker sections of society suffer the most from such failures, which are the root of serious social and economic problems faced by our society. The effective way to solve such problems and ensure civilized existence of our people is to guarantee human rights of the weaker sections of society in full measure.
These considerations underpinned the Commission's interventions in the case of suicides of farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Again it was these considerations, which made the Commission to take up starvation deaths in several pockets of the country for an in-depth scrutiny. The Commission took up conditions of camps for Kashmiri migrants and urged the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to take urgent ameliorative measures.
The serious problem of trafficking in women and children has been of concern to the Commission. In response to a suggestion made by the U.N. High Commissioner, a Focal Point on Trafficking has been set up in the Commission headed by a Member.
There are significant challenges in the field of protection of girl child, elimination of child labour, violence against women, custodial violence and abuses during investigations. The NHRC is taking serious note of these issues. In fact, the Commission monitors programmes relating to child and bonded labour under a remit from the Apex Court.
It is the belief of the Commission that all rights are inter-related and inter-dependent. Apart from working for the eradication of bonded and child labour, rights of the child, women, dalits, minorities and other marginalized groups, the Commission has also undertaken work in other fields, such as, public health, right to food etc. The Commission has endeavoured to promote a culture of human rights in the country by pressing for the introduction of human rights education in the curricula, from schools up to the university. It has involved NGOs in its efforts to spread human rights awareness at the grass root level: it has sought to bring about a greater sensitivity among civil servants, police and security personnel and members of the judiciary by re-orienting their training programmes.
The Commission has been especially concerned with the rights of the weakest sections of society, notably the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In furtherance of its statutory responsibilities, the Commission has accorded the highest priority to end discrimination against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and in seeking to eradicate two pernicious practices which largely affect members of these communities viz., manual scavenging and bonded labour. It is a matter of shame indeed that the "inhuman" practice of manual scavenging still persist in several pockets of the country even after 56 years of independence and 10 years after the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 came in to force. The Commission is coordinating its activities closely with all concerned Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations in an effort to end these practices and rehabilitate those who have been affected by them.
In addition to taking a number of steps to protect the rights of the disabled, the Commission mobilized support in favour of a binding international treaty on the theme of disability. In partnership with the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions and the British Council, the Commission organized an International Workshop of National Institutions from the Commonwealth and Asia-Pacific in May, 2003. The Commission emphasized that an exclusive Convention is necessary to give "status, authority and visibility" to disability issues which cannot be achieved through the process of reform of existing international instruments and monitoring mechanisms. Moreover, a single comprehensive treaty would enable the State parties to understand their obligations in clear terms and it would set clear targets for the development of disability-inclusive infrastructure and processes and shift the focus from mere welfare to rights of the disabled. Recognizing its pre-eminent position in the protection of human rights, the Commission held the chair of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC), a representative body of national human rights institutions established for the purpose of creating and strengthening national human rights institutions which are in conformity with the 'Paris Principles', from 1996 to 2000. It voluntarily stepped down from the position of the Chair in favour of other national institutions. Within the Asia-Pacific region too, the Commission plays an active role, through the Asia Pacific Forum of National Institutions which is a grouping of national institutions of the region. Currently, the Commission holds the Chair of the Forum.
During the course of the year, the Commission took up serious issues concerning right to fair trial, protection of witnesses and victims of crime in a criminal trial and the efficacy of criminal justice delivery system. The Commission is of the firm view that whenever a criminal goes unpunished, it is the society at large, which suffers because the victims become demoralized, and criminals encouraged. Because of the absence of any legislation on the subject, the Commission filed a special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court on 31 July 2003 in which it has requested the Apex Court to lay down guidelines and directions in relation to protection of witnesses and victims of crime in criminal trials which can be adhered to both by prosecuting and law enforcement agencies as well as the subordinate judiciary. This is considered essential in order to enhance the efficacy of the criminal justice delivery system.
I now wish to refer to one other aspect. There is a lot of talk of terrorism these days and of even a "war against terrorism". Commission is of the view that terrorism poses a grave threat to human rights. International terrorism is a modern form of warfare against liberal democracies. The goal of these terrorists is to destroy the very fabric of democracy and it would be wrong for any democratic state to consider international terrorism to be "someone else's" problem. The terrorist acts are part of a broad campaign aimed at the disintegration of democratic societies. The liberal democracies must, therefore, acknowledge that international terrorism is a collective problem. When one free nation is under attack, the rest must realise that democracy itself is under attack. The oft-repeated cry "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is but one manifestation of the widespread confusion about the morality of terroristic forms of violence. The recent decision of a court in United States is a pointer in that direction.
Another unfortunate trend in violations of human rights is ever-growing religious fundamentalism and use of terrorist activities for imposing "their will". While all faithful believe in harmony and brotherhood in religion, it is the misguided fanatics who do not value human life and in the name of religion resort to all types of attacks on human rights. They violate the human rights of the fellow citizens without any justification whatsoever. Society's response to such type of terrorism has to be clear and effective. Indifference of the society to such acts encourages the fundamentalists - loud and positive condemnation of their activities by the society, on the other hand may discourage them. A violent group whatever its politics, has no right to kill, and no claim to such a right must ever be allowed to override the right of the majority of citizens to live in peace.
By virtue of the responsibilities entrusted to NHRC, the Commission needs to be constantly vigilant and outspoken in the defence of human rights. In a democratic polity it is essential, that criticism, is received with respect even if not always with full agreement. The capacity, to differ with civility and mutual respect, is the hallmark of a democratic society and essential to the well being of a society. I need say no more on this issue except to remind ourselves of the wise message given by the Supreme Court of India, in a different context, more than fifteen years ago in 1986. The apex Court said:
"Our tradition teaches tolerance;
our philosophy preaches tolerance;
our constitution practices tolerance.
Let us not dilute it".
We need to constantly remind ourselves all the time of these words of wisdom.
We are grateful to His Holiness for having kindly accepted our invitation inspite of his busy schedule, which takes him to all parts of the Globe as a harbinger of peace. Your benign presence on this occasion, Your Holiness, has been, both, an education in simplicity and moderation and a window for all that is noble and pure in this world.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you indeed for your patience.
******