A delegation of Swedish Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Relations visited the Commission on 13th January. It comprised of Ms. Carina Hagg, Social Democratic Party; Ms. Birgitta Ohlsson, Liberal Party; Ms. Bodil Ceballos, Green Party; Mr. Mats Sander, Moderate Party; Dr. Thomas Horberg, Secretary to the Committee; Ms. Margareta Holmberg, Deputy Secretary to the Committee; Mr. Lars-Olof Lindgren, Ambassdor; and Mr. Oscar Schlyter, Second Secretary. The delegation had interaction with the Chairperson, Members and Senior Officers of the Commission on 'the Role of National Human Rights Institutions'. Welcoming the Swedish delegation, Mr. Justice S. Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, NHRC briefed them about the framework of human rights in India as enshrined in the Constitution and laws. A presentation about the role and functions of NHRC as well as its activities was made by Mrs. Aruna Sharma, Joint Secretary (P&A), NHRC.
Another presentation on Complaint Management System of NHRC was made by Mr. Shashikant Sharma, Technical Director, NIC Unit, NHRC. The Swedish delegation raised the issue of death penalty and India's reservalion on signing the Rome Statute on International Criminal Court. Member, Mr. Justice G.P. Mathur explained that in India death penalty is part of statute and is granted in rarest of rare cases. As regards International Criminal Court, there are serious questions of applicability of law etc.