2004, The Year for NHRC

New Delhi, 28 December 2004
Providing relief to some of the victims in the 'Punjab Mass Cremations' case, voicing its concern on the reported suicides of farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and bringing out two comprehensive reports 'Trafficking in Women and Children' and 'Prevention of Atrocities Against Scheduled Castes' were the highlights of the year 2004. Besides this, the Chairperson of the NHRC addressed letters to the Central & State Governments on illegal trade in human organs, discrimination faced by persons with HIV/AIDS and on certain provisions in the proposed Employment Guarantee Act during the course of the year. The year 2004 also saw the Commission conduct a series of Regional level Public Hearings on Access to Health Care Delivery System across the length and breadth of the country which culminated in a 2-day National Level Hearing at Delhi that came out with an Action Plan to operationalize the Right to Health Care. A meeting of Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of all the States/Union Territories was also held in the month of December.
For the year 2003-04, the number of complaints received and registered were nearly 74,000 as compared to the mere 500 it received when the Commission came into being. During the calendar year, allegations against the police accounted for the maximum complaints received. Complaints of violations of the rights of women, service matters, mafia/underworld, conditions in jails and discrimination against SC/ST/OBCs constituted a significant number.
The steady increase is a reflection of the growing stature of the Commission as a body to be approached for redressal. This also highlights the level of awareness generated amongst the public on human rights.
Year 2004 also saw one of its Members, Justice (Smt.) Sujata V. Manohar completing her term in September 2004 upon attaining the age of 70 years and Shri Nirmal Singh taking over from Shri P.S.S. Thomas as the Secretary General of the Commission

Punjab Mass Cremation
It was no small achievement for the Commission when on 11 November 2004 it announced a compensation of Rs. 2.5 lakh to the next of kin of the 109 victims who died and were cremated by the Punjab police during its anti-terror drive in 1984-94. It said the "human rights of these 109 persons stood invaded and infringed when they lost their lives, while in the custody of the police". It held "The State of Punjab accountable and vicariously responsible for the infringement of the indefeasible right to life of those 109 persons as it failed to safeguard their lives.
At the time of pronouncing the orders the Commission also warned that the State couldn't go overboard in its war against terrorism by chilling civil liberties. It said that in the fight against terrorism; sensitization level of human rights cannot be allowed to be sacrificed. A critical task of striking a fair balance by way of security concerns and human rights is to be performed and need of proportionality must not be ignored while fighting war against terrorism relentlessly. Counter terrorism measures should, therefore, not undermine democratic values or subvert the rule of law, it said. The Commission continues to hear the remaining cases of mass cremations as referred to it by the Supreme Court.
Human Rights Violation by Army
Reports of alleged violation of Human Rights by the security Forces prompted the Chairperson Dr. Justice A.S. Anand to hold a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff Gen. N.C. Vij earlier this year. The Chief of Army staff assured the Chairperson that Human Rights figures very high in the Army's operational matrix and it remains committed to do everything possible. The Army Chief also gave details of the action taken against different ranks for violation of Human Rights. Informing Justice Anand that the army is taking cognizance of not only the violations reported by the Commission but also those by others, including the ones reported in the media, he stated that officers of the rank of Colonel have been specifically designated in various headquarters to monitor and follow-up cases of human rights violations reported against the Army personnel

Human Rights in the States:
To review the action taken by the State Governments on a number of issues relating to human rights, on which the Commission has been working with them, the Commission, on 14 December 2004, held a meeting with the Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of all States/UTs.
The day-long deliberations focused on the functioning of human rights cells set up in the States; Special Area Security Acts/Bills; atrocities on minorities and SCs/STs; compliance of directions of the Commission in respect of the payment of compensation/disciplinary action; the human rights situation in jails, including issues such as overcrowding, regular inspections, mentally ill prisoners, custodial deaths and rape; manual scavenging; problems of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes; the state-wise reviews conducted by the NHRC in respect of child labour/bonded labour, disability-related human rights issues; trafficking of women; child marriages/registration of marriages; sexual harassment of women in the work place, rights of the mentally ill - conditions of mental hospitals; training of officials - police, judicial/prison administrators, the inclusion of issues relevant to human rights in the induction/in-service course of all training institutions under State Governments.
All the States/UTs were represented at the meeting. The Chief Secretaries and DGPs engaged in a most useful discussion and gave their suggestions on each of the items discussed.

Police Atrocities
The Commission continued to monitor the deaths that take place in judicial and police custody, which have to be reported to it within 24 hours. Monthly reports prepared on the basis of the reported deaths enable the Commission to keep track of the trends. Besides this, the Commission also conducted a number of training programmes and regional level debate competitions to create awareness on Human Rights amongst the police personnel. Earlier the Commission used to conduct an annual debate competition for para- military forces in Delhi but this year in an attempt to involve wider participation, for the first time, it conducted debate competitions across the length and breadth of the country with the final to be held in Delhi.

Public Health and Human Rights
The Commission, during the year 2004, carried out a massive exercise to find out the inadequacies that exist in the Health Care System of the country. This was done by holding daylong Public Hearings where selected cases of instances of individuals or groups having suffered denial of right to healthcare, and having not received mandated healthcare from a public health facility, were presented before a panel consisting of the NHRC and the State level public Health officials. Similarly, violations of health rights due to structural deficiencies in any other health facility were also presented.
The Regional Hearings culminated in a 2-day National Public Hearing held in Delhi on 16 and 17 December 2004 which was inaugurated by the Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss. After two days of deliberations a National Action Plan to operationalize the Right to Health Care was framed. Besides spelling out the objectives of the Plan it contained recommendations to the Government of India, Union Health Ministry, the State Government/State Health Ministries, to the SHRCs as well as NGOs and civil society organizations. These Public Hearings were held in collaboration with the NGO, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan.
The Chairperson of the Commission on 29 January 2004 addressed letters to the Prime Minister of India as well as to the Chief Ministers of States/Union Territories urging them to take steps to prevent illegal trade in human organs.
The Chairperson also addressed letters to the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Health Minister and Chief Ministers of all States/UTs on 6 September 2004 urging them to take steps to prevent discrimination of children affected by HIV/AIDS in their access to education and healthcare. In particular, the Commission asked them to enact and enforce legislation to prevent children living with HIV/AIDS from being discriminated against, including being barred from school, address school fees and related costs that keep children especially girls, from going to school, provide care and protection to children whose parents are unable to care for them due to HIV/AIDS and provide all children both in and out of school, with comprehensive, accurate and age-appropriate information about HIV/AIDS.
The Commission had constituted an Expert Group to study the existing system for emergency medical care in India, and to suggest appropriate models of emergency medical care, which should be developed by different States/Union Territories and their essential components. The Group submitted its report on 7 April 2004. It reviewed the existing scenario and the Centralized Accident and Trauma Services (CATS). In their report, the Group stated that nearly 4,00,000 persons loose their lives due to injuries, nearly 75,00,000 persons are hospitalized and 3,50,000 persons have minor injuries receiving emergency care at various places in India. It stated that the present EMS in the country is functioning sub-optimally and requires upgradation. The report revealed the lacunae, which exist in the present EMS and made a number of recommendations for implementation in the short-term and in the long term. These recommendations were sent to Health Secretary, Director General of Health Services, Government of India and Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs on 12 May 2004.
This year, the Commission also set-up an Expert Group to look into the issue of Unsafe Drugs and Medical Devices and held a meeting with the Health Secretary, Government of India on the issue of Fluorosis.

Rights of SCs and STs
A comprehensive Report on 'Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes authored by Shri K.B. Saxena was released by the Commission this year. As a follow-up measure, copies of the report along with a letter written by the Chairperson were sent to various authorities, both in the Central and State Governments requesting them to take necessary action. The letter listed some of the recommendations, which were suggested in the report as ways and means to prevent atrocities against Scheduled Castes.
The Commission also convened a meeting on 28 May 2004 of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and activists in an attempt to get a first hand account of the difficulties faced by them.
Combating Trafficking in Women and Children
Trafficking in women and children is a violation of several human rights and everything that makes for a life with dignity. It is today one of the fastest growing areas of national and international criminal activity.
As the NHRC is engaged in the task of better protection and promotion of human rights, it initiated an Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children in India, which was conducted jointly by the Commission, UNIFEM and the Institute of Social Sciences, an NGO based in New Delhi.
Based on the Action Research on 'Trafficking in Women and Children in India 2002-03', a report was compiled and released in the month of August 2004. It was for the first time in history a study of this dimension was commissioned by the NHRC. The research process was action-oriented and action packed with several activities of anti-trafficking (including prevention, protection and prosecution) being ignited, aided and facilitated by the NHRC-UNIFEM-ISS network. The study was both extensive and intensive, as well as multi-dimensional and multi-centric. Not only the push and pull factors have been studied but even the demand side had been looked into, by interviewing the 'victims' and traffickers, many of whom are at large, as the law never caught up with them.
The research laid bare the multi-dimensional nature of the problem, loopholes in the law, gaps in law enforcement, involvement of organized mafia and the agonies of the victims. It also revealed that India serves as a source, transit and destination where thousands of women and children are exploited day in and day out. It revealed that an important feature of the trafficking network is an efficient coordination of what appears to be a fragmented process and that the actors in the trafficking network collaborate each other.
The above Action Research has been instrumental in creating a network of Nodal Officers throughout the country whereby two Nodal Officers, one from the Police Department (dealing with investigation, detection, prosecution and prevention of trafficking) and the other representing the welfare agencies dealing with rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and economic/social empowerment of the victims and prospective victims, have been appointed in each State/Union Territory to monitor the problem of trafficking.
The Commission also organized a two-day National workshop to Review the Implementation of Laws and Policies Related to "Trafficking: Towards an Effective Rescue and Post-Rescue Strategy on 27 and 28 February 2004 in Mumbai and an another seminar on the same subject was held at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi on 3 December 2004.

Rights of the mentally ill
The Commission decided to file an intervention for impleading the NHRC as a party in the High Court of Punjab & Haryana to assist the Court in the pending civil writ petition in the case of mentally ill undertrials and victims who are languishing in jail because of their mental condition. This decision of the NHRC was taken while pursuing the case of Jai Singh, a mentally ill patient who continues to remain in custody as an undertrial prisoner in Ambala Central Jail for nearly 27 years and in order to achieve the objective of protecting and promoting human rights as well as to prevent further violation of human rights to the life and liberty of the undertrials.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
When C.S.P. Anka Toppo of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was awarded the degree in MBBS and registered with Delhi Medical Council in March this year, it marked the culmination of the Commission's effort at securing his rights.
Anka Toppo had been selected for admission in the MBBS course at AIIMS, New Delhi in 1989. After his first and second professional examinations, he was to appear in the final examination in December 1993 when he developed problems in his eyes in September 1993. This gradually reduced his vision and eventually he became totally blind.
As a result of his physical condition, the Medical Council of India refused him permission to take the examination. Anka Toppo then approached the Commission. The Commission discussed the case with the authorities at AIIMS and managed to persuade the examining body to amend the examination procedure to enable him to appear at the final examination. He then went on to give his final examination and cleared it and successfully completed his internship.
Besides this, the Commission also held a major training programme for trainers on the Rights of the Disabled at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore in the month of July 2004 and another workshop at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad in October.

New Address
The New Year will see the NHRC function from its new office at Faridkot House. The Commission would be housed in an independent building with no other Government office operating from the same building unlike in Sardar Patel Bhavan. Its new address will be Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi - 110 001. The shifting to a different location in Delhi is aimed at making the Commission easily accessible to the public.
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