Human Rights Day observed by the National Human Rights Commission

In commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948, the National Human Rights Commission, on 10 December 2001, observed Human Rights Day. H.E. Dr. K.R. Narayanan, the President of India, was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

Speaking of the history of human rights, The President said that the twentieth century would be remembered as a century of war and violence interspersed by struggles for human rights. “Ordinary and deprived people, women and excluded groups, and other sections of society exploited for centuries have now been awakened and are demanding their rights as human beings”.

Appreciating the work being done by the Commission, the President said that the central strategy of the NHRC, right since its inception, has been to give priority to the securing of the rights of the most deprived and excluded. He applauded the Commission’s role in according priority to preventive measures to safeguard the human rights of the people of the country. The President quoted the NHRC Chairperson Justice J.S. Verma on having observed, “Not only must the violation of human rights be taken care of, prevention of such violation was equally if not more important”.

The President emphasized that the weaker sections of society suffered the most from human rights failures in the economic, social and cultural areas, which were at the root of serious social and economic problems being faced by our society. The effective way to solve such problems and a ensure civilized existence for all of the people of the country was by guaranteeing the human rights of the weaker sections of society in full measure. He again quoted Justice J.S. Verma, who had observed: “Denial of empowerment to sections of society is a denial of basic human rights”. The President added ‘It is heartening that the National Human Rights Commission has oriented its policies and actions in this regard in a meaningful manner. Its demand for total abolition of scavenging by 2nd October 2002, its emphasis on implementation of government programmes meant for weaker sections of society, its stress on public health care and adequate nutrition for poor people, and above all its constant refrain that Central and State Governments adopt such policies which can empower weaker sections of society, are concrete examples of its efforts to look at human rights issue in a comprehensive manner’.

Dr. Narayanan called upon all to remember and reiterate that women’s rights were human rights. Women were now themselves launching movements to realize their human rights. Formation of self-help groups by women for economic empowerment, their large-scale participation in the campaign for the right to information and their active involvement in decision- making bodies such as Panchayats through the provisions of affirmative action in our Constitution were heart-warming examples of the women’s movement for attaining their human rights. Mentioning the work done by NHRC in this regard, the President said “I do appreciate and applaud the vital steps taken by the National Human Rights Commission in championing the human rights for women. A perusal of its annual reports and its Human Rights Newsletters sharply brings out the important initiatives of the Commission in this regard. For instance in its Annual Report of 1998-99 it has observed, ‘There is a clear correlation between lack of literacy, especially of the girl child and infant mortality rates, malnutrition and adverse sex-ratio’. While dealing with the reported starvation deaths in Orissa, particularly in Kalahandi district of that State, the Commission had underlined the point that functioning of the Public Distribution Systems should be made more effective and, in this connection, recommended that involvement of self-help groups formed by women can go a long way in the smooth functioning of the Public Distribution Systems. While dealing with the issues of equity and justice as enshrined in our Constitution it has underlined that violence and discrimination suffered by women strikes at the very root of our human rights. It also accepts suggestions coming from civil society to improve human rights of women. It is heartening to note from its Newsletter of May 2001 that it remained sensitive to a suggestion of a NGO, Uttam Environment Awareness Mission of Jammu and Kashmir, to change the nomenclature of widows from `Vidhvah’ to `Wife of Late….’ or Dharma Patni of Swargiya….’ etc. to preserve the dignity of such women. Accordingly the Commission has made appropriate recommendations to the authorities concerned. The Newsletter of June 2001 specially focused on sexual harassment of women at work places and outlined the consultations carried by the Commission with the government departments, private institutions as well as NGOs for the setting-up of complaint mechanisms to redress grievances arising out of the sexual harassment of women. Along with the landmark Supreme Court judgment on this matter, the efforts of the Commission will go a long way in tackling the menace faced by women at work places”.

Appreciating the work of the Commission in securing the rights of the minorities and the deprived, the President added “The Commission has been vigilant in warding off the attack on human rights of the deprived people and also those of the minorities whose rights are enshrined in our Constitution. When the attack on minorities, particularly on Christians, assumed alarming proportions the Commission took suo-motu cognizance of the matter and took necessary steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents. The observation that religious fundamentalism severely challenges human rights of people assumes great significance”.

Underscoring the role played by the NHRC in safeguarding the right to health and a clean environment, the President said “Again let me refer to the significant role played by National Human Rights Commission in adopting an innovative approach to address the issue. I recall that in 1996, only three years after it was set up, it issued notice to a particular State Government, seeking details about the ecological disaster faced by people in some districts due to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water. In another example of innovative intervention the Commission directed the Government to save people from the menace of lotteries”.

Dr. Narayanan said that the scope of human rights had been expanded by judicial interpretation of the fundamental rights, including the right to life, which in its expanded form now encapsulates the right to health, right to clean air and right to education. The recent judicial intervention to identify the poor so that surplus food grains reached them through various schemes was yet another example of vindication of the human rights of the economically deprived sections of our society by our law courts. These positive and historic developments were encouraging for the long-suffering people.

Making a mention of the work done by NHRC in respect of disasters both natural and man-made, the President said, “The initiatives of the National Human Rights Commission in safeguarding the human rights of the victims of natural calamites are indeed admirable. During the super cyclone in Orissa and the earthquake in Gujarat the Commission took cognizance of the calamity on its own and underlined the importance of the human rights of victims to compensation and other assistance and their right to know their entitlements to various forms of relief. Remaining sensitive to the fact that the worst sufferers of such disasters are poor people, women and children, the Commission was concerned with relief and rehabilitation measures so that human rights of vulnerable sections of people are not further violated. Particularly the Commission focused on the rights of those who lost their husbands and stressed on provision of relief to poor, women, children and older persons. To protect the right to health of the victims, it advised the State Government to be vigilant about availability of safe drinking water and maintenance of sanitation standards for the victims.

The role of the National Human Rights Commission in protecting the human rights of the victims of the natural calamities was further bolstered during the Gujarat earthquake when the State High Court requested it to take the “necessary action…in redressing the complaints of violation of human rights in accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993”. The High Court also asked the Commission to appoint a district judge in each district as Ombudsman to receive complaints from the victims. Thus the involvement of not only the State machinery but also the Human Rights Commission and the judiciary in protecting the human rights of the people affected by disasters is praiseworthy. I was particularly happy to note the vigilance of the Commission in declaring that flooding due to non-opening of the gates of a particular dam and not regulating its water flow by the officials in Orissa constituted the violation of human rights of the affected people. Similarly, it held that negligence and professional failure of highly placed officials of the district in the cyclone hit areas constituted similar violation. To my mind the alertness shown, the initiatives taken by the NHRC to protect human rights of the affected people constitute landmark events in the annals of human rights anywhere in the world”.

Expressing concern about the need to spread human rights education, Dr. Narayanan said “India’s Human Rights Commission has held a series of meetings with government departments, educational institutions and training agencies for training personnel and preparing material for human rights education”.

The President felt that it was by sensitizing the people as well as those in authority that we can inculcate the values as well as practice of human rights in society. We need to build up a human rights conscience in every individual and in society as a whole in order to realize the noble objectives enshrined in our constitution to secure to all our citizens, Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; and Equality of Status and Opportunity.

Dr. Narayanan pointed out that the vast number of cases on human rights violations that came before NHRC was an indication of the emerging consciousness of the people about their human rights and their fervent hope that the Commission could meet out justice to them. He added that, to further enlarge and empower the Commission and ensure its independence for effective action, NHRC’s suggestion that the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 be amended to allow the Commission to make its annual reports public in case the government did not lay them in Parliament within three months of their submission, needs to be considered seriously. The President congratulated the Commission for its remarkable and path-breaking work.

Justice J.S. Verma, Chairperson of NHRC, emphasized the need for human dignity and human rights as embodied in our Constitution. He stressed the need to ensure all human rights for all, which was in keeping with the motto of the Commission. He said that respect for human rights was consistent with the rule of law. In the new millennium, global and national inequities were very high; discrimination and poverty were the main scourges. Eighty per cent of the total wealth of all nations was enjoyed by one-fifth of the world population. The aim should be to bridge this gap and ensure that all the third generation human rights were respected, in addition to the traditional civil and political rights, and economic and social rights.

Speaking about the autonomy of the National Human Rights Commission, the Chairperson said that this autonomy was necessary for the credibility of Commission and thus the credibility of the nation. This operational and functional autonomy could not be compromised at any cost and the Commission, time and again, had to assert its autonomy and put forth its independent view. The Chairperson reiterated the Commission’s recommendations in respect of the amendment of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. He said that though the proposed amendments had been sent to the Government in March 2000, either because of bureaucratic wrangles or political lack of will, nothing had been done till now.

The Director of the United Nations Information Centre, Mr. Feodor Starcevic read out the message of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on the occasion. In his message, the Secretary-General stated, “widespread violations of human rights in any State are a danger signal. They warn us that conflict is on the horizon. Only if we heed this warning, and take early action to uphold human rights, can we save the people of that State – and often its neighbours, too - from the scourge of war”.

During the course of the ceremony, the President of India inaugurated the Complaint Management System (CMS) module of NHRC designed to assist complainants. The CMS will help the Commission to track each case, monitor its status, identify bottlenecks and meet the information needs of the complainant. The module will be available on the web site of the Commission, enabling a complainant to check the status of his/her complaint in NHRC from any part of the world.

The President also released a poster of Mahatma Gandhi carrying his comment `It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow-beings’.