Round-up 2000, NHRC continues promoting and protecting human rights and expanding the essential freedoms to ensure life with human dignity for all citizens

The National Human Rights Commission completed 7 years of existence on 12 October 2000. The year 2000 began with the Chairperson of the Commission addressing separate letters to the Chief Justices and Chief Ministers of all States on 1 January 2000, emphasizing the need to make "every effort to improve our human rights record". The year witnessed more stress of the Commission in ensuring that the citizens of the country enjoyed their right to a life with dignity. It has endeavored to promote the concept of indivisibility of rights and the interdependent and inter-related character of civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. Its area of focus were human rights in places of insurgency and terrorism, custodial violence, systemic reforms of police, jails and the criminal justice system, review of laws and treaty obligations and societal issues like child and bonded labour, need for free and compulsory primary education, adequate health and nutrition, rights of the women, justice and equity for dalits and tribals and a host of other such issues.

As the reach of the Commission kept increasing the number of complaints received by the Commission has also been growing significantly. This growth has not only highlighted the growing awareness of human rights but also has proved the faith and belief, which the public has entrusted upon this Commission. Starting with 496 complaints in the first six months of its existence, the commission received 50,634 complaints in the period April 1999 to March 2000 and a total of 50,676 during 1 April 2000 to 28 December 2000. On an average approximately 257 complaints are registered every day of which about 110 pertain to police atrocities. The Commission has considered 30261 cases starting 1 April 2000 up to 28 December 2000. Complaints have been received from all States and Union Territories of the country, from all segments of society and from people with different political ideology including militant groups and their leaders. This also illustrates the people’s faith in the fairness of this Commission. Since inception, up to 28 December 2000, the Commission had received a total of 2,17,010 complaints.

In the light of experience gained in the administration of the Protection of Human Rights Act for more than five years, the Commission felt that a second look is necessary on the structural inadequacies in the constitutive law. The Commission was also of the view that appropriate changes in the Act were required to make it a more effective instrument for the protection and promotion of human rights. The Commission had thus, in June 1998, set up a high-level Advisory Committee headed by Justice A.M. Ahmadi to consider the various provisions of the Act and suggest appropriate changes in it. The Committee had submitted its recommendations in October 1999. Based on these recommendations, the Commission had made its final recommendations and sent to the Government on 7 March 2000. The major recommendations of the Commission have been in the areas of adequate statutory powers to enforce its orders, powers to investigate violation of human rights by personnel of armed and paramilitary forces, time limits to end delays in placing of the Commission’s Annual Report before the Parliament and enabling the Commission to inquire into any matter after the expiry of one year from the date on which the event had occurred.

In the sphere of prison management, which had always been a high priority area for the Commission, the Chairperson had written to the Chief Ministers of all the States and to the Administrators of the Union Territories asking them to issue clear directions to ensure that mentally ill persons were not kept in jail under any circumstances. On the other hand, the State Government should make proper arrangements for their treatment in approved mental institutions and not treat them as unwanted human beings. The Commission had been receiving distressing reports from different States regarding the sad plight of mentally ill persons languishing in prisons without receiving proper car and attention, which the Commission felt, was an egregious violation of human rights. Further, to sensitise middle level prison officials, the Commission held a workshop on human rights in prison administration with the object of sensitizing prison personnel who directly deal with the prisoners. The workshop attempted to generate awareness among them regarding the human rights of prisoners. The first ever visit of a NHRC Chairperson to the largest jail in Asia – the Tihar Jail – took place on 29 August 2000. Chairperson Justice J.S. Verma, visited the jail premises to get a first-hand impression of the prevailing conditions and the state of the prisoners lodged there. On the basis of the observations of the Chairperson, the Commission has forwarded a number of recommendations/decisions to the jail authorities as well as the Government of NCT of Delhi.

The Commission has been considering the problems of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes who constitute almost 2.5 per cent of the population of the country. Many of these tribes are still being treated, for all practical purposes as habitual offenders and there have been many instances of mob-lynching, arson and police brutality against the members of such tribes. At a high level meeting held by the Commission in February 2000, it was decided that the Habitual Offenders Act would be repealed. Representatives of all States having concentration of these tribes attended the meeting along with representatives of the Central Government and Smt. Mahasweta Devi, the President of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribals Rights Action Group. A number of welfare measures and steps were also adopted at the meeting.

The Commission has been advocating the concept of health and human rights. In this sphere, the Commission took up the rights of the children who are born with congenital mental disabilities because of prevalence of maternal anaemia. Recognizing the persistence of maternal anaemia, infant mortality, maternal mortality and morbidity, which were the anti-thesis of any notion of human development, the Commission addressed itself to these issues in a two-day workshop involving experts from various fields, disciplines and professions. In the light of the materials and statistics shared at the workshop, the Commission urged that strong and emergency measures be taken to deal with the problem. It has made a number of recommendations to the Government in this regard. Meanwhile upon the Commission’s proposal the Government of Andhra Pradesh is implementing a Pilot Project for controlling nutritional anaemia among pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls specially those belonging to the poorer sections of the society. This project is being taken up in the Mahboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs. 30.10 lakhs.

Another aspect of human rights and health that the Commission has taken up is the rights of those infected with HIV/AIDS. A two-day National Conference on this subject was organized by the Commission in association with UNAIDS, UNICEF, NACO and Lawyers Collective. It such addressed critical issues including human rights in the public health framework specially by those who affected by HIV. It focused on the need to spread awareness and preventive care to stem the spread of the virus. A major recommendations of the seminar was that access to drugs was an assertion of human rights and it was the primary responsibility of the State to ensure access the requisite drugs and medicare to all infected whether he or she could afford it or not. The Conference also called for reduction of prices of anti-retroviral drugs within the framework of WTO and intellectual property regime if necessary through the compulsory licensing route to enhance the accessibility of these drugs.

In a significant move, the Commission had taken an unanimous view on the Draft Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2000 which the Government of India was considering to table in the Parliament. The Commission held that there was no need for the enactment of such a law. It was in the performance of its statutory responsibility that the Commission had examined the need for enactment of such a law in its meeting held on 11 July 2000. The matter was considered not strictly from the point of view of its constitutional validity but on the need and wisdom of enacting such a law particularly in the light of the earlier experience with the TADA.

The Commission has once again reiterated to the Government of India its recommendation that it announce a date by which the nation and the world can expect the completion of ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture by India, and to abide by the date. India is already a signatory to this Convention. In his message to the nation on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, observed on 26 June 2000, the Chairperson asked the nation to focus on eradicating this scourge, which could be justified even during wars, insurgencies or public emergencies. It was forbidden by our

Constitution, our laws, categoric rulings of our Supreme Court and it is prohibited absolutely both under international humanitarian law and the human rights instruments of the United Nations.

An ongoing concern of the Commission has been the persistent existence of the child and bonded labour in the country. The Apex Court also had requested the Commission to take over the monitoring of the implementation of the directions of the Supreme Court and of the provisions of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. In this regard, the Commission during this year has constituted a group for preparing a report on the present status of bonded labour in the country. It shall make recommendations to improve the existing schemes and effectively implement the laws for abolition of bonded labour. The Commission has also constituted another expert group to go into the problems of bonded labour prevalent among the Kol Tribals of Uttar Pradesh. Another Committee has been set up to examine every aspect of employment of child labour in the Lock making industry in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The Commission had also taken up the issue of employment of children below 14 years as domestic servants by government servants. It had directed into both the Central Government as well as to the State government to amend the appropriate service conduct rules, which while prohibiting such employments would also make it a misconduct, inviting a major penalty. The Commission had been pursuing the matter with the Centre and the State since February, 1997. While the Government of India amended the Central Services (Conduct) Rule, 1964, on 4 October 1999 and the All India Services (Conduct) Rule, 1968, on 1 February 2000 and some States also amended their Rules, some other States are yet to do the needful.

On an average, the Commission receives about 110 complaints a day alleging police excesses of various kinds. Thus to review the human rights situation in the States, the Commission convened a meeting of the Director’s General of Police and Inspector’s General of Police of all States where the Commission asked them to adhere to the guidelines issued by the Commission on various matters specially relating to the police, as the failure to observe these guidelines eroded the credibility of the police force and diminished the dignity of the nation.

In view of several incidents of attacks on members of the Christian Community and their institutions in the recent past, the Commission had issued notices to the Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories as well to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, calling for reports on the measures taken by them in this behalf and the plan of action drawn up by them to meet the situation. The Commission felt that it was necessary to preserve the secular credentials of the nation and to fulfill the promise of fraternity and common brotherhood envisaged in our Constitution. It’s directions were based on the need to take a holistic view of the situation as well as to inspire requisite confidence amongst the members of the Christian community who appear to b e feeling insecure at that time. The Commission is in the process of going through the reports that have been received from the respective governments.

With a view to facilitating contact by the public with the Commission in case of emergencies after office hours and on holidays, the Commission has designated a special telephone number for receiving complaints. A senior officer of the Commission is in-charge of this facility and attends to the complaints that are reported. It has proved to be very useful to the public and has enhanced to the reach of the Commission.