8/6/2019 Are Rights Going Wrong Way

1/3

Are Rights Going Wrong Way?By Ravishankar Panda

UNCHR 'concerned' over Iraqi prisoners' statusMay 06, 2004, The United Nations Commission on Human Rights expressed "serious concern"over the "uncertain" legal status of many detainees being interrogated in Iraq and asked the

Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council to clarify the legal status of eachperson.Rediffmail/News

New charges of Iraqi prisoner abuse; Rumsfeld to testify before CongressMay 07, 2004, Washington, New charges of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by the US-led occupationforce emerged as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld prepared to testify before Congress, aday after President George W. Bush was forced to apologize for the first time for his troops.Channel News Asia

Historical BackgroundThere had been several instances in the history when an autocratic ruler was dethroned by thepeople led by some activist/activists as a result of dissents rising because of atrocities of the king

or violation of social ethics. Such an example is Nanda king was dethroned by ChandraguptaMaurya under the guidance of Chankya.

The concept of human rights has existed under several names in European thoughts for manycenturies, at least since the time of King John of England. After the king violated a number ofancient laws and customs by which England had been governed, his subjects forced him to signthe Magna Carta, or Great Charter, which enumerates a number of what later came to be thoughtof as human rights.

In the late 1700s two revolutions occurred which drew heavily on this concept. In 1776 most of theBritish colonies in North America proclaimed their independence from the British Empire.

In 1789 the people of France overthrew their monarchy and established the first French Republic.

Out of the revolution came the "Declaration of the Rights of Man."The term natural rights eventually fell into disfavor, but the concept of universal rights took root.Philosophers such as Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, and Henry David Thoreau expanded theconcept. Thoreau is the first philosopher who used the term, "human rights" in his treatise, CivilDisobedience. This work left extreme influence on individuals like Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi,and Martin Luther King. Gandhi and King, in particular, developed their ideas on non-violentresistance to unethical government actions from this work.

For the last part of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century, though, human rightsactivism remained largely tied to political and religious groups and beliefs. Revolutionaries pointedat the atrocities of governments as proof that their ideology was necessary to bring about changeand end the government's abuses.

Human Rights: Taking Shapes

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the assembly called upon allmember countries to publicize the text of the declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated,displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, withoutdistinction based on the political status of countries or territories." It is the first multinationaldeclaration mentioning human rights by name, and the human rights movement has largelyadopted it as a charter.

8/6/2019 Are Rights Going Wrong Way

2/3

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought withsticks and stones."Albert Einstein

The United Nations Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and UN Human Rightscovenants were written and implemented in the aftermath of the holocaust, revelations comingfrom the Nuremberg war crimes trials, the atomic bomb, and other horrors smaller in magnitude

but not in impact on the individuals they affected. A whole lot of people in a number of countrieshad a crisis of conscience and found they could no longer look the other way while tyrants jailed,tortured, and killed their neighbours.

Over the years combinations of these concerns and others led to formation of other human rightsgroups. Among them were groups which later merged to form Human Rights Watch, the first ofthem being Helsinki Watch in 1978. Regional human rights watchdog groups often operated underextremely difficult conditions, especially those in the Soviet block.

Other regional groups formed after military takeovers in Chile in 1973, in East Timor in 1975, inArgentina in 1976, and after the Chinese Democracy Wall Movement in 1979.

Recognition for the human rights movement, and Amnesty International in particular, grew duringthe 1970s. Amnesty gained permanent observer status as an NGO at the United Nations. Its

reports became mandatory reading in legislatures, state departments and foreign ministriesaround the world.

United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR)The main themes addressed by the Commission are: the right to self-determination; racism; theright to development; the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories,including Palestine; the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in anypart of the world; economic, social and cultural rights; civil and political rights, including thequestions of torture and detention, disappearances and summary executions, freedom ofexpression, the independence of the judiciary, impunity and religious intolerance; the human rightsof women, children, migrant workers, minorities and displaced persons; indigenous issues; thepromotion and protection of human rights, including the work of the Sub-Commission, treatybodies and national institutions; and advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of

human rights.

One of the most important tasks entrusted to the Commission has been the elaboration of humanrights standards. In 1948 it concluded work on the landmark Universal Declaration of HumanRights. Since then it has developed standards relating, inter alia, to the right to development, civiland political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, the elimination of racial discrimination,torture, the rights of the child and the rights of human rights defenders.

All States that accept these standards are obliged to implement the rights they entail and to reportregularly to international bodies set up to monitor their compliance.Where problems are identified, the Commission can take action to address them. It regularlyrequests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide assistance toGovernments through its programme of advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of

human rights. This assistance takes the form of expert advice, human rights seminars, nationaland regional training courses and workshops, fellowships and scholarships, and other activities.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a part of the UnitedNations Secretariat, provides secretariat services to the Commission on Human Rights and toother human rights meetings. The Office is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

In India National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), an autonomous body, supervises the cases

8/6/2019 Are Rights Going Wrong Way

3/3

of violation of the basic rights of a citizen. Justice JS Anand is presently chairperson of thecommission. NHRC came into existence in 1993 after the National Human Right Act 1993 withJustice Rangnath Mishra as the first chairperson.

Roles of NHRC

Inquire, suo motu (on its own) or on a petition presented to if by a victim or any

person on his behalf, into complaint ofi. violation of human rights or abatement thereof orii. negligence in the prevention of such violation, by a public servant;

Intervene in any proceeding involving any allegation of violation of human rightspending before a court with the approval of such court;

Visit, under intimation to the State Government, any jail or any other institutionunder the control of the State Government, where persons are detained or lodgedfor purposes of treatment, reformation or protection to study the living conditions ofthe inmates and make recommendations thereon;

Review the safeguards provided by or under the Constitution or any law for the timebeing in force for the protection of human rights and recommend measures for theireffective implementation;

Review the factors, including acts of terrorism that inhibit the enjoyment of human

rights and recommend appropriate measures; Study treaties and other international instruments on human rights and make

recommendations for their effective implementation;

Undertake and promote research in the field of human rights and the efforts of non-governmental organisations and institutions working in the field of human rights

Spread human rights literacy among various sections of society and promoteawareness of the safeguards available for the protection of these rights throughpublications, the media, seminars, and other available means;

Human Rights in IndiaBy large human rights situation is not very bright in India. Terrorism, communalism and casteismare the major factors that make the human rights situation worse. Moreover legal illiteracy makesthe common people afraid of claiming their rights. Communal violence, under custody deaths,

sexual harassment and misbehaviour with lower caste women, child labour, bonded labour,misuse of acts like POTA, unethical behaviour of armed forces in the terrorism affected states likeJammu and Kashmir, north-eastern states are only a few examples that occur every other day inthe country. The human rights situation in the rural area is grim in comparison to the urban onesbecause of prevailing traditional social differences. The caste based politics and power orientedpolitician is changing the social equation against the minorities in the rural areas where they liveunder constant fear.

One thing for sure that media has made the people more aware about the various atrocities madeby the authorities. Though the government takes action but the slow judicial process does notencourage the people to come forward in protest. NHRC is working to improve India's image in theinternational arena but politically motivated incidence like Godhara which keep on happeningblackens the shining India's face.