Human rights day

December 10: International Human Rights Day

Submitted by admin4 on 10 December 2010 - 11:48am

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By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: It has been 62 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into effect. The Magna Carta of human rights declares and urges all states to ensure respect for human rights and human dignity. The declaration came into force on December 10, 1948, is considered ‘the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’. Though the declaration is not a formal treaty, its significance is so widely accepted that today no country can deny its relevance and contribution to the human rights norms.

In 1950, all States and interested organizations were invited by the United Nations General Assembly to observe 10 December as Human Rights Day. The UN also adopted a resolution – 423(V) – to mark the anniversary of the Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Thus a significant day was born. And now, states, interested organizations and individuals observe this day with different programmes aiming to raise awareness about the protection and promotion of human rights all over the world.

It would be interesting to know that the term ‘human rights’ though a common terminology, is a recent phenomenon. In ancient texts and other writing ‘human rights’ was never used. Religious commands contained human rights elements which can be treated as early ‘natural rights’. Religious commands like ‘thou shall not steal’, ‘love thy neighbour’, ‘atithi devo bhava’, etc are important elements of human rights. The Roman concept of Jus gentium- those rules which Romans discovered to be common to all civilized societies - can be cited as another example.

The Church as an institution dominated the natural rights discourse in the middle ages. Concepts like ‘divine rights of the kings’ or kings represent God dominated the discourse. The Magna Carta is hailed as the first document that codified the elements of modern day human rights. The Magna Carta signed in 1215 contained certain terms that limited the power of the state like “no man will we sell, to no man will we deny justice”. Wikipedia informs that it was also the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges.

The Glorious Revolution, 1688 also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England. The declaration resulting from the revolution called the Declaration of Rights, 1688, is characterized by the first appearance of the term ‘rights’ and it ended the King’s claim to absolute rule by Divine Right and imposed upon him accountability to the Parliament.

The French Declaration of 1789 contains a detailed description of ‘natural, inalienable, sacred rights of man’ like presumption of innocence and legal process for arrest and detention. The United States Constitution adopted in 1789 for the first time contained a detailed codified human rights chapter called the ‘Bill of Rights’ that guarantees habeas corpus, fair trial and due process of law. The French Declaration and the American Constitution’s Bill of Rights became the present day model for human rights guarantees at national and international levels.

It was the United Nations Organisation that came into being in 1945, which coined the term ‘human rights’. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several other human rights declarations, guiding principles, resolutions and covenants etc form the human rights documents and norms.

There are also regional human rights standards developed in the last century.

Human rights in India

The Constitution of India guarantees a wide range of human rights under the Part III of the Constitution. The presence of vibrant media and activist judiciary has done a commendable job in upholding the spirit of the human rights. But still the human rights situation in India remains grim since independence and is a growing concern for the civil society. Torture and ill-treatment, custodial deaths, extra-judicial executions and forced and involuntary disappearances remain a concern for people advocating human rights in India. Armed groups also commit grave human rights abuses, including killings, tortures and rapes, with impunity.

With reference to the human rights violations in north east India especially under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, several observations were communicated to the Government of India by the international human rights bodies. Some of these observations are given below.

Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination observed (CERD/C/IND/CO/19) on 5 May 2007:

“The Committee notes with concern that the State party [India] has not implemented the recommendations of the Committee to Review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (1958) to repeal the Act, under which members of the armed forces may not be prosecuted unless such prosecution is authorized by the Central Government and have wide powers to search and arrest suspects without a warrant or to use force against persons or property in Manipur and other north-eastern States which are inhabited by tribal peoples (arts. 2 (1) (c), 5 (b), (d) and 6).”

The Committee urges the State party to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and to replace it “by a more humane Act,” in accordance with the recommendations contained in the 2005 report of the above Review Committee set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It also requests the State party to release the report.

Committee on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW observed in 2007:

“The Committee is concerned that the State party has not taken adequate steps to implement the recommendations in regard to some concerns raised in the Committee’s previous concluding comments adopted in 2000.” (See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/55/38). The Committee reiterates the concerns and recommendations in the concluding comments adopted in 2000 and urges the State party to proceed without delay with their implementation. The Committee requests the State party to provide information on the steps being taken to abolish or reform the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and to ensure that investigation and prosecution of acts of violence against women by the military in disturbed areas and during detention or arrest is not impeded.

Human Rights Committee or HRC observed in 1997:

“The Committee regrets that some parts of India have remained subject to declaration as disturbed areas over many years - for example the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has been applied throughout Manipur since 1980 and in some areas of that state for much longer - and that, in these areas, the State party is in effect using emergency powers without resorting to article 4, paragraph 3, of the Covenant. Therefore: the Committee recommends that the application of these emergency powers be closely monitored so as to ensure its strict compliance with the provisions of the Covenant.”

Being the largest democracy in the world and as a growing influential country in the world India needs to be more concerned about the human rights issues and foster a culture of human rights through protection and promotion of the same along with the rule of law not only in the country but the world over.

[Photo by http://passiontounderstand.blogspot.com]