The International Human Rights Day on December 10 is celebrated worldwide since Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the year 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. Today there are 192 countries as members of United Nations, which came into existence in post Second World War aiming to bring peace to the world. Slogan of this year’s Human Rights Day is ‘Stand up for someone’s rights today with compassion, concern and mutual co-existence.’
The UDHR is an international document of 30 rights which the member countries need to disseminate among people for promoting awareness on human rights and for its realization by all human beings irrespective of their identities and place of birth.
The first article of the document says that we are all born free and equal. It includes a range of rights, the right to life without slavery, discrimination and torture. It says about equality before law and protection of human rights by law. The document affirms the right to freedom, democracy, freedom of thought and expression, privacy, mobility, nationality, right to marriage and family. The right to food and shelter, education, social security, and responsibility are interrelated for a dignified life. The end part of the document says that no one can take away your human rights.
The International Bill of Human Rights is a human rights law which includes UDHR and International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) produced by the UN Human Rights Commission as international law since 1976. The countries which have ratified ICCPR have agreed to allow the human rights committee to investigate allegations by individuals and organisations of their country that have violated human rights but before that the complainants have to exhaust all legal remedies available in their own country.
During the years after the World War II, the understanding and connotations of human rights have been getting widened in the changing global context by including civil rights, peace, anti-war, terrorism, migration, refugees, environment and climate change issues. The issues of poverty and increasing inequality, discrimination and exclusion of communities and democratic insufficiencies have become a global human rights concern and emerged as challenges for human rights. The UN has set up the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to achieve some of the basic human rights such as food, shelter, health and education for all.
In spite of progress in many fronts, to day millions of people, mostly children, women, elders, PWDs, ethnic minorities, indigenous people, sexual minorities, lGBTs, race and caste discriminated communities and working class continue to suffer in realization of their human rights to live with dignity.
The historical battles for human rights witnessed many stalwarts those who continue to inspire the human rights movement in many fronts and their remarkable struggles have changed the human rights discourses. The ideas and work of Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)of USA who is credited for the UDHR document , MK Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar, Martin luther King Jr (1929-1968), Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), Desmond Tutu, and Aung San Kuukyi of Myanmar and many others are a continual source of inspiration for struggle against race, caste and gender-based discriminations existing around the world.
There have been powerful peoples’ movements going on in many parts of the world to establish civil rights, dignity and equality in social life. The post independent human rights movement in India witnessed multiple issues of human rights violation against the women, Dalits, Adivasies, indigenous ethic groups and religious and linguist minorities who are deprived of their basic socio-cultural, economic and political rights as citizens of the country. There is a series of human rights laws and dedicated institutions built in the country for the protection and promotion of human rights and specially to defend the poor and weak from injustice and exploitation. But still these laws have not reached to many of the poorest of the poor and vulnerable groups and individuals suffering with miseries and injustice which need a collective commitment of all human beings in the universe. It is globally understood in the famous saying of Martin luther King that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
The practice of respect for human rights must be reflected in our day-to-day personal life, in families, schools and work places by making all efforts of spreading human rights education as well as practices to build a society based on values and principles of liberty, equality and fraternity and utmost respect for human dignity.
The Constitution of India and international covenants and UDHR paved the way for the foundation for the Human Rights Act 1993 under which human rights commissions are in place to address the issues of human rights violation of people in general and the women, SCs, STs, and minorities in particular. There are human rights bodies at State and national levels such as the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women and National Commission for Minorities. There have been provisions of human rights courts and special public prosecutor along with provisions of legal aid for speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of human rights.
There are many civil society groups, private bodies, activists and community voluntary organisations engaged in promotion and protection of human rights of the vulnerable groups who are struggling without adequate support of the Government. They are prone to physical and mental harassment and humiliation by anti-social forces and sometimes by police and paramilitary forces. There has been a discussion about the rights of human rights defenders by the UN and it is being reported that sometimes in conflicting situations, the human rights defenders are facing life threat while discharging their duty and a few of them even have lost their life. The Government must take adequate steps to ensure the safety and security of human rights defenders and promote and encourage defenders to strengthen rights movement to building a law-abiding peaceful society.
The Odisha Human Rights Commission came into operation in the year 2003. It is reported in the annual report of 2013-14 of the commission that 6,656 cases have been pending for trial and only 1,727 cases have been disposed by the commission. It shows an increasing rate of human rights violation in the State and particularly, the vulnerable sections like the women, children, SCs, STs, PVTGs, PWDs and minorities. More worrying is the fact that the rate of disposal of cases is very negligible. It is found that the cases of human rights violations by police and paramilitary forces are increasing in number. It is a fact that a majority of people are not aware about the existence of human rights bodies due to lack of information about such bodies and their activities. In a backward State such as Odisha with more SC and ST population, it needs more proactive human rights institutional mechanism to ensure justice without delay.
It is good that in many cases of public interest, the Odisha Human Rights Commission has intervened on its own and passed many exemplary judgments. There should be human rights courts in each district and adequate public prosecutors from among vulnerable communities of the State must be recruited to improve the justice delivery system with social inclusion. The human rights institutions and State must have adequate allocation of funds to disseminate human rights education among the students and youths in educational institutions, schools, colleges and universities. Media has a major role in projecting issues of human rights violation and matter of public interest.
The Government has to support the initiatives of media, human rights organisations for realisation of human rights. The UDHR must reach to all people of the State to build an inclusive Odisha.
(*manasbbsr15@gmial.com)