The United Nations Human Rights Council will examine India’s human rights record this week in Geneva. UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will look into issues related to freedom of speech, violence against Dalits, minorities and use of excessive force by security forces among others during its review. This will be the third time India will be reviewed — previous occasions being in April 2008 and May 2012.
The UPR is a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. India is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during the session taking place from 1 to 12 May. Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi will lead the Indian delegation that will make a presentation and defend India’s case on Thursday (May 4). The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs for the review of India are latvia, Philippines and South Africa.
The documents on which the reviews are based are National Report (information provided by the State under review); information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; and information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.
Among the issues raised in these documents are those pertaining to addressing discrimination, stigmatization and violence against Dalits (Scheduled Castes); limits on free speech and on the work of human rights defenders; attacks on religious minorities; reports of excessive use of force by security officers, including in Jammu and Kashmir; combating impunity and ensuring accountability; delays in judicial proceedings.
Eliminating criminalization of same-sex relations; combatting violence against women, human trafficking, early and forced marriages, violence against children and child labour; tackling harmful traditional practices, such as ‘honour killings’ ; ensuring business sector complied with human rights and labour standards; combatting extreme poverty and the situation of landless people; improving access to safe water and sanitation; inequalities in access to health services, and high levels of neonatal mortality, stunting, malnutrition and underweight children.