-----Justice H. Suresh
Q 1: What is meant by Human Rights?
Answer: Human Rights are universal legal guarantees protecting individuals and groups against actions which interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity.
Q 2: What are its important characteristics?
Answer:
- They are applicable to all human beings
- They are internationally guaranteed & legally protected
- They are indivisible and interdependent
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- They obligate the States and State actors.
Q 3: What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)?
Answer: The United Nations General Assembly adopted UDHR on 10th December, 1948. It is the primary international articulation of various fundamental and inalienable rights of all human beings. Broadly, they include civil and political rights such as freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, freedom of association and movement, freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, right to equality and fair trial, etc. The rights outlined in UDHR also include economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to food, shelter, clothing, the right to health, the right to education, the right to work and livelihood, and the right to social security.
Q 4: Are these rights binding on governments?
Answer: Yes. However, with a view to make these rights enforceable, the U.N. reformulated these principles in the form of treaties or covenants and on the States accepting and ratifying them, they could be considered as binding obligations.
Some of these treaties are:
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - (India has signed and ratified)
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) - (India has signed and ratified)
These cover most of the rights mentioned in the UDHR.
There are other treaties such as The Convention on the Rights of the Child, The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
India has signed and ratified all of them.
There are a number of other Conventions on different subjects, some of which India has accepted, while some have not been accepted.
The Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading treatment or Punishment has been signed by India, but has not yet been ratified.
Q 5: What are the obligations of the State?
Answer: The State has three obligations:
- to recognise and identify human rights
- to prevent violation of the human rights
- to fulfil the human rights
Q 6: While violations of human rights can be prevented, is it possible for the State to fulfil human rights, particularly when they relate to socio-economic human rights, such as Right to food, Right to livelihood, Right to shelter, Right to health, Right to education?
Answer: Yes. Both ICCPR and ICESCR provide for steps to be taken by the States to fulfil human rights. Under Article 2 of ICESCR, the State parties have undertaken to " take steps " individually and through international assistance, to the " maximum of its available resources " with a view to " achieving progressively " the full realisation of the rights under the Covenant. The word " progressively " indicates that the States cannot act regressively year to year, in the matter of fulfilling the human rights. In other words, the Governments cannot, in any case, reduce their public expenditure on fulfilment of these human rights.
Q 7: Do we have these provisions in our Constitution?
Answer: Yes. Part III mentioned as Fundamental Rights and Part IV mentioned as Directive Principles of State Policy deal with these rights and their realisation. The Fundamental Rights which contain certain Civil and Political Rights are judicially enforceable. The Directive Principles have several Socio-Economic Rights, and the State has a fundamental duty to fulfil those rights.
Our Supreme Court has, in several judgements, pointed out that these two parts should be read together and all those rights are judicially enforceable. Even otherwise, since all human rights are inter-linked and indivisible, no Constitution can say that only certain human rights can be enforced and the rest can be ignored. Our freedom of speech and expression will have no meaning if we have no right to education. If we have no right to means of livelihood, our right to health, right to shelter, right to food, and every right that goes with human dignity, will all be lost.
Q 8: What is the most important provision in our Constitution?
Answer: Article 21, which deals with the right to life and liberty. The Supreme Court expanded the meaning of " life " to say that it includes all that goes with life - food, clothing, shelter, - and all that goes with human dignity.
Q 9:What about the Right to Development?
Answer: In 1986, the U.N. General Assembly made a Declaration on the Right to Development, reaffirming the existence of a human right to development - " an inalienable human right" of " every human person (and) all peoples " . Human rights are central to this concept of development, which is not just economic growth, (in terms of GDP, but of capabilities of every human being. Therefore, the Government must be compelled to include, in the present policy of development, (i.e. Globalisation, marketisation), time-bound measures to provide food, shelter, drinking water, education, health care, means of livelihood and social security to all the poor and marginalised people.
Q 10: What can we do for the protection and promotion of human rights?
Answer: We have to familiarise ourselves with those human rights and fundamental freedoms that belong to us and all others, however high or low, rich or poor. Defend those rights for ourselves and for those who struggle in their own defence. As a U.N. document says: " As you move through your day, at work or school or home, pause to ask yourself, if all of your rights and freedoms are fully respected. Are the rights of those around you also respected? If not, why? Can you change something by letting someone know the standards set forth in the UDHR are not being met?" .
HURT Foundation invites you all to be a part of its campaign to build a society based on human rights for all.
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