Human Rights Violence and Crime

It is a fallacy that human rights is a western concept which has grown only after the World War II, commencing with the United Nation’s Charter, 1946, followed by the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights in 1966, with other International instruments to follow. No doubt the awareness increased with the holocaust of the world war and the mass destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For we Indians, the emphasis on Human Rights began with the freedom struggle, freedom being the most sacrosanct human right. The denial of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms not only is an individual and personal tragedy but also creates conditions for social and political unrest, sowing the seeds of violence and conflict within and between societies and nations. Today most nations believed in the rule of law, have not only declared commitment, but have also incorporated, explicitly or implicitly, the provisions of various international covenants on human rights, in some form or the other. Though the Constitution of India and the international instruments of human rights attach great importance to the protection of life and personal liberty of an individual and emphasis on the respect of for human dignity yet human rights of individual are being continuously violated by the armed forces/police all the world over. Every year thousands of people are imprisoned for political reasons. Torture and ill treatment are common and hundreds have died in custody. Armed Forces commit grave human rights violations, including killings, tortures, rape with impunity. It may also be stated armed forces/police are the primary law enforcement agencies whose foremost duty is to protect and respect the human rights of people but shocking complaints are received against them. There have been repeated cases of violations of Geneva Convention in Jammu and Kashmir. National Security Act is also misused in many cases.