From Switzerland to Sivaganga: Decoding the international, national and local breakdown of India’s human rights machinery

India has signed a global convention against torture, re-elected itself to the UN Human Rights Council, and yet left a complaint about custodial death unaddressed for ten months. Something is broken.

AS THE 61ST HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION convened in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions condemned the systemic use of torture in Indian policing and extrajudicial killings, urging the Indian government to take immediate corrective action. This is not an isolated event. Besides this, India has been unresponsive to the international human rights ecosystem in several ways, despite which it has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council. While this symbolises institutional failure at the international level, the situation at the national and local levels reveals a sobering tale.

National breakdown

Unlike the European Convention on Human Rights or the Inter-American or the African System, India – often described as a subcontinent unto itself – lacks a dedicated human rights court for individuals to enforce their human rights. It is often the constitutional courts that the citizens approach through the constitutional route to enforce their rights. However, the lack of resources and adverse social conditions prevents many individuals from approaching the court. In this situation, the National Human Rights Commission of India (‘NHRC’) is ideally the most approachable and easily accessible institution at the national level to protect the rights of citizens. Sadly, even this institution faced significant international pushback last year, when the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (‘GANHRI’) — the international body responsible for accrediting and monitoring such commissions — decided to downgrade its status.

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