The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Human rights abuse a black spot: LS Speaker

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Human rights abuse a black spot: LS Speaker

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 3. Stating that every incident of human rights abuse was a "black spot on our institutions of governance and on civil society," the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, has called upon Parliamentarians and lawyers to ensure protection of human rights, particularly of the vulnerable and the deprived sections.

Dignity of individuals

Inaugurating a national seminar on `Human Rights', organised by the All India Lawyers' Union, he said dignity of the individual was a core value of our Constitution and the emphasis on human rights should remain a fundamental feature of our governance. Democracy could not survive without respecting human rights and the latter could truly be guaranteed and nurtured only in a democratic society, he said.

Referring to institutional mechanisms created by Parliament to safeguard interests of the vulnerable sections, he said, "However, in spite of such initiatives, we are still far away from the objective of realising an equitable social order. Human rights, is as much a social and economic concept as it is an important political concept."

Suffering of children

Pointing out that the caste-based social stratification in itself was a violation of the notion of equitable social order, he said, "Considering that we have the largest population of children in the world, our commitment to their cause should go further deep."

He expressed his distress that children were suffering from the scourges of poverty, hunger, homelessness, malnutrition and illiteracy, adding, "It also disheartening when we come across instances of child labour, child abuse and child trafficking."

Proactive role

The Speaker called upon the Legislatures to become "more proactive" in improving respect for human rights and in monitoring implementation of decisions related to human rights mechanisms.

He urged them to take the lead in sensitising public functionaries about the need to respect fundamental human rights in all their actions.

More teeth

It was also important to provide teeth to the institutions, as the deterrent value of punishment itself was an effective defence for human rights. Urging the legislators and the lawyers to think together about expediting justice-delivery system, he said delay in providing justice was a violation of individual's rights.

The State Assembly Speaker, K. R. Suresh Reddy, said the crux of human rights was to protect the vulnerable position of the individual and its protection could not be achieved without a proper struggle.

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