Human Rights Violations

• 09 Dec 2021

Why in News

Recently data related to human rights violations in states was provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Rajya sabha.

• Around 40% of human rights violation cases lodged annually by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the past three financial years till this 31^st October (2021) were from Uttar Pradesh.

Key Points

• About:
  • A human rights violation is the disallowance of the freedom of thought and movement to which all humans legally have a right.
  • While individuals can violate these rights, the leadership or government of civilization most often belittles marginalized persons.
  • This, in turn, places these people in the cycle of poverty and oppression. Individuals who approach life with the attitude that not all human lives are of equal value then perpetuate this cycle.
• Examples:
  • Forcibly evicting people from their homes (the right to adequate housing)
  • Contaminating water, for example, with waste from State-owned facilities (the right to health)
  • Failure to ensure a minimum wage sufficient for a decent living (rights at work)
  • Failure to prevent starvation in all areas and communities in the country (freedom from hunger).
• Types of Human Rights Violations:
  • Directly or Intentionally:
    • Violations can either be intentionally performed by the state and or come as a result of the state failing to prevent the violation.
      • When a state engages in human rights violations, various actors can be involved such as police, judges, prosecutors, government officials, and more.
      • The violation can be physically violent in nature, such as police brutality, while rights such as the right to a fair trial can also be violated, where no physical violence is involved.
  • Failure by the state to Protect Rights:
    • It occurs when there's a conflict between individuals or groups within a society.
    • If the state does nothing to intervene and protect vulnerable people and groups, it's participating in the violations.
      • In the US the state failed to protect black Americans when lynching's frequently occurred around the country.
• Current Scenario in India:
  • Total Violations:
    • The total number of rights’ violation cases in India lodged by the NHRC reduced from 89,584 in 2018-19 to 76,628 in 2019-20 and to 74,968 in 2020-21.
      • In 2021-22, till 31^st October (2021), 64,170 cases were lodged.
  • Caste-based Discrimination and Violence:
    • According to a report released last year, crimes against Dalits increased by 6% from 2009 to 2018 with over 3.91 lakh atrocities being reported.
  • Communal and Ethnic Violence:
    • Many people were attacked by vigilante cow protection groups and many of those affected were minority groups.
    • People from African countries faced racism and discrimination in India.
  • Freedom of Association:
    • The government cancelled the registration of several civil society organisations which specifically prevented them from getting foreign funding, even after the United Nations (UN) claimed it was not in accordance with international law.
  • Freedom of Expression:
    • Several people were arrested under sedition laws for expressing their dissent with government policy and several Indians were arrested for even posting comments on Facebook.
  • Violence against Women:
    • Recently released report National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5, points to rising instances of domestic and sexual violence against women in the state.
      • It shows that married women, between the ages of 18-49, who have ever experienced spousal violence, has more than doubled from 20.6 in 2014-15 to 44.5%.
  • Children's Rights:
    • National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals a total of 1,28,531 crimes against children were recorded in India last year (2020), implying that an average of 350 such cases were reported each day during the pandemic.

Way Forward

• Achieving a sustainable, practical and effective method of protecting human rights around the globe that also allows local values and culture to remain intact.
• Humans must recognize the beauty of individual differences and attempt to understand each other before a change can happen.
• Starting with the smaller steps, like understanding victims of rape, violence and discrimination instead of perpetuating a victim-blaming culture, might be more influential than viewing the situation through such an expansive lens.
  • Only then will these examples of human rights violations turn into examples of human kindness.

Source: TH