What is hampering human rights? National, state bodies deliberate

The aim of the meeting was to share the best practices and explore how the NHRC and the SHRCs can collaborate to fill in the gaps in the system regarding enforcement of human rights.
Image for representational purpose only.
Image for representational purpose only.

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the state level human rights commissions (SHRCs) brainstormed on the ways to strengthen rights protection mechanism with mutual partnership here on Friday. 

The aim of the meeting was to share the best practices and explore how the NHRC and the SHRCs can collaborate to fill in the gaps in the system regarding enforcement of human rights. During the meeting, the commissions at the state and national levels explored the possibilities of collaborating with the District Legal Services Authority, State Legal Services Authority, and National Legal Services Authority for organising awareness workshops on human rights and redressal mechanisms on violations that are reported.  

The police at the state levels can adopt the Kerala model of deputing women cops with sexual assault survivors till the accused is prosecuted. The state governments should be told to provide financial resources at police stations as it is reported that lack of resources pushes forces towards violation of human rights.  The other recommendations included NHRC supporting an empirical research to ascertain the actual number of under-trial prisoners, especially those with mental health issues. 

The latter are often held up in jails without their matters being heard in courts. The commission can also request the concerned state governments after referring to the SHRCs to fill vacancies at different levels. Alternatively, they can also fill the vacancies of officials with retired officials after getting approval from the state governments. 

The SHRCs should also study and recommend the best practices of their respective states towards the protection and promotion of human rights for the consideration of an award by the mnational commission, a recommendation said. 

Obtaining legal aid on custodial deaths and bonded labour were the other issuescs discussed at the meet.
The human rights commission network portal, developed by the National Informatics Centre and support of the NHRC, was launched. It aims at connecting all the rights commissions. 

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