HYDERABAD: The Telangana Chapter of Working Group on Human Rights in India and UN released the ‘Human Rights in India Joint Stakeholders’ Report’ for UN Universal Periodic Review-III on Tuesday. The report has raised a wide range of human rights violations from across the country.
The document states that serious human rights violations affect more than 15 per cent of India’s population, including around 194.6 million people being undernourished, the country being home to largest number of homeless and landless people, 68 per cent of total prisoners being under pre-trial detention, 5,650 farmers committing suicide in 2014, lack of law in place for people in the witness protection, despite guidelines from Supreme Court and ‘development-realted displacement’ of people. One of the human rights violations listed by the report is the death of 40 RTI activists in the country who were murdered in the years 2005-15 and around 250 RTI activists were physically assaulted.
Kareem Ansari, an RTI activist from Hyderabad speaking to mediapersons said, “Many RTI activists are facing threats for trying to bring the truth out through RTI in Telangana as well. The information being given for questions raised through RTI is being given in such a way that it protects government from scrutiny.”
Sajaya, from Caring Citizens Collective, said, “In Telangana, one of the major human rights violation issue is of displacement due to land acquisition which is being done in violation of all existing rules and regulations by the state government. People are being forced out of their lands and homes. Farmer suicides is another major human rights violation in Telangana and the state stands at second place in the country.”
They also prescribed a set of recommendations, including a Right to Housing law, promulgation of National Land Reform Act, enactment of legislation to protect RTI activists from harassment, whistle-blower protection law, ratifying convention against torture and increasing public health budget to 5 per cent of the GDP.