HUMAN RIGHTS AND ITS RATIFICATION IN

INDIA

WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?

According to the UN, Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race,
sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to
life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to
work and education, and many more.
Human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. These are moral claims which are
inalienable and inherent in all individuals by virtue of their humanity alone, irrespective of
caste, colour, creed, and place of birth, sex, cultural difference or any other consideration.
These claims are articulated and formulated in what is today known as human rights. Human
rights are sometimes referred to as fundamental rights, basic rights, inherent rights, natural
rights and birth rights.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA

The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 defines Human Rights as: “human rights” means
the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the
Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India”.
Protection of human rights is essential for the development of the people of the country,
which ultimately leads to development of the nation as a whole. The Constitution of India
guarantees basic human rights to each and every citizen of the country. The framers of the
Constitution have put their best efforts in putting down the necessary provisions. However,
with continuous developments taking place, the horizon of human rights has also expanded.

CHARACTERISTICS AND NATURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

1. Human Rights are Essential and Necessary - In the absence of human rights, the ethical,
natural, societal and spiritual welfare of an individual is impossible. Human rights are also
indispensable as they provide a conducive environment to augment the physical and moral
life of society.
2. Human Rights Support and Advocate Human Dignity - To treat others with dignity
irrespective of whether that person is a male or female, rich or poor etc. is the basic concern
of human dignity. For eg. In 1993, India had enacted a law that forbade the practice of an
individual carrying human excreta. This law is called ‘Employment of Manual Scavengers
and Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act.’ However this practice is still prevalent in some parts of
the country.
3. Human Rights are Universal - No one class of people however privileged they may be,
have monopoly over human rights. They are essentially universal without consideration and
without exception. The values such as divinity, dignity and equality which form the basis of
these rights are inherent in human nature.
4. Human Rights are Inalienable - ‘Inalienable’ means unable to be taken away. When we say
human rights are inalienable we are saying that the rights are inherent in us and we cannot
give it away or renounce it. For example if an individual gives, even in writing, telling the
police that he should be arrested for a crime that he had committed and locked up without a
trial. It cannot be considered a valid statement. This would be a violation of his/her basic
human right of life and personal liberty i.e. Article 21 of Indian Constitution. These rights
should be the same for individuals irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, sex and
nationality.
5. Human Rights are Dynamic - Human rights are ever changing, constantly dependent on the
change in the political, economic, social or environmental structures of the State. For
example the right to be cared for in time of sickness has now been stretched to include free
medical treatment in public hospitals under different schemes of the Government of India.
Free medical examination in schools and also especially equipped schools for the physically
handicapped have been included.
7. Human Rights are Never Absolute - Man lives in a society which invariably establishes
some limitations on the enjoyment of rights and freedoms. Human rights are those restricted
privileges or prerogatives, which subscribe to the common good. These are acknowledged
and attested by the state through its legislation. Each of these rights comes with restrictions.
8. Human Rights Restrains State Power - Human rights imply that all citizens have rightful
demands upon his or her society for certain freedoms and assistance. Thus we could say that
human rights limit the State’s power. These may be in the form of restrictions on the powers
of the State from violating the inalienable freedoms of the individuals, or it may be in the
obligations of the State to not interfere in the citizen’s personal life in as far as the six
freedoms mentioned in the Right to freedom in the Indian Constitution. i.e. Article 19

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN INDIA

Fundamental rights are those rights which are essential for survival of humans in a society
or in a country. They are very important for intellectual, moral and spritual development of
people of India as these are essential for existence and all-round development of a person
that is why they are called Fundamental Rights. Indian constitution has given fundamental
rights to its citizens so that democracy and secularism can be empowered. These are given
in Part III (Article 12 to 35) of the Constitution of India.
They are guaranteed to be above all other laws of the nation. They encompass many basic
individual rights like equality before the law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of
association and peaceful assembly, freedom of religion and the right to constitutional
remedies for the protection of civil rights, for instance the Habeas Corpus. The fundamental
rights were incorporated in the Indian constitution with the aim to eradicate the inequalities
and discriminatory social practices of the past. They abolished the practice of untouchability
and also forbid differentiation on the basis of gender, religion, race, caste, or place of birth. It
also prohibited discrimination between human beings and atrocities like forced labour. They
even protected cultural and educational rights of minorities by safeguarding the right to retain
their unique culture and discrete languages. The minorities were also given the freedom to set
up and execute their own educational institutions.

There are six fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

• Right to Equality
• Right to Freedom
• Right against Exploitation
• Right to Freedom of Religion
• Cultural and Educational Rights
• Right to Constitutional Remedies
Fundamental Rights are not absolute but have been subjected to certain restrictions. The
Constitution equips the states with the provision of imposing restrictions on these rights at
times, for upholding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of India. Nevertheless, the
right to life and personal liberty cannot be suspended. Similarly the six freedoms (Right to
freedom) also bear some restrictions. They can be suspended automatically during the state of
emergency.
INSTITUTIONS WHO PROTECT THE HUMAN
RIGHTS
There are mainly three agencies in india who protect the Human Rights.
 National Human Rights Commission
 State Human Rights Commission
 NGOs related to National Human Rights Commission
Human rights are protected by international law and domestic law. It is very important when
State Parties ratify international covenants such as the ICCPR, ICESCR and the CRC, they
should ensure formulation of related laws and their implementation to protect the rights of
people in their country. State Parties should have a government committed to the rights of its
people, an independent and fair judiciary and a capable police force. Even in the most
advanced democracies, human rights continue to be violated because the law enforcement
machinery does not carry out their role responsibly in protecting human rights. This is true
for India also. In India, despite the fact that we have a very responsible judiciary, army, and
police force, the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) was hitherto
established on 12 October 1993. The NHRC is an embodiment of India’s concern for the
promotion and protection of human rights. Some of the human rights violations classified by
the NHRC are deaths in police and judicial custody, encounter deaths, illegal arrest, custodial
violence, atrocities on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, indignity to women, sexual
harassment and exploitation of women, abduction, rape, murder, dowry demand, child labour,
child marriage and communal violence.
The basic objectives of Human Right Commissions are to:
• Provide guidance to the media on how to report human rights violations such as child
sexual abuse.
• Encourage research on issues such as discrimination of women, sexual exploitation,
harassment at the workplace, selective abortion of female foetus and infanticide.
• Review existing legislation and recommend changes to the government
• Recommend that the government sign international human rights treaties and
protocols
• Support efforts of non-governmental organisations in projects concerning human
trafficking and rights of children; women; scheduled castes/tribes; minorities and
displaced people.
• Spread human rights awareness through seminars, radio and television broadcasts, and
press releases and by publishing posters, fliers, manuals and handbooks on citizens'
rights.

RATIFICATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

When a State ratifies one of the international human rights treaties, it assumes a legal
obligation to implement the rights recognized in that treaty. Through ratification, States
undertake to put in place domestic measures and legislation compatible with their treaty
obligations.
India was a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Indian constitution
was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on Dec 26, 1949, which came into force on Jan
26, 1950. Our Indian constitution was greatly influenced by the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, 1948. Provisions of Part III which stands for Fundamental Rights and Part IV
for Directive Principles of State Policy bear a close resemblance to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. As a result, a number of fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III of the
Indian Constitution are similar to the provisions of the Declaration.

The UDHR was drafted by the Commission on Human Rights – created by the Economic
and Social Council of the United Nations in May 1946. In the decades following the
adoption of the UDHR, Indian delegates continued their active contribution, through the
UN, to create a global governance system that stood up for human rights and social
justice. It was India that successfully tested the capacity of the UN when its delegates
continued to expose apartheid in South Africa. India also joined other countries from the
‘global south’ to insist on the recognition of economic, social and cultural rights and of
self-determination in the two Covenants that were drafted in the 1960s.

CONCLUSION
Human rights are basic fundamental rights which are integral part for the development of
human being in the absence of which person cannot live life with dignity. Constitution of
India protects the fundamental rights or human rights of the people, provisions for the same
have been made not only in the Articles of the Constitution but in fact Preamble also talks
about the fundamental freedoms and protection of the dignity of the individual. The Indian
Judiciary had even relaxed the rule of locas standi (the right or capacity to bring an action or to
appear in a court) for the protection of human rights which pave the way for the
development of the concept of Public Interest Litigation. Courts protected the rights of
women, workers, children, prisoners and so on. Thus judiciary is playing a role of saviour of
the human rights of the people so that each individual can live with dignity. Protection of
human rights is an important issue of concern throughout the world, various international
instruments have been incorporated for the protection of human rights and on the basis of
the provisions of the international instruments, national endeavours have been made such
as enacting the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993.
Since the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission it has been playing a
commendable task in protecting the human rights of the people and it also gives monetary
relief to the victims and to their families. Although some amendments are necessary to be
made in the Act and for the same some following suggestions have been made and if such
changes are made then it can strengthen the position of the human rights commission and it
would be possible to achieve the objectives of the Act easily. It has taken a great deal of
effort to get to where we are now in terms of human rights, and we still have a long way to
go before everyone in this country feels equal and receives the rights they deserve.