'Right to life, equality, basic Human Rights'

State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) member, also former Director General and Inspector of Police (DG&IGP), Rupak Kumar Dutta said, the right to life, liberty, equality and dignity are the basic human rights of every individual.

Delivering a lecture on Human Rights for probationer Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs), Assistant Superintendents of Prisons and Veterinary Officers, organised to mark World Human Rights Day at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), here, on Monday, he said, neither the SHRC nor the National Human Rights Commission are against the governments.

Dutta said, the Supreme Court has delivered a number of judgements to protect the universally declared human rights of life, liberty, equality and dignity. “The commission takes up the case only when public authorities fail to act against the violation of human rights. Human Rights are inherent entitlements to every person, by virtue of his or her birth as a human being. They belong to all persons, irrespective of sex, race, caste and religion. An important characteristic of human rights is the respect for dignity and worth of each individual,” he said. “Human Rights are categorised into first, second and third generation by academics. While the first generation rights stand for civil and political rights; the second stand for economic, social and cultural rights, which include Right to education, food and health. The third generation rights are group rights, for instance, right to a clean environment,” he explained.

Highlighting the obligations to protect and promote human rights in India, Dutta said, the rights are derived from two sources. First, they are values, which are enshrined in the Constitution. Secondly, they are included in a number of international human rights conventions, to which India is a party, he said.

Stating that corruption itself is a violation of human rights, Dutta said, the NHRC had recommenced to the government to ensure that the laws that deal with corruption are interpreted, implemented, and executed effectively, expeditiously by the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. Stressing on the regulation of Karnataka State Human Rights Commission, he said, it will not consider complaints such as vague or anonymous or illegible, related to civil disputes, related to service matters or industrial disputes, allegations against the general public (allegations against public servant will be considered), matter before the court or covered by a judicial verdict or decision of the commission. Earlier, the probationers enacted a skit, highlighting violation of human rights, animal rights and child rights. ATI Director General Kapil Mohan and Joint Director (Training) Bhagyalakshmi were present.