Human Rights Watch's World report 2023

We will discuss Human Rights Watch World Report 2023 in our today’s edition of Current Affairs. Read further to upgrade your UPSC CSE knowledge and also understand the topic’s relevance to the UPSC syllabus.

For Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance

Human Rights Watch World Report, Human Rights

For Mains: General Studies Paper II- Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies

Human Rights Watch World Report, Protection of Human Rights in India, Human Rights, National Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch.

Context

As per the recently released Human Rights Watch World Report, 2023, Indian authorities had “intensified and broadened” their crackdown on activist groups and the media through 2022, adding that the current ruling party used “abusive and discriminatory policies to repress Muslims and other minorities”. 

Probable Question

To uphold the values of democracy in India, there is a need to increase the National Human Rights Commission’s power so that it can have more teeth, rather than remain a “toothless tiger”.

About the 2023 Human Rights Watch World Report

• It is the 33rd edition of the report.
• It is released by the US based NGO Human Rights Watch.
• This edition reviews human rights practices in close to 100 countries. 

Also Read: Special Drawing Rights

Consumer Rights

Human Rights Watch World Report 2023’s Findings about India

• The report has equated India with China in their suppression of dissent and free expression and “systematic discrimination against religious minorities”.
• The ruling party supporters increasingly committed violent attacks against targeted groups. 
• The government’s Hindu majoritarian ideology was reflected in bias in institutions, including the justice system and constitutional authorities like the National Human Rights Commission.
• Civil society activists and independent journalists were silenced by using politically motivated criminal charges, including terrorism, to jail those exposing or criticizing government abuses. 
• The government used foreign funding regulations and allegations of financial irregularities to harass rights groups, political opponents, and others.
• It added that authorities also “misused” laws forbidding forced religious conversions “to target Christians, especially from Dalit and Adivasi communities”.
• On Jammu and Kashmir, the report noted that even after three years of removal of Article 370 and creation of two federally-administered territories, “the government continued to restrict free expression, peaceful assembly, and other basic rights there”.

Welcoming Supreme Court’s Rulings

The Report noted the increasingly liberal steps taken by the Supreme Court in India and referred to the court’s following significant rulings:

• Extending abortion rights to all women regardless of marital status and to people other than cisgender women, 
• Widening the definition of a family to include same-sex couples, single parents, and other households. 
• Banning of the two-finger tests.

Also Read: Beyond Male And Female, The Right To Humanity

Protection of Human Rights in India

Constitutional Provisions

• Fundamental Rights (FRs) - Articles 12-32
• Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) - Including the right to social security, right to work, to free choice of employment, and protection against unemployment, right to equal pay for equal work, etc.

Statutory Provisions

• Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993- The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established under the provisions of this act. The Act was amended in 2019. 

International Initiatives

• India took an active part in drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNHDR).
• India has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Note: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNHDR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10th December 1948. Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10th December, which is the anniversary of the UDHR.

News Source: The Hindu https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-intensified-broadened-crackdown-on-activists-media-in-2022-hrw-report/article66368900.ece

FAQ's About Human Rights Watch

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