By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: India loses the accreditation of the Geneva-based UN-linked Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for the second year now following the
lethargic negligence on the part of the Union Government in filling the vacancies in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
GANHRI has deferred the NHRC’s accreditation for the second year now citing several reasons including the lack of transparency in appointing members to the Commission, and the poor gender and minority representation of the panel.
Amnesty International pointed out that almost five months after the GANHRI deferred the NHRC’s ‘A” status, the Union Home Minister has been unable to complete the formal recruitment of members to the Commission , and now has delayed the appointment of a Chairman.
The country’s top human rights body should have a chairperson as well as five other full-time members. However the full weight of responsibilities currently lie on the shoulders of Vijyabharathi Sayani , who is NHRC’s sole full-time member and was appointed as the Acting Chairperson since June 05.
She also fulfills the requirement for a woman member in the panel. The Commission also has seven ex-officio or deemed members.
“The delay in holding a free and fair recruitment is symbolic of the NHRC’s and Indian Government’s clear lack of political will to act and apparent reluctance to effectively respond to address the deteriorating human rights violations in the country and to uphold transparency and accountability, alleged Aakar Patel, who chairs Amnesty International India’s board.
The NHRC Chairperson’s post has been lying vacant for three- and-a-half month since former Supreme Court Justice Arun Mishra retired from the post on June 01.
The U.S State Department’s 2023 human rights report flagged dozens of different kind human rights abuses in India, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances , arbitrary arrests and detentions.
Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division said that the Indian government should not only appoint an NHRC chief but should also ensure that the Commission is independent and properly resourced.
