AI report 2014-15

THE latest annual report by the London-based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI), echoes the concerns raised by our own human rights organisations regarding enforced disappearances, impunity of law enforcement agencies, circumscribing the freedom of journalists and human rights defenders and violence against women. Through the years, what has perhaps been as alarming as the consistency of violations is the consistency of the state in not acknowledging and addressing the apprehensions regarding human rights violations.

The report suggests that an estimated 80 people were subjected to enforced disappearances, although the exact number is unknown. It criticises Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act for severely restricting the right to freedom of expression, and argues that more than a dozen media workers were threatened by security agencies for slamming the authorities. Meanwhile, torture in law enforcers' custody, violation of workers' rights and violence against women all remain worrying issues. 

As recent reports on 'cross-fires', extra-judicial torture and restrictions on media freedom suggest, the human rights situation in the country is taking a turn for the worse. It is imperative that, in the name of maintaining law and order, we do not take recourse in extra-judicial processes that undermine the rule of law. The state must ensure that due process of law is followed in every case. In case of allegations of human rights violations, the government must bring the perpetrators to justice, ending the cycle of impunity.

Denial of human rights violations is not an acceptable response from the government, whose prerogative it is to protect human rights, address abuses and uphold the rule of law.