India opposes use of human rights as political tool to selectively target countries

United Nations, Oct 21 (IANS) While it engages with international human rights organisations, India has said it opposes the stealth use of the concept of human rights as a political tool that uses unverified allegations to selectively target countries.

"India firmly opposes any attempt to convert unverified allegations, incomplete statistics or a report that contains no India country (-specific) observation into a negative characterisation of the world's largest democracy," Barkha Tamrakar, a deputy secretary in the External Affairs Ministry's UN Economic Social Division, said on Tuesday (local time).

At the same time, "India remains prepared to clarify specific, properly documented cases through established channels," she said.

In engaging with international human rights mechanisms, India's ground rule is that it "must be based on dialogue, consultation, cooperation with non-selectivity and transparency as guiding principles," she said.

"'Human rights' must not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective country targeting," she said.

She was speaking at the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with humanitarian affairs, during an interactive dialogue with Juan Pablo Alban Alencastro, the chair of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and Grazyna Baranowska, the chair-rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

"We call on delegations to cite the report faithfully, not to inflate a humanitarian communication into a verdict," Tamrakar said.

Many UN rapporteurs, who work independently and are appointed by the Human Rights Council, base some of their reporting on submissions from parties they do not identify and without corroborating them.

New Delhi has signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, Tamrakar said.

"India is a vibrant democracy anchored in the rule of law," and Article 21 of its Constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, Tamrakar said.

"Our independent judiciary is fully empowered to issue the writs of habeas corpus, thus providing a strong and readily accessible safeguard against any alleged disappearance," she pointed out.

In addition, she said, the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions are venues for redressal of grievances, and the Right to Information Act strengthens transparency and accountability.

Moreover, independent media and dynamic civil society groups provide another set of safeguards, she said.

--IANS

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