UN-linked body defers accreditation of NHRC-India for second year in a row
In a setback for India’s human rights record, the Geneva-based, United Nations-linked Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) deferred the accreditation of the National Human Rights Commission-India (NHRC) for the second year in a row.
The decision, which can a§ect India’s ability to vote at the Human Rights Council and some UN General Assembly bodies, was taken on May 1, during the meeting of the Subcommittee on Accreditation (SCA), which included representatives from New Zealand,
South Africa, Honduras, and Greece.
Transparency issues
While the committee’s latest report is still awaited, its previous report had cited a number of reasons for recommending the deferral, including the lack of transparency in appointing members to the NHRC, the appointment of police ofcers to oversee human rights investigations, and the lack of gender and minority representation on the member panel.
The accreditation deferral decision has been conveyed to the NHRC, sources conrmed to The Hindu, indicating that some of the demands made by the international peer review report were dicult to undertake during the election process in India.
“GANHRI wanted us to make some structural changes and incorporate a few suggestions given by them. The same was not possible at this time due to the ongoing general elections,” an ocial, who asked not to be identied, said conrming the decision. Ocials said the deferral was likely to be reviewed later this year, during meetings in September, or again in May next year.
The NHRC’s “A-status” has only been deferred once before, in 2016, but it was restored in 2017. This is the rst time India’s status has been suspended for two years in a row.
The NHRC was set up under the Protection of Human Rights Act, passed by Parliament in 1993. It has been accredited as an ‘A’ Status NHRI since the beginning of the accreditation process for NHRIs in 1999, which it retained in 2006, 2011 and in 2017 also after the deferment.
The ‘A’ status was deferred this time after civil society organisations and human rights activists wrote to the global body, expressing concerns about India’s record.
According to six-point submission by the SCA in March 2023, the NHRC has failed to create conditions required to be “able to operate independent of government interference”.
‘Lack of pluralism’
The GANHRI also cited the “lack of pluralism” in the composition of the NHRC, which has just one woman in its top body right now. While the Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities Iqbal Singh Lalpura is an ex-ocio member, the GANHRI had pointed out that the composition of the committee should reªect the “diversity of the society” it operated in, indicating the lack of any member representing India’s largest minority religions.
Ocials in the body pointed out that Rajeev Jain “qualies as a minority”, as he belongs to the Jain community. Mr. Jain’s tenure is ending this month while the tenure of Justice (retd.) Arun Mishra, the current chairperson of NHRC, is ending next month. It remains to be seen how soon the new government, which is due to be formed in early June after the election will move to ll the positions.
(With inputs from Suhasini Haidar)