India's Statement as the concerned country on Agenda Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women India's Statement as the concerned country on Agenda Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special R..

India's Statement as the concerned country on Agenda Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

PERMANENT MISSION OF INDIA
GENEVA

26th SESSION HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
[10-27 JUNE 2014]

Agenda Item 3:Clustered ID with SR on Violence against Women and SR on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
[12 June 2014]

Statement by India as Concerned Country

Mr. Vice President,

  1. At the outset, we thank the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Madame Rashida Manjoo for undertaking the visit at the invitation of the Government of India. We respect the views and recommendations expressed by the Special Rapporteur in her report on India. We note that India's observations on the report have not yet been reflected on the HRC website.
  2. We believe that the report displays high proclivity for making unsubstantiated, yet sweeping generalizations. We also notice that wherever the report has given instances of human rights violations, the SR has not shared the specific details with the Government nor reflected such details in the Report. Often the argument given is that details cannot be given in order to protect the identity of the complainants.
  3. In the absence of specific details, there is no way the Government can verify and take necessary action. This is a paradoxical situation, on one hand it cannot be verified, and on the other, unverified allegations are included in UN reports without giving the State concerned the possibility of redressing them. While we understand the arguments given by the SRs, they must also appreciate that citing such instances is of little value to those States in addressing those alleged violations of human rights.
  4. We believe that the report lacks full objectivity and exhibits a tendency to over simplify the issues at hand. It is difficult to comprehend the reasons for the SR, who despite her learned experience, has taken a rather simplistic approach while drawing conclusions and presenting them as her findings.
  5. Some of the recommendations contained in the report, we believe, go far beyond SR's mandate. For example, she recommends abolition of death penalty, included in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013. In fact, India has recently included this form of penalty, as a deterrent for rape, for sexual offenders causing injury resulting in death or leaves the victim in a persistent vegetative state.
  6. Contrary to what has been stated in the Report, Government of India gave unhindered access to the Special Rapporteur in a spirit of transparency and cooperation. There appears to be no coordination between the OHCHR Support Unit and the SR leading to avoidable confusion on programming and scheduling aspects of the visit. The programme requested by her was too extensive for a large country like India, as it did not take into account the travel time between cities. On one occasion, the SR even sent the OHCHR official accompanying her to represent her to meet senior officials of the Government. We expressed serious concern on such violation of the Code of Conduct of Special Procedures.
  7. Suffice to say that unilateral changes made to the programme drawn up between Host Country and SR through the OHCHR, is a matter relevant to all Special Rapporteurs undertaking country visits. We are hopeful that the Council will address these issues, in consultation with the Chairperson of Coordinating Committee of Special Procedures.

    8. Mr. President

  8. Violence against women is a complex issue and must be dealt with effectively. We are of the view that effective remedies for women and girls should aim to have a transformative effect by addressing the root causes of violence against them.
  9. The Constitution of India guarantees equality of status of women and has laid the foundation for such advancement. It also permits affirmative action in favour of women, and many important programmes have been designed specifically to benefit girls and women.
  10. A number of laws have been enacted by the Indian Parliament, and a number of programme and initiatives launched by the Government to bring about perceptible improvement in the status of women and also to protect them from all forms of violence and discrimination. These include the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
  11. India is committed to the elimination of violence against women. We recognise that there are enormous challenges that we have to overcome. The Government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance and has resolved to strengthen the criminal justice system for its effective implementation.
  12. We thank the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women for her report, and wish her well in her future endeavours.

 

I thank you Mr. President.

 

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