PERMANENT MISSION OF INDIA TO THE UN, GENEVA

Statement by made by Shri Ajit Kumar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva at the HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 32nd SESSION (13 June-1 July, 2016) under AGENDA ITEM 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Right to Education and SR on Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association
 

17 June 2016

Mr President,
         
We thank the SR on education for his report.

 2.      We would like to put on record our appreciation for Mr Kishore Singh for excellent work as the SR on right to education.

Mr President,

 3.      The report of the SR on peaceful assembly reflects the disturbing tendency of blatant disregard by some of the SRs of their mandate as well as their Code of Conduct. As far as his references to my country are concerned, we would like to ask the SR whether such instances have been verified and substantiated? In the absence of details about the alleged incidents, our delegation is not in a position to verify or comment on it.

4.       We express strong objections to the SR’s attempts at influencing the functioning of the UN NGO Committee. We are concerned by the increasing trend by SRs to raise alarm bells whenever the civil society is being asked to follow the law of the land giving an impression that they are in a way- intentionally or otherwise- encouraging the civil society to violate national laws. SRs constitute an important part of the UN human rights mechanisms, however, any pursuit of self-glorification and easy publicity by some SRs can seriously damage the credibility and acceptance of the entire mechanism itself.
5.       India’s programme of affirmative action is without parallel both in scale and scope. Apart from the Fundamental Rights to prohibit discrimination in any form, the Constitution also provides for advancement of vulnerable sections of our society. Their socio-economic disadvantage has been specifically addressed through a multi-pronged strategy focusing on social, economic and political empowerment along with social justice to ensure removal of disparities and elimination of exploitation.

 6.      As the world’s largest democracy with a vibrant civil society and a robustly independent judiciary, India is not only well aware of her human rights obligations, commitments and challenges but also adequately prepared to address those challenges with myriad self-corrective domestic remedy mechanisms and the requisite political will.
         
Thank you.