New Delhi, March 7 In the backdrop of multiple ongoing conflicts in the world, NHRC chairperson Justice V Ramasubramanian (retired) on Saturday called for a "complete overhaul" of the Paris Principles so that international standards can be set for better protection of human rights.
In his remarks during a session – 'NHRCs in Turbulent Times' – held as part of the Raisina Dialogue here, he argued that the Paris Principles only address a "cosmetic aspect" of the matter, concerning how a human rights institution should be constituted.
The Paris Principles are a set of standards for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) developed by the United Nations in 1993.
These were subsequently endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1993, and set out the basic guidelines recommended by the UN for the establishment of a national human rights institution.
Given the current global situation with several conflicts taking place, the NHRC chief, without naming anyone or any country, lamented that the first prerequisite for upholding human rights is to "speak the truth, but today, no world leader can take the microphone and speak the whole truth".
He attributed this to diplomacy, multilateral relationships, and the interests of a country, adding, "Today, we have to use a lot of diplomacy, and we have to be careful in choosing words and names".
Justice Ramasubramanian, referring to global conflicts, said that the irony of history is that "perpetrators become victims and victims become perpetrators, they reverse their roles".
"I think the first half of the 21st century will be the mirror image of the first half of the 20th century. So, what should we do?" he asked.
The NHRC chief called for "collaboration between NHRIs of various countries, regardless of whether they were historically perpetrators or victims".
"If we come together as a society and strengthen civil society and human rights institutions to question their respective governments, we can make them realize that they cannot do what they are doing. It will be very difficult for one international organization to take on the burden," he added.
The NHRC chief said that after World War II, it was possible for "one organization" to take on the responsibility, because everyone saw reasons after a lot of bloodshed.
"Today, that reason is gone because self-interest or the interest of my country takes precedence over the interest of other countries, in every way," he said.
The NHRC chief said there must be some "recalibration" of the ideological issues.
All these human rights institutions in various countries were established in accordance with the Paris Principles. "Unfortunately, the Paris Principles only address a cosmetic aspect, concerning how an institution should be constituted," he argued.
"The Paris Principles require a complete revamping and overhaul, so that international standards can be set. After that, we should have three to four international bodies that will oversee their own countries," the NHRC chairperson suggested.
"Unless this is done and dialogue is prompted, I don't think it will be easy to tame countries that have…," he said.
Bharat Lal, Secretary General, NHRC, said that after World War II, the countries responsible for maintaining peace "are themselves becoming responsible for various disruptions leading to human rights violations in different parts of the world".
The NHRC chief also urged the Indian society to practice the values it has historically been proud of. "Here, preachers are different from practitioners; preachers don't practice, and practitioners don't preach," he said, without elaborating.
Justice Ramasubramanian said that societal values need to improve, and underlined that "an ideal society is one where there is no need for the police, courts, or an NHRI".
