Keeping in view these objectives, the Government is pursuing the question of setting up of State Human Commissions with those State Governments which have not set up the Commission so far. The States of Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have set up State Human Rights Commission.
The United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the General Assembly in 1984 and entered into force in June, 1987. There were 102 State Parties to the Convention as on June 30, 1997. India signed the UN Convention against Torture on 14 October, 1997. Ratification of the Convention would follow after completion of certain formalities.
India has acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 10.4.1979 ... India's Third Periodic Report was presented by Shri Ashok Desai, Attorney General for India, to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on 24.7.1997. The actual presentation and discussion on the report were spread over four sessions on 24 and 25 July, 1997.
.. The Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in June, 1995 allowing ICRC access to all jails/detention centres in the State and individuals arrested or detained, in connection with the situation prevailing in J&K, purely on humanitarian grounds. Till March 1998 ICRC made 197 visits to 40 detention places and met 6,200 detenues. The State Government of Jammu & Kashmir organised a review meeting on 20 March 1997 ..
... The Government continued to facilitate visits of foreigners, including parliamentarians and diplomats, to various parts of the country, particularly Jammu and Kashmir. During 1997-98, 106 foreign diplomats, 103 foreign journalists and 11,197 foreign tourists visited the State of J&K. The Government cleared a research visit by Dr. Sangeeta Ahuja, a member of the Amnesty International, in the second week of January, 1997. The main purpose of-the visit was to conduct research on torture, rape and custodial deaths ...
.. At the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in June, 1993 it was decided that the decade starting from 1995 to 2004 be considered as the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education in order to promote, encourage and focus on human rights education ... A coordination committee chaired by the Home Secretary and comprising Secretaries from other Ministries and Departments has been set up for implementing the Decade.
On 10th December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The fiftieth anniversary of this event will fall on the 10th of December, 1998 ... A National Committee under the Chairmanship of Home Minister and consisting of MOS (Home) as Vice-Chairman, Home Secretary as Member Secretary and Secretaries from other Ministries/Departments, representatives of Universities and NGOs as Members, has drawn a National Plan of Action ...
The first meeting of the National Committee was held on 11.11.1997 under the chairmanship of Home Minister to approve the Action Plan ...The National Human Rights Commission (was) constituted under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 ... During January, 1997 to March, 1998, the Commission considered 33,273 complaints.