New Delhi, Feb 16 (Agency) Human Rights Defenders play a very constructive role in promoting and protecting human rights in the country, said National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairperson Justice (Retd) Arun Kumar Mishra on Thursday. Mishra made the statement while chairing the first meeting of the NHRC’s re-constituted core group of Human Rights Defenders in the presence of D M Mulay, Member, and senior officers of the Commission. “The role of the NHRC and the HRDs is complementary to each other.
The HRDs through their work on the ground can see and raise concerns, if any, on the status of the implementation of welfare schemes and human rights situation and help the Commission in the discharge of its mandate,” he said. Mishra said that with technological advancement and internet-aided connectivity, new challenges are emerging, which are impinging on the human rights of the people. “The right to privacy is at stake to others in an era of the cyber regime and dark web, e-frauds, human trafficking in cyberspace, and crypto-currency for which the HRDs have to gear up themselves for the protection of human rights,” he said.
Mishra said that there are various issues of human rights on which the Commission has issued about 24 advisories in the recent past and the HRDs can play a pivotal role in extending support to it by reaching out to the people both in the systems of governance and outside to build awareness about these guidelines ensuring the protection of human rights in the far-flung areas. He said that the Commission looks forward to receiving valuable suggestions from HRDs for ameliorating the cause of human rights. Various human rights concerns were also discussed in the meeting, a statement said.