No matter which party comes to power in 2014, the fact of the matter is that India’s next government will face a range of challenges that will test its commitment to promoting human rights. As part of their 14for2014 campaign, Amnesty International India is asking political parties contesting the 2014 parliamentary elections to commit to and adopt as part of their manifestoes, 14 key goals to improve India’s human rights record. In fact, they’ve prepared a list of sixteen questions on various Human Rights issues to India’s next Prime Minister. Here they are;
1. Will you ensure the passage of an anti-torture bill in Parliament? Y/N
2. Will you reduce excessive under-trial detention and overcrowding in prisons by implementing section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure? Y/N
3. Will you make the police more accountable and effective by implementing the Supreme Court directives on police reforms? Y/N
4. Will you adopt the Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations on filing and registration of police complaints for crimes involving violence against women? Y/N
5. Will you enact a law making marital rape a crime? Y/N
6. Will you decriminalize homosexuality by repealing section 377 of the IPC? Y/N
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7. Will you remove immunity for public servants by repealing Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure? Y/N
8. Will you make enforced disappearances a crime under law? Y/N
9. Will you hold armed forces accountable for human rights violations by repealing the AFSPA? Y/N
10. Will you enact a law to abolish the death penalty? Y/N
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11. Will you prevent trafficking and forced labor of Indian migrant workers employed abroad by strengthening regulation of recruitment agencies and brokers? Y/N
12. Will you ensure investigation of human rights abuses in corporate mining projects? Y/N
13. Will you extend the provisions of the new land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement law to all people affected by any project? Y/N
14. Will you sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and the ILO Domestic Workers Convention? Y/N
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15. Will you repeal Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code – which deals with the offence of ‘sedition’ – which is inconsistent with international standards on freedom of expression? Y/N
16. Will you disclose the details of the Central Monitoring System, including its permitted grounds of surveillance and the safeguards on its misuse and ensure that it proceeds only after due consultation with the public and deliberation in Parliament? Y/N
To know more about the campaign and lend it your support, visit 14for2014.com
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