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might stem from treaty obligations. Second, India is bound to honour its obligations
under the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which she became a party on 10 April 1979. Under Article 7 of that Covenant, torture is categorically
forbidden and the provisions of that article are nonderogable. Third, the Right against
Torture has been judicially recognized by the Apex Court as a Fundamental ~ i ~ h i , .
making that right and the corresponding obligation it places on the State and its
agencies a fundamental entrenched right. The apprehension that acceding to the
Convention will open the country to "interference from outside" is refuted in the paper
by means of an analysis of tQ provisions of the Convention, particularly its Articles 21,
22 and 28. The paper concludes "Our country is already required by the Constitution,
our laws and the Supreme Court to act in ways consistent with the Convention against
Torture. To accede to the latter would thus be to signify to the world that we indeed
intend to conduct ourselves in the manner that we have, ourselves, determined to be
in keeping with our most cherished values. Such a move would also signify that, as
a nation, we intend io be in the forefront of the world-wide human rights movement and
not, timorousIy, in the rear. India's efforts to promote and protect human rights in a
country whose demographic, linguistic and pluralistic complexion presenf the most
acute problems, incomparable anywhere else in the world for its sheer staggering size,
has been impressive. This great country does not need to crouch behind the high wall
of'national sovereignty on the
issues of Human Rights."
r.
3.32 In repeating this exhortation in the present report, the Commission strongly
recomrnends.that the Government announce its accession to the Convention against
Torture in this fiftieth year of Independence. Such a concrete step, specifically aimed
at enhancing the dignity and worth of the human person, would surely be in keeping
with the pledge made to the people of lndia on that incandescent night, five decades
ago.
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3.33 In the meantime, the Commission also recommends that it is important to followup on a series of practical measures, that the Fourth Report of the National Police
Commission suggested, to check the use of third-degree methods by the police. These
include:
Surprise visits to police stations and similar units by senior officers; this could
help in the early detection of persons held in unauthorized custody and
subjected to ill-treatment; any inalpractices so noticed should be met with
swift and deterrent punishment;