A. Terrorism and Militancy 4.1 Over recent years, India has been facing the daunting challenge of protecting the human rights in the face of terrorism and militancy. With the grim spectre of terrorism continuing to target innocent, unarmed and defenseless people, the task of protection of human rights has become all the more challenging. CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 4 Civil and Political Rights 4.2 A peaceful society rests on the pillars of justice and State accountability. In most of the tragedies associated with terrorism, it is mostly the common people, whose rights are violated. 4.3 An increase in the activities of terrorists and Naxalites has made the role of security forces even more demanding. They are increasingly called upon to control civil unrest, ensure security at important places and also to control and maintain law and order whenever required. 4.4 The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution 34/169 on 17 December 1979 that all security personnel shall respect and protect human dignity and uphold the human rights of all persons. Towards this objective, they are expected to abide by the laws of the country, international conventions against torture and other cruel punishments and the principles of international cooperation in detention, arrest, and extraditions. 4.5 The Commission is of the firm view that proper observance of human rights is not a hindrance to the promotion of peace and security. Rather, it is an essential National Human Right Commission Annual Report - 2014-2015 27