The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions The National Human Rights Commission of India has a mandate to inquire into complaints of human rights violations, either in response to complaints or on its own motion (i.e. suo moto). It also has the power to instruct the police and other law enforcement authorities to provide it with post-mortem video tapes and autopsy reports conducted by state medical officers in response to deaths in custody and other violations of rights occurring in custody. The Commission’s investigative mandate is not confined to violations of civil and political rights; it can use its powers to inquire into violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The Commission regularly uses its powers to recommend the payment of financial compensation to victims of human rights violations, following a determination by the Commission that the relevant government authorities have violated the rights of victims. In one such case, the Commission recommended the payment of financial compensation to 125 tribal families from Orissa state, whose children had died due to the effects of malnutrition arising from the State’s denial of the right to food of the affected population. Reports indicate an almost universal rate of compliance by State authorities in response to the Commission’s recommendations for the payment of financial compensation to victims of violations.244 KEY POINTS: CHAPTER 9 • Depending on their mandate, NHRIs can consider individual and collective complaints regarding violations of indigenous peoples’ human rights and make recommendations for redress and remedies to the appropriate authorities. • Some NHRIs have mandates that allow them to refer human rights complaints to the relevant authorities, including government agencies, the parliament, the judiciary and prosecuting authorities, and also to seek redress or remedies on behalf of complainants. 244 244 This case was cited in material prepared by Mario Gomez on “National Human Rights Commissions and ESC Rights” for Circle of Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Activism: A Training Resource, available at www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/ IHRIP/circle/modules/module23.htm#_edn13. 90 | Chapter 9: Investigations and complaints