Preface This report of the National Human Rights Commission, the ninth since it was established in October 1993, covers perhaps the most challenging year in the life of this institution. Everywhere in the world, including India, the pervasive threat of terrorism radically altered the environment in which human rights had to be promoted and protected. It was not a climate favourable to the defence of such rights. Yet, paradoxically, and precisely for this reason, it was a year when the maximum effort had to be made by those whose duty it was to protect such rights, and to do so with a sense of integrity and conviction. It had been hoped, at the dawn of the new millennium, that the period ahead would bring issues relating to the dignity and worth of the human person to the centre of the social and political agenda; that the advent of the twenty-first century would see a focus on human rights and human development; oh issues of equity and justice; and that the true purpose of good governance would be to open the doors of freedom and opportunity to those who had been disadvantaged by circumstances of birth, or for reasons of economic and social exclusion. Instead, the new millennium was darkened by the shadow of terrorism and, with it, a compulsion to fight that evil with the entire arsenal of the international community and of all States. On 28 September 2001, the United Nations Security Coimcil adopted Resolution 1373, requiring all States to adopt ANNUAL REPORT 2001 -2002