REVIEW OF LAWS. IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS ! 45
required to be made to the Act and submitted these to the Government in March 2000
requesting that they be acted upon without delay. The amendments proposed by the
Commission and the reasons for its proposals were annexed in full to the Annual
Report for 1999-2000.
4.18 It is a matter of deep regret to the Commission that, despite repeated contacts
with the Government, both at the highest political level and at the working level, the
period imder review concluded without the needed amendments being made to the
Act It is impossible for the Commission to refrain from ejqjressing its profound
disappointment at this state of affairs, as it seriously afreets the capacity of the
Commission to fulfil the high purpose for which it was established, a purpose that the
Commission is determined to serve, in the interest of the country and all of its people,
to the utmost of its capacity. The Commission, therefore, takes this opportunity to
urge the Central Government, once again, to act without further delay on the
amendments that it has proposed to the Act.
D] Implementation of Treaties and Other
International Instruments
1)
Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
4.19 During the period imder review, the Commission corisidered Optional Protocols
1 and 2 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, dealing respectively with the sale
of children, child prostitution and childpornography, and the involvement of children
in armed conflicts. In pursuance of its statutory responsibilities, the Commission
recommended that these Protocols be adopted by the Government of India and asked
the Department of Women and Child Development as well as the Ministry of External
Affairs to take the appropriate action required in this regard. The Commission is
happy to note that, pursuant to its recommendations, the Department ofWomen and
Child Development has initiated action on this matter.
2)
Protocols to the Geneva Conventions
4.20 The Commission received a letter dated 6 September 2000 from Mr Michel
ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001