PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS IN SOUTH ASIA

This article examines the state of human rights protection and promotion in South Asia and assesses the effectiveness of the available enforcement mechanisms. It provides a critical overview of the human rights situation across the region, identifying common challenges such as extrajudicial killings, torture, political repression, and discrimination against women and minorities. The study then analyzes the primary enforcement mechanisms, which are predominantly national rather than regional. It evaluates the role and effectiveness of national human rights commissions, the judiciary, and civil society organizations in holding states accountable. The research also explores the reasons for the conspicuous absence of a regional human rights mechanism in South Asia, in contrast to other regions like Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The paper argues that the principle of state sovereignty and the deep-seated political mistrust among SAARC member states have been the primary obstacles to the creation of a regional human rights charter or court. The analysis concludes that strengthening national institutions remains the most critical pathway for improving human rights protection in the region.

Despite shared cultural and historical ties, South Asia lags significantly behind other regions in the development of formal mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights. This paper provides a critical analysis of this situation. The study begins by documenting the persistent and widespread human rights challenges that plague the countries of the region, from state-sponsored violence to deeply entrenched social discrimination. The core of the article is an examination of the existing enforcement mechanisms. It focuses primarily on the national level, offering a comparative assessment of the newly established national human rights commissions in countries like India and their potential and limitations. The paper also analyzes the crucial role of the judiciary in some countries, where public interest litigation has been used as a powerful tool to enforce fundamental rights. The vital role of a vibrant and courageous civil society, including human rights NGOs and the media, is also highlighted as a key accountability mechanism. The second part of the paper addresses a major puzzle: why has SAARC, unlike its counterparts in other continents, failed to develop a regional human rights system? The analysis points to the strong attachment of member states to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and the fear that such a mechanism would be used to politicize bilateral disputes. The findings suggest that in the absence of a regional framework, the burden of protecting and promoting human rights in South Asia falls overwhelmingly on domestic institutions and civil society.