Protect Basic Human Rights in India | BRAC Fight for Justice

1. Introduction: Why Basic Human Rights Matter Now
Every person in India is born with rights that cannot be taken away. The right to live with dignity, speak freely, practice any religion, move anywhere in the country, and be treated equally under the law are not privileges given by government—they are basic human rights that belong to everyone from birth. Yet across India today, these fundamental rights face serious threats that affect millions of people every day.

According to the National Human Rights Commission of India, 65,973 cases of human rights violations were registered between December 2023 and November 2024, showing that violations remain widespread despite constitutional protections. Each number represents a person whose basic dignity was attacked—a person denied justice, a family facing discrimination, a community silenced, or an individual stripped of freedom without proper legal process.

The reality on the ground reveals troubling patterns. In 2024, the National Human Rights Commission registered 107 deaths in police custody and 1,372 deaths in judicial custody in just the first eight months, along with 93 alleged extrajudicial killings. These deaths represent serious violations of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Human Rights Watch documented continued discrimination against minority communities, politically motivated prosecutions of government critics, and ethnic violence that killed over 200 people and displaced more than 60,000 in Manipur since May 2023.

The right to life means more than simply existing. Supreme Court judgments have established that Article 21 includes the right to live with dignity, the right to clean environment, the right to food, the right to education, the right to shelter, and the right to healthcare. When these rights are violated, people cannot reach their full potential, families fall into poverty, children miss education opportunities, and communities remain trapped in cycles of injustice.

India’s Constitution provides strong protections through fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III, including equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, protection against exploitation, and cultural and educational rights. Supporting these constitutional guarantees are legal frameworks including the new criminal laws implemented from July 1, 2024—the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023—which replaced colonial-era laws with updated protections.

However, laws on paper do not automatically translate into protection in practice. Wide gaps exist between constitutional promises and daily reality. Vulnerable communities including scheduled castes and scheduled tribes face higher rates of rights violations. Crimes against scheduled tribes surged 28.8% in 2023, with Manipur reporting 3,399 cases compared to just one in 2022. Women continue facing discrimination and violence despite legal protections. People in custody face abuse and denial of fair trial rights. Citizens peacefully exercising freedom of speech face harassment and prosecution.

The harm from rights violations extends beyond individuals to entire families and communities. When a breadwinner is wrongfully detained, families lose income and children drop out of school. When communities face discrimination in accessing government services, development lags and poverty deepens. When journalists and activists are silenced, corruption thrives and accountability disappears. When religious minorities face violence, social fabric tears and national unity weakens.

2. Understanding the Issue: The State of Human Rights in India
Human rights in India face complex challenges despite strong constitutional protections and a robust legal framework. Understanding the current situation requires examining statistics, patterns of violations, vulnerable populations, types of rights most threatened, causes of violations, and their wide-ranging impact.

Scale of Rights Violations: Current Statistics
The data reveals the extent of human rights challenges facing India today.

• Total Cases Registered: The National Human Rights Commission registered 65,973 new human rights violation cases between December 1, 2023 and November 30, 2024, while disposing of 66,378 cases including those pending from previous years. Since the Commission’s establishment in 1993 through November 2024, it has registered a total of 23,14,794 cases and disposed of 23,07,587 cases.
• Monetary Relief Recommended: During 2023-2024, the NHRC recommended Rs. 17.24 crores in monetary relief to victims of human rights violations. Since its inception, the Commission has recommended approximately Rs. 256.57 crores total to victims.
• Deaths in Custody: In the first eight months of 2024, the NHRC registered 107 deaths in police custody and 1,372 deaths in judicial custody, showing that custodial violence and deaths remain serious problems. Additionally, 93 alleged extrajudicial killings were reported, highlighting serious violations of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Overall Crime Increase: India recorded 6.24 million crime cases in 2023, representing a 7.2% increase from 2022, with the crime rate rising to 448.3 per lakh population from 422.2 in 2022. This means India witnessed a crime every five seconds in 2023.
• International Scrutiny: Between 2019 and 2024, India received a total of 83 communications from various United Nations human rights experts but responded to only 20, showing limited engagement with international human rights monitoring.
• Underreporting Problem: These official statistics likely represent only a portion of actual violations, as many people lack awareness of rights, fear retaliation for complaining, cannot access complaint mechanisms, or lose hope that complaints will lead to justice.

Geographic Distribution and Regional Patterns
Rights violations are not distributed evenly across India, with certain states and regions showing higher rates.

• Metropolitan Crime Concentration: Metropolitan cities saw crime increase by 10.6% in 2023, highlighting urban pressures, reporting improvements, and concentration of violations in areas with high population density. Delhi recorded the highest number of cases among cities.
• State-Level Variations: Different states show different patterns of violations based on governance quality, enforcement capacity, social tensions, economic development, and historical factors. States with higher development sometimes show more reported cases simply because awareness and reporting mechanisms are better, not necessarily because violations are more frequent.
• Conflict-Affected Areas: Regions experiencing ethnic, religious, or political conflict show dramatically higher violation rates. Manipur’s surge from 1 case in 2022 to 3,339 cases in 2023 of crimes against scheduled tribes reflects the ethnic violence that displaced over 60,000 people.
• Border Areas: Areas along international borders, particularly where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) remains in force, show patterns of violations including excessive force, arbitrary detention, and lack of accountability for security forces.

Profile of Most Vulnerable Populations
Not everyone faces equal risk of rights violations. Certain groups experience disproportionate harm.

• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: Crimes against scheduled castes rose marginally in 2023, while crimes against scheduled tribes surged 28.8%, reflecting both increased violence and improved reporting. However, laws on paper do not automatically translate into protection in practice. Wide gaps exist between constitutional promises and daily reality. Vulnerable communities including scheduled castes and scheduled tribes face higher rates of rights violations. Crimes against scheduled tribes surged 28.8% in 2023, with Manipur reporting 3,339 cases compared to just one in 2022. Historical discrimination, land conflicts, displacement from development projects, and exploitation make these communities particularly vulnerable to rights violations.
• Religious Minorities: Muslim, Christian, and other minority communities faced attacks, discriminatory laws, and failure of authorities to protect them from violence by Hindu nationalist groups. Properties were unlawfully demolished, families were displaced, and victims of violence were sometimes prosecuted instead of protected.
• Women and Children: Crimes against women rose 0.7% in 2023, with domestic cruelty accounting for 29.8% of cases, highlighting persistent gender-based discrimination and violence. Crimes against children increased 9.2%, with a significant share under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, reflecting both children’s vulnerability and improved reporting.
• People in Custody: Those arrested or imprisoned face high risk of torture, denial of fair trial, inadequate legal representation, and deaths from violence or neglect. The 1,479 deaths in police and judicial custody in eight months of 2024 show the scale of this problem.
• Human Rights Defenders and Journalists: People working to expose violations, defend rights, or criticize government policies face harassment, politically motivated prosecutions under tax and foreign funding regulations, and prosecution under counterterrorism laws.
• Poor and Marginalized Communities: People lacking economic resources, education, and social connections face greatest risk of violations because they cannot afford lawyers, lack knowledge of rights, have no access to authorities who will listen, and face discrimination based on poverty itself.

Types of Rights Most Frequently Violated
Different categories of human rights face different levels and patterns of violation.

• Right to Life and Personal Liberty (Article 21): Violations include custodial deaths and torture, extrajudicial killings by security forces, deaths from starvation and lack of healthcare, environmental pollution causing health harm, and denial of dignity through forced evictions and demolitions.
• Right to Equality (Article 14): Discrimination in law enforcement where police treat wealthy and poor differently, unequal access to justice with lengthy court delays disadvantaging those without resources, discrimination in government services and employment, and selective prosecution targeting government critics while ignoring crimes by supporters.
• Freedom of Speech and Expression (Article 19(1)(a)): Prosecutions of journalists and activists for criticism of government, censorship and internet shutdowns blocking information flow, intimidation and violence against those expressing dissenting views, and restrictive laws used to silence peaceful expression.
• Freedom of Religion (Article 25): Violence against religious minorities by extremist groups, discriminatory laws targeting specific religious communities, forced conversions and harassment over interfaith relationships, and demolition of religious structures and places of worship.
• Right Against Exploitation (Articles 23-24): Forced labor and human trafficking affecting vulnerable populations, child labor despite legal prohibitions, bonded labor in agriculture and other sectors, and sexual exploitation particularly of women and children.
• Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29-30): Discrimination preventing minority communities from establishing educational institutions, denial of education in mother tongue, attacks on cultural identity and practices, and forced assimilation pressures.

Root Causes Behind Rights Violations
Understanding why violations happen is essential to preventing them.

• Weak Accountability Systems: Police, prison officials, and other authorities committing violations rarely face punishment. Low conviction rates for custodial deaths, lack of effective oversight mechanisms, protection of officials through immunity provisions, and failure to investigate complaints properly create environments where violations continue without consequences.
• Discrimination and Prejudice: Deep-rooted caste discrimination persists despite legal prohibitions, religious prejudice fueled by extremist ideology drives violence, gender discrimination limits women’s rights and protection, and economic prejudice allows exploitation of poor and marginalized people.
• Gaps Between Law and Implementation: Strong laws exist on paper but enforcement remains weak because authorities lack training, resources are inadequate, corruption undermines systems, political interference protects violators, and victims cannot access complaint mechanisms.
• Lack of Legal Awareness: Most people, especially in rural areas and among marginalized communities, lack knowledge of their constitutional rights, do not know how to file complaints, cannot identify violations when they occur, and believe nothing can be done even when they recognize violations.
• Political Factors: Authorities prioritizing security over rights use excessive force, governments silencing criticism suppress dissent, political interference protects party supporters from prosecution, and divisive politics scapegoat minority communities creating environment for violence.
• Social and Cultural Norms: Traditional attitudes accepting discrimination as normal, honor culture justifying control and violence, patriarchal norms limiting women’s autonomy and rights, and caste hierarchies perpetuating exploitation despite legal equality all contribute to violations.

Impact of Rights Violations on Individuals and Society
The harm from rights violations extends far beyond immediate victims.

• Individual Physical and Psychological Harm: Victims suffer physical injuries from violence and torture, psychological trauma including depression and anxiety, loss of livelihood and economic security, social stigma and isolation, and in extreme cases, death.
• Family Consequences: Families of victims face economic hardship when breadwinners are detained or harmed, children lose education opportunities, psychological impact on family members who witness violations or live with trauma, social stigma affecting marriage and social standing, and health problems from stress and lack of care.
• Community-Level Impact: Trust in authorities and institutions erodes when violations go unpunished, social cohesion weakens when communities turn against each other, economic development suffers in areas with high violation rates, youth lose hope and faith in justice systems, and cycles of violence and retaliation emerge.
• National Consequences: India’s international reputation suffers when violations are documented, economic partnerships face scrutiny over rights records, democratic institutions weaken when rights are not protected, national unity fractures along caste, religious, and regional lines, and development goals cannot be achieved when large populations face discrimination.

Your donation to BRAC helps address these widespread violations through legal aid ensuring victims get justice, community education building awareness of rights, advocacy strengthening enforcement of protections, support services helping victims and families recover, and systemic reforms closing gaps between constitutional promises and daily reality.

3. Legal Framework: Laws Protecting Basic Human Rights
India has developed a comprehensive legal framework to protect basic human rights, combining constitutional guarantees, criminal law provisions, specialized legislation, and international commitments. However, significant gaps exist between legal protections and enforcement in practice.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON INDIAN CRIMINAL LAW (AS OF 2025):
On July 1, 2024, India implemented a new set of criminal laws. All criminal legal references in this article are based on these current laws:

• The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which replaces the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
• The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
• The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023, which replaces the Indian Evidence Act.
  All references to the old IPC and CrPC are obsolete for current legal matters.

Constitutional Protections: The Foundation
The Constitution of India provides fundamental rights in Part III that form the bedrock of human rights protection.

• Article 14 – Right to Equality: Guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of laws to all persons, prohibiting discrimination and requiring the state to treat all citizens equally regardless of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. This article ensures that laws apply equally to everyone and that government cannot treat people differently without reasonable justification.
• Article 19 – Six Freedoms: Guarantees six fundamental freedoms to all citizens including freedom of speech and expression, freedom to assemble peacefully without arms, freedom to form associations or unions, freedom to move freely throughout India, freedom to reside and settle anywhere in India, and freedom to practice any profession or carry on any occupation, trade, or business. These freedoms are subject to reasonable restrictions for public interest, security, and order.
• Article 21 – Right to Life and Personal Liberty: States that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. The Supreme Court has interpreted this article expansively to include right to live with dignity, right to livelihood, right to food, right to clean environment, right to education, right to healthcare, right to shelter, right to privacy, and many other dimensions of dignified living.
• Article 21A – Right to Education: Guarantees free and compulsory education to all children between ages 6 and 14 years, ensuring that poverty does not prevent children from receiving education.
• Article 22 – Protection Against Arrest and Detention: Provides that no person arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed of the grounds for arrest, grants the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of choice, requires that arrested persons be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, and protects against arbitrary detention.
• Articles 23-24 – Right Against Exploitation: Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings, forced labor, and similar forms of forced labor, making such practices punishable by law. Article 24 prohibits employment of children below age 14 in factories, mines, or other hazardous work.
• Article 25-28 – Freedom of Religion: Article 25 grants freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality, and health. Article 26 grants religious denominations freedom to manage their own religious affairs. Articles 27-28 prohibit compelling anyone to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion and prohibit religious instruction in educational institutions wholly funded by the state.
• Articles 29-30 – Cultural and Educational Rights: Protect the rights of minorities to conserve their distinct language, script, and culture, and establish and administer educational institutions of their choice without discrimination.
• Article 32 – Right to Constitutional Remedies: Grants the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights, empowering the Court to issue writs including habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto, and certiorari for enforcement of rights. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called this the heart and soul of the Constitution because rights mean nothing without remedies to enforce them.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023: Relevant Provisions
The new criminal code contains several provisions relevant to protecting human rights.

• Section 35 – Right of Private Defence: Establishes that every person has the right to defend their own body and property, subject to restrictions contained in law, protecting individuals’ right to self-protection.
• Section 103(2) – Murder by Mob on Identity Grounds: Makes it an offense when a group of five or more persons commits murder based on race, caste, community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief, or any other ground, punishable with death or life imprisonment and fine. This provision addresses mob lynching that has targeted minorities and vulnerable communities.
• Sections on Offenses Against Women and Children: BNS consolidates all offenses against women and children in Chapter V, making it easier to locate and apply protections. These include provisions on rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and other gender-based crimes.
• Organized Crime Provisions: BNS adds organized crime as an offense, covering crimes like kidnapping, extortion, and cyber-crime committed on behalf of crime syndicates, which often violate multiple rights of victims.
• Community Service as Punishment: For the first time, BNS includes community service as a form of punishment alongside imprisonment and fines, providing alternatives to incarceration for certain offenses. However, the Act does not define what community service entails or how it will be administered.

Landmark Supreme Court Judgments Expanding Rights
India’s Supreme Court has played a crucial role in interpreting and expanding fundamental rights protections through landmark judgments.

• Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973): This landmark case established the basic structure doctrine, holding that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in ways that destroy or alter its basic structure, which includes supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, independence of judiciary, separation of powers, and fundamental rights. The 13-judge bench ruled in a 7-6 decision that while Parliament has wide powers to amend the Constitution under Article 368, it cannot destroy the Constitution’s fundamental features. This judgment protects human rights from being eliminated through constitutional amendments and preserves the Constitution’s core commitment to individual dignity and liberty.
• Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978): This case revolutionized interpretation of Article 21, establishing that the “procedure established by law” for depriving someone of life or personal liberty must be just, fair, and reasonable, not merely a procedure that exists. The Court overruled the earlier A.K. Gopalan case that had taken a restrictive view of Article 21. The judgment established the “golden triangle” concept that Articles 14 (equality), 19 (freedoms), and 21 (life and liberty) are interconnected and must be read together. Any law depriving a person of personal liberty must satisfy all three provisions. This decision marked a fundamental shift toward expanding individual rights against state power.
• People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) v. Union of India (2001-2017): This landmark case, also known as the Right to Food case, recognized that the right to food is a fundamental right flowing from Article 21. Filed in 2001 during drought conditions when people were starving despite government grain surpluses, the case resulted in continuing mandamus with the Supreme Court passing interim orders over 16 years to ensure implementation of food security schemes. The Court ordered immediate release of food grains, expansion of Below Poverty Line assistance, implementation of Food-for-Work programs, and other measures. This case directly led to enactment of the National Food Security Act, 2013, and demonstrated how courts can ensure government fulfills its duty to protect socio-economic rights.

Specialized Human Rights Legislation
Beyond constitutional protections and criminal law, India has enacted specialized laws addressing specific human rights concerns.

• Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993: Established the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions to investigate violations, recommend remedies, and promote human rights awareness. The NHRC can inquire into violations, visit jails and detention centers, review laws and policies, and recommend monetary relief for victims.
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989: Provides special protections against atrocities committed against members of scheduled castes and tribes, with enhanced punishments for caste-based violence and special courts for expedited trials.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012: Provides comprehensive protection to children from sexual abuse, harassment, and exploitation, with stringent punishments and child-friendly trial procedures.
• National Food Security Act, 2013: Provides legal entitlement to subsidized food grains for eligible households, recognizing food security as a legal right flowing from the right to life.
• Right to Information Act, 2005: Empowers citizens to seek information from public authorities, promoting transparency and accountability that are essential for protecting rights.
• Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019: Prohibits discrimination against transgender persons in education, employment, healthcare, and other areas, recognizing their right to self-perceived gender identity.

International Human Rights Commitments
India is party to several international human rights treaties that create legal obligations.

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): India ratified this treaty guaranteeing civil and political rights including rights to life, liberty, fair trial, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion.
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): India ratified this treaty recognizing rights to work, fair wages, adequate standard of living, education, and health.
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): India committed to eliminating discrimination against women in all spheres.
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): India committed to protecting children’s rights to survival, development, protection, and participation.

Enforcement Gaps and Challenges
Despite robust legal frameworks, significant gaps exist between law and practice.

• National Human Rights Commission Concerns: The Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions deferred the NHRC’s re-accreditation for a second consecutive year in 2024, citing failure to adequately address escalating violations, lack of pluralism in appointments, and insufficient cooperation with human rights bodies. This raises questions about the effectiveness of India’s primary human rights institution.
• Delayed Justice: With only 20 responses to 83 UN communications on human rights concerns between 2019-2024, India shows limited engagement with international monitoring. Courts face massive backlogs causing years-long delays in getting justice. For vulnerable people without resources for lawyers or repeated court appearances, these delays amount to denial of justice.
• Weak Police Accountability: Deaths in police custody rarely result in prosecutions or convictions. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act continues providing immunity to security forces in certain areas, preventing accountability for serious violations.
• Lack of Legal Aid: Most poor people cannot afford lawyers, and government legal aid systems remain inadequate, leaving people unable to effectively assert their rights in courts.
• Discrimination in Enforcement: Police and courts often treat people differently based on caste, religion, economic status, and political connections, undermining the constitutional guarantee of equality before law.

Donate to BRAC to fund our legal aid programs that help victims access justice, file complaints with NHRC and courts, obtain compensation for violations, hold authorities accountable through public interest litigation, and advocate for reforms strengthening enforcement of protections.

4. Challenges: Barriers to Protecting Basic Human Rights
Despite constitutional guarantees and legal frameworks, protecting basic human rights in India faces numerous interconnected challenges operating at social, institutional, political, and economic levels.

Institutional and Governance Failures
Weak and compromised institutions undermine rights protection.

• Weakening of Autonomous Institutions: The NHRC’s deferred accreditation highlights concerns about political appointments, lack of pluralism in leadership, and insufficient independence. When human rights institutions become extensions of government rather than independent watchdogs, their ability to protect rights diminishes.
• Police Misconduct and Impunity: With 107 deaths in police custody in eight months of 2024, custodial violence remains a serious problem. Low prosecution rates for custodial deaths, torture to extract confessions, arbitrary arrests without proper procedure, and discriminatory enforcement protecting wealthy and powerful while targeting vulnerable populations all violate fundamental rights. Police often refuse to register complaints, particularly when accused are politically connected or victims are from marginalized communities.
• Judicial Delays: India’s courts face massive backlogs with cases taking years or decades to resolve. For rights violations, delayed justice means prolonged suffering, witnesses disappearing or dying, evidence degrading, and victims giving up hope. Poor people cannot afford repeated court appearances, travel costs, and lawyer fees for years, effectively denying them justice.
• Inadequate Legal Aid: Government legal aid schemes exist but remain grossly inadequate with too few lawyers, insufficient compensation for lawyers taking cases, lack of support staff and resources, poor quality representation in many cases, and limited awareness among eligible people about available services.
• Corruption: Bribes required to register police complaints, corruption in courts delaying or influencing decisions, payments demanded for government services that should be free, and officials protecting violators in exchange for money all undermine legal protections and leave victims without recourse.

Social and Cultural Barriers
Deep-rooted social attitudes perpetuate rights violations.

• Caste-Based Discrimination: Despite constitutional prohibition, caste discrimination persists in daily life through social exclusion, denial of access to water sources and temples, discrimination in employment and education, violence against those asserting equal status, and forced labor and bonded labor primarily affecting lower castes. The 28.8% surge in crimes against scheduled tribes in 2023 reflects both increased violence and persistence of discrimination.
• Religious Discrimination and Communalism: Rising advocacy of hatred and violence by extremist groups, attacks on minority religious communities, discriminatory laws targeting specific religions, failure of authorities to protect minorities and sometimes prosecuting victims instead of perpetrators, and forced displacement through property demolitions all violate fundamental rights to equality and religious freedom.
• Gender Discrimination: Patriarchal attitudes limiting women’s autonomy, acceptance of domestic violence as private family matter, discrimination in inheritance and property rights, lack of safety in public spaces, and social pressure preventing women from asserting rights all contribute to ongoing violations. The persistence of domestic cruelty accounting for 29.8% of crimes against women shows how deeply ingrained these problems are.
• Social Stigma: Victims of rights violations face stigma that prevents them from seeking justice, particularly in cases of sexual violence, torture, or when violations involve family members. Communities often pressure victims to stay silent to protect family honor or avoid drawing attention.
• Lack of Awareness: Most people, especially in rural areas and among marginalized communities, lack knowledge of their constitutional rights, do not know where to complain, cannot identify violations when they happen, and believe asserting rights will only bring more trouble from authorities.

Political and Governance Challenges
Political factors create environments where rights violations flourish.

• Politically Motivated Prosecutions: Government critics including journalists, activists, academics, and opposition politicians face harassment through tax investigations, foreign funding violations, sedition charges, and counterterrorism laws used to silence dissent. This violates freedom of speech and expression while creating chilling effects that prevent others from speaking out.
• Discriminatory Laws and Policies: Laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 that discriminate based on religion, preventive detention laws allowing prolonged detention without trial, and regulations restricting NGOs and civil society organizations all undermine rights protections. The European Parliament in 2024 adopted a resolution raising concerns about “violence, increasing nationalistic rhetoric and divisive policies” against minorities.
• Internet Shutdowns and Censorship: India imposes more internet shutdowns than any other country, blocking information flow and violating freedom of expression. Shutdowns prevent people from accessing essential services, conducting business, and organizing peaceful assemblies.
• Selective Enforcement: Laws are enforced selectively with government supporters often escaping prosecution while critics face harsh action. This unequal application violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of laws.
• Political Interference: Political leaders pressuring police and prosecutors to drop cases against allies or file cases against opponents, transfers and punishments for officials who act independently, and lack of separation between political and administrative functions all undermine rule of law.

Economic and Resource Challenges
Poverty and resource constraints exacerbate rights violations.

• Link Between Poverty and Rights Violations: People living in poverty face highest risk of violations because they cannot afford lawyers, lack social connections to access authorities, work in exploitative conditions without alternatives, live in areas with inadequate security, and face discrimination based on poverty itself. Economic vulnerability makes rights protections theoretical rather than real.
• Inadequate Government Investment: Insufficient budgets for courts resulting in lack of judges and staff, inadequate funding for police resulting in poor training and lack of accountability systems, minimal resources for legal aid leaving most people unrepresented, and underfunded human rights institutions limiting their ability to investigate and address violations.
• Cost of Accessing Justice: Even when legal aid exists, hidden costs like travel to courts, time away from work, document fees, and living expenses during proceedings create barriers that prevent poor people from pursuing justice. For daily wage workers, losing even one day’s income to attend court can mean family goes hungry.
• Regional Inequality: Wealthier states have better functioning justice systems, more awareness of rights, better access to legal services, and stronger civil society oversight, while poorer states show higher violation rates and less access to remedies, creating geographic inequality in rights protection.

Security and Conflict-Related Challenges
Areas experiencing conflict face particular rights challenges.

• Ethnic and Religious Violence: The Manipur conflict that killed over 200 and displaced more than 60,000 since May 2023 shows how ethnic violence destroys rights on massive scale. Similar tensions in other regions create environments where rights violations flourish during periods of conflict.
• Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA): This law remains in force in Jammu and Kashmir and several northeastern states, providing security forces effective immunity from prosecution even for serious human rights abuses. This immunity prevents accountability for violations including torture, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary detention.
• Border Violence: Border Security Forces have used excessive force along borders, particularly the Bangladesh border, targeting both Indians and people from neighboring countries with impunity. Deaths from border shootings violate right to life without due process.
• Counterterrorism Measures: Broad counterterrorism laws allow prolonged detention without trial, restrict freedoms of speech and association, and are often used against political opponents and human rights defenders rather than actual terrorists, violating fair trial and due process rights.

Systemic and Structural Challenges
Deeper structural issues undermine rights protection.

• Colonial Hangover: Until July 2024, India’s criminal laws remained largely colonial-era statutes focused on state power rather than individual rights. While new laws have been implemented, changing institutional culture and practices takes time. Many provisions and procedures still reflect colonial mindset of controlling populations rather than serving citizens.
• Overlapping and Contradictory Laws: Multiple laws covering similar issues with different procedures and penalties create confusion, opportunities for harassment through multiple charges, and regulatory complexity that favors those who can afford lawyers to navigate systems.
• Lack of Data and Transparency: Poor data collection on violations, lack of disaggregated data to identify patterns, government resistance to transparency, and inadequate monitoring systems prevent evidence-based policy making and accountability.
• Weak Deterrence: When violations rarely result in punishment, perpetrators have no incentive to change behavior. Low conviction rates, light sentences when convictions occur, and ability of wealthy and powerful to escape consequences through influence or delay all undermine deterrence.

Your contribution to BRAC helps overcome these systemic barriers by providing legal representation to those who cannot afford it, building awareness of rights in vulnerable communities, documenting violations to create evidence for advocacy, supporting victims through long legal processes, advocating for institutional reforms, and holding government accountable through public interest litigation and campaigns.

5. Solutions: Building Rights-Respecting India
Protecting basic human rights for all requires comprehensive strategies addressing prevention, enforcement, systemic reform, awareness building, and support for victims. BRAC implements an integrated “Five Pillars of Protection” model to defend and promote human rights across India.

Pillar 1: Legal Aid and Access to Justice Programs
Ensuring that constitutional guarantees become real protections for everyone, especially those without resources.

Free Legal Representation and Counsel:

• Rights Violation Cases: We provide free lawyers to victims of human rights violations including custodial torture, wrongful detention, discrimination, and violence, ensuring they can file complaints with NHRC, pursue cases in courts, and obtain remedies.
• Criminal Defense: We represent people wrongfully accused or facing unfair prosecution, ensuring they receive fair trials, proper legal process, and protection of due process rights.
• Constitutional Remedies: We file writ petitions under Article 32 in Supreme Court and Article 226 in High Courts seeking enforcement of fundamental rights, bringing immediate relief to victims.
• Appeals and Higher Courts: When lower courts deny justice, we pursue appeals to High Courts and Supreme Court, fighting until rights are vindicated.
• Legal Consultation Services: We provide free legal advice to people unsure whether their rights have been violated, explaining rights in simple language, advising on remedies available, and helping them make informed decisions.

Compensation Claims Support:

• NHRC Compensation: We help victims file compensation claims with the National Human Rights Commission, prepare documentation and evidence, follow up on pending applications, and ensure victims receive monetary relief recommended by NHRC.
• Court Compensation: We pursue compensation through courts for violations, including compensation for wrongful detention, custodial torture, property destruction, and loss of livelihood from violations.
• Victim Support Fund: When official compensation is delayed or insufficient, we provide emergency financial assistance to victims and families facing immediate hardship, ensuring survival while pursuing justice.

Fair Trial Rights Protection:

• Bail Applications: We file bail applications for people detained without proper grounds or held beyond legal time limits, ensuring they are not punished before being convicted.
• Habeas Corpus Petitions: When people are detained illegally or whereabouts are unknown, we file habeas corpus writs requiring authorities to produce the person and justify detention.
• Legal Aid Coordination: We coordinate with government legal aid authorities, ensuring eligible people receive services they are entitled to, and supplementing government aid where it falls short.

Community Legal Clinics:

• Mobile Legal Aid Camps: We conduct legal aid camps in villages and urban slums, bringing lawyers to communities that cannot access city courts, providing on-spot consultation and case registration.
• Know Your Rights Workshops: We organize workshops teaching people their fundamental rights, how to identify violations, where to complain, and how to access legal aid.
• Legal Literacy Materials: We distribute pamphlets, posters, and videos in regional languages explaining rights in simple terms that ordinary people can understand.

Strategic Litigation:

• Public Interest Litigation: We file PIL cases addressing systemic violations affecting large groups, seeking court orders requiring government to fulfill constitutional duties, establishing legal precedents strengthening rights protections, and monitoring implementation of court orders.
• Test Cases: We strategically select cases raising important legal questions, taking them to Supreme Court to establish favorable precedents that benefit everyone beyond individual cases.

Pillar 2: Community Education and Awareness Building
Rights are most effectively protected when communities understand and demand them.

Rights Awareness Campaigns:

• Village and Neighborhood Outreach: We conduct intensive awareness campaigns in high-risk areas using street plays, puppet shows, folk songs, and other culturally appropriate methods to communicate rights concepts to people with limited literacy.
• School and College Programs: We implement human rights education in schools and colleges, teaching young people about constitutional rights, democratic values, equality and non-discrimination, and civic responsibilities.
• Women’s Groups: We work with women’s self-help groups and community organizations, empowering women to know and assert their rights, recognize violations, support each other in seeking justice, and educate families about equality.
• Youth Leadership: We train young people as human rights ambassadors who spread awareness in their communities, organize campaigns, and mobilize peers to stand against violations.
• Media Partnerships: We work with local newspapers, radio stations, and television channels to broadcast rights awareness messages, share stories of successful rights protection, and educate large audiences about legal protections.

Community Monitoring Networks:

• Human Rights Committees: We establish community-level human rights committees with respected local leaders, providing them training on identifying violations, documenting incidents, supporting victims to file complaints, and monitoring official responses.
• Reporting Mechanisms: We create confidential reporting systems where people can report violations without fear, including helplines, online reporting forms, and community contact persons.
• Documentation Training: We train community members in documenting violations including taking photographs and videos, recording witness statements, preserving evidence, and preparing documentation for legal proceedings.
• Police Station Monitoring: We organize community monitoring of police stations to ensure proper treatment of complainants, registration of complaints, proper investigation, and accountability for misconduct.

Vulnerable Group Outreach:

• Scheduled Caste/Tribe Communities: We conduct specialized programs in SC/ST communities addressing caste-based discrimination, atrocity prevention and response, land rights protection, and accessing government welfare schemes.
• Minority Communities: We work with religious minority communities on protecting freedom of religion, responding to hate crimes, countering discrimination, and accessing equal government services.
• Migrant Worker Education: We reach migrant workers with information about labor rights, how to avoid exploitation, accessing healthcare and education, and getting help when rights are violated.
• Prison and Jail Outreach: We conduct programs in prisons teaching inmates about their rights, how to complain about mistreatment, preparing for fair trials, and accessing legal aid.

Media and Technology Tools:

• Social Media Campaigns: We run campaigns on social media platforms raising awareness about specific rights, sharing stories of rights defenders, providing information about accessing justice, and mobilizing public opinion against violations.
• Mobile Applications: We develop mobile apps providing rights information in regional languages, enabling people to report violations, connecting victims with lawyers, and tracking complaint status.
• Video Content: We create short educational videos explaining rights in simple language, sharing them through WhatsApp, YouTube, and social media for wide reach.

Pillar 3: Support Services for Victims and Families
Victims of rights violations need comprehensive support to recover and rebuild.

Psychological Counseling and Trauma Support:

• Individual Counseling: We provide trauma counseling to victims of torture, custodial violence, hate crimes, and other violations, helping them process experiences, cope with trauma, and regain psychological stability.
• Family Counseling: We work with families affected by violations, helping them support victims, cope with secondary trauma, and maintain family stability during crisis.
• Peer Support Groups: We facilitate support groups where victims meet others who have experienced similar violations, share experiences, learn coping strategies, and provide mutual encouragement.
• Long-Term Mental Health Care: We recognize that recovery takes time and provide ongoing mental health support throughout legal proceedings and beyond, preventing depression, anxiety, and suicide.

Livelihood and Economic Support:

• Emergency Financial Assistance: We provide immediate financial support to victims and families facing economic crisis from violations, covering medical expenses, legal costs, food and shelter, and children’s education fees.
• Skills Training: We provide vocational training to victims who lost livelihoods due to violations or need new income sources, including computer skills, tailoring, handicrafts, small business management, and other marketable skills.
• Employment Placement: We connect trained individuals with employers, facilitate self-employment through Interest-Free Fund and business development support, and provide ongoing mentoring for economic independence.
• Education Support: We provide scholarships and financial support for children’s education in families affected by rights violations, ensuring children do not drop out of school due to economic hardship.

Medical Care and Rehabilitation:

• Emergency Medical Care: We coordinate emergency medical treatment for victims of violence and torture, ensuring they receive proper care regardless of ability to pay.
• Long-Term Medical Support: We provide ongoing medical care for injuries and health problems resulting from violations, including surgeries, rehabilitation, medications, and follow-up care.
• Documentation of Injuries: We ensure medical documentation of injuries and torture is proper and complete, providing crucial evidence for legal proceedings and compensation claims.

Witness Protection and Safety:

• Safety Planning: We help victims and witnesses assess threats, develop safety plans, relocate temporarily when necessary, and access police protection.
• Legal Protection Orders: We obtain court orders for protection, restraining orders against perpetrators, and police protection for threatened witnesses.
• Safe Shelters: We maintain relationships with safe houses and shelters where victims facing threats can stay temporarily until situations stabilize.

Social Reintegration Support:

• Community Sensitization: We work with communities to reduce stigma against victims, educate about rights violations and victim experience, and create supportive environments for reintegration.
• Family Mediation: When family relationships are strained by violations, we provide mediation and counseling to restore family support systems.
• Rebuilding Lives: We provide comprehensive support as victims rebuild their lives, including housing assistance, reconnection with education or employment, restoration of documents and identity papers, and accessing government welfare schemes.

Pillar 4: Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building
Effective rights protection requires strong, capable, and accountable institutions.

Training for Law Enforcement and Officials:

• Police Training Programs: We conduct training for police officers on human rights standards, constitutional protections, proper arrest and detention procedures, preventing custodial torture and deaths, treating vulnerable populations with dignity, and fair investigation practices.
• Judicial Training: We organize training for judges on human rights law, international standards, constitutional interpretation, gender and caste sensitivity, and victim-centered approaches.
• Prison Official Training: We train prison and jail officials on international standards for treatment of prisoners, preventing torture and ill-treatment, protecting rights of those in custody, and proper complaint mechanisms.
• Government Staff Training: We conduct training for government officials on right to information, non-discrimination in service delivery, accountability to citizens, and constitutional obligations.

Institutional Capacity Building:

• NHRC and SHRC Support: We work with National and State Human Rights Commissions, providing research and documentation support, connecting them with grassroots violations, advocating for adequate budgets and autonomy, and monitoring implementation of their recommendations.
• Legal Services Authorities: We strengthen legal aid systems by training legal aid lawyers, developing standard operating procedures, improving quality control, and advocating for adequate compensation for lawyers.
• Civil Society Capacity: We build capacity of local NGOs and community organizations to document violations, provide victim support, file complaints, and conduct advocacy.

Monitoring and Accountability Systems:

• Rights Violation Tracking: We maintain databases tracking violations, patterns, perpetrators, and outcomes, creating evidence for advocacy and accountability.
• Performance Monitoring: We monitor performance of police, courts, human rights commissions, and other institutions in protecting rights, identifying best practices and problems requiring intervention.
• Transparency Initiatives: We use Right to Information Act to access government data on violations, investigation status, compensation payments, and official actions, bringing hidden violations to light.
• Report Card Systems: We publish annual reports rating performance of different districts, police stations, and courts in rights protection, creating public pressure for improvement.

Pillar 5: Policy Advocacy and Systemic Reform
Long-term rights protection requires reforming laws, policies, and systems.

Legislative Advocacy:

• Law Reform Proposals: We develop detailed proposals for legal reforms including amendments to strengthen protections, repeal of discriminatory provisions, new legislation filling gaps, and harmonization of conflicting laws.
• Parliamentary Advocacy: We engage with Members of Parliament and legislative committees, providing evidence of violations and reform needs, testifying before committees, drafting bill amendments, and mobilizing public support for reform.
• State-Level Legislation: We advocate with state legislatures for state-level laws and policies strengthening rights protections, victim compensation schemes, and enforcement mechanisms.

Public Interest Litigation:

• Systemic Challenges: We file PIL cases challenging unconstitutional laws and policies, government failures to implement protections, discriminatory practices, and denial of rights to large groups.
• Implementation Monitoring: We file compliance petitions monitoring whether authorities implement court orders, seeking contempt action against officials failing to comply, and ensuring court directives translate into ground reality.
• Constitutional Interpretation: We pursue cases seeking Supreme Court interpretation of constitutional provisions in ways that expand protections, establish new rights flowing from existing ones, and limit government power to violate rights.

Policy Advocacy:

• Evidence-Based Advocacy: We conduct research documenting violations, analyzing patterns, identifying policy gaps, and developing evidence-based recommendations for reform.
• Coalition Building: We work with other human rights organizations, civil society groups, bar associations, academic institutions, and concerned citizens to build broad coalitions advocating for reforms.
• Media Advocacy: We engage media to highlight violations, build public awareness of issues, create political pressure for action, and shift public opinion toward supporting rights protections.
• International Advocacy: We engage with UN human rights mechanisms, international human rights organizations, and foreign governments to bring international attention and pressure on rights issues.

Accountability Campaigns:

• Police Accountability: We campaign for independent investigation of custodial deaths, prosecution of officers committing torture, removal of immunity provisions, and oversight mechanisms ensuring police accountability.
• Judicial Accountability: We advocate for faster disposal of cases, adequate number of judges, transparency in judicial appointments, and disciplinary action for misconduct.
• Government Accountability: We demand transparency in government actions affecting rights, citizen participation in policy making, responsive complaint mechanisms, and consequences for officials violating rights.

Donate to BRAC to fund these comprehensive solutions that address both immediate victim needs and long-term systemic change. Every contribution—whether Rs. 2,000 or Rs. 1,50,000—directly funds legal representation, community education, victim support, institutional training, and advocacy campaigns that transform systems while protecting individual lives.

6. Societal Impact: Building a Rights-Respecting Society
Protecting basic human rights creates transformative impacts extending beyond individual victims to families, communities, and society as a whole, contributing to democracy, development, and social cohesion.

Individual and Family Transformation
When rights are protected, lives change dramatically for individuals and their families.

• Victim Recovery and Justice: Individuals whose rights are protected through our interventions achieve justice through successful legal cases, compensation for violations suffered, accountability when perpetrators are punished, restoration of dignity and social standing, and psychological healing through counseling and support. Follow-up studies show that victims who receive comprehensive support demonstrate better economic outcomes, improved mental health, restored family relationships, and ability to rebuild their lives with dignity.
• Family Stability: When breadwinners are released from wrongful detention or receive compensation, families achieve economic stability, children return to school, health improves with access to food and medical care, psychological stress decreases, and hope returns. The ripple effects of protecting one person’s rights extend to entire households and across generations.
• Breaking Cycles: Children who witness their parents successfully asserting rights learn that standing up for dignity is possible, laws exist to protect them, authorities can be held accountable, and peaceful struggle can achieve justice. This shapes new generations who will demand and protect rights.

Community-Level Impact
Rights protection strengthens entire communities and changes social dynamics.

• Increased Awareness and Assertion: Communities where BRAC works show measurable increases in knowledge of constitutional rights, willingness to report violations, women asserting equality and autonomy, support for victims rather than blame, and collective action to prevent violations. When people understand rights, they demand them, creating pressure on authorities to comply with law.
• Reduced Discrimination: Successful prosecution of caste-based violence and discrimination, protection of religious minorities from hate crimes, enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, and community education shift social norms. Data from our program areas show declining discrimination over time as social pressure builds against violations and legal consequences become real.
• Improved Governance: When authorities know that violations will be documented, challenged legally, and brought to public attention, behavior changes. Police reduce arbitrary arrests and torture, courts process cases faster, government officials provide services without discrimination, and corruption decreases. Accountability creates incentives for officials to respect rights.
• Community Cohesion: Rights protection builds social cohesion by ensuring all groups feel safe and protected, reducing grievances that fuel conflict, creating shared commitment to rule of law, and building trust in institutions. Communities where rights are protected show lower crime rates, less violence, and greater cooperation.

Economic Benefits
Rights protection generates significant economic benefits beyond social justice.

• Productive Participation: When people’s rights are protected, they contribute more economically through working without fear of exploitation, starting businesses knowing property rights are protected, investing in education and skills with confidence in fair opportunities, and participating in markets without discrimination. Studies show strong correlation between rights protection and economic development.
• Reduced Costs: Preventing rights violations avoids enormous costs including medical expenses from violence and torture, lost productivity from arbitrary detention, family impoverishment requiring welfare support, and crime and conflict costs. Prevention is dramatically more cost-effective than addressing consequences after violations occur.
• Attracting Investment: Regions with strong rule of law and rights protection attract more domestic and foreign investment, skilled workers choosing to live and work there, businesses confident in fair treatment, and tourism and other economic activity. Rights protection is good economics, not just morality.
• Innovation and Growth: When people can speak freely, organize peacefully, access information, and challenge authority without fear, societies innovate faster, identify and solve problems more effectively, hold leaders accountable for performance, and develop more rapidly. Rights protection enables rather than hinders development.

Strengthening Democratic Institutions
Human rights and democracy reinforce each other.

• Rule of Law: Effective protection of rights strengthens rule of law by demonstrating that laws protect even powerless people, authorities are bound by law not above it, courts provide remedies for violations, and constitutional promises are real not merely symbolic. This builds public trust in legal systems essential for democracy.
• Accountability Mechanisms: Rights advocacy creates pressure for government accountability through demanding transparency in decision making, consequences for officials who violate rights, citizen participation in governance, and responsive institutions. Democracy means nothing if government is not accountable to citizens.
• Free Expression and Information: Protecting freedom of speech and expression strengthens democracy by enabling citizens to criticize government, exposing corruption and incompetence, proposing alternative policies, and participating in public debate. Journalism and activism that BRAC protects are essential for democratic function.
• Peaceful Political Participation: When rights to assembly, association, and peaceful protest are protected, citizens can organize politically, form associations around shared interests, demonstrate support or opposition to policies, and participate in governance beyond voting. This builds vibrant democracy beyond elections.

Social Justice and Inclusion
Rights protection advances equality and inclusion for all.

• Caste Equality: Successful prosecution of atrocities and discrimination, protection of SC/ST communities’ rights to dignity, education about equality before law, and enforcement of reservations and protections gradually weaken caste hierarchies. While deep change takes generations, consistent rights protection moves society toward constitutional vision of equality.
• Gender Equality: Protecting women’s rights to education, employment, property, freedom from violence, and political participation challenges patriarchal structures. When women successfully assert rights, it inspires others and shifts norms about acceptable treatment. Data shows correlation between women’s rights protection and overall social progress.
• Religious Harmony: Protecting freedom of religion and preventing hate crimes builds pluralism by ensuring minorities feel safe and equal, reducing fear and grievance that extremists exploit, demonstrating that diversity strengthens rather than threatens society, and creating environments where different faiths coexist peacefully. Rights protection is foundation for communal harmony.
• Inclusion of Marginalized Groups: When rights of disabled persons, transgender individuals, tribal communities, and other marginalized groups are protected, social inclusion increases through education about dignity of all persons, legal protections against discrimination, access to opportunities previously denied, and representation in decision making. Inclusion makes society richer and more just.

National Unity and Identity
Rights protection contributes to national cohesion.

• Shared Constitutional Values: When rights are consistently protected, citizens across diverse regions, religions, castes, and languages share commitment to constitutional values, pride in democratic institutions, trust in justice systems, and identity as rights-bearing citizens. This creates national unity based on shared values rather than forced uniformity.
• Reduced Conflict: Effective rights protection prevents grievances from escalating into violence by providing peaceful mechanisms to address injustice, demonstrating that law protects rather than oppresses, giving hope that change is possible through legal struggle, and reducing motivation for extreme measures when legal remedies work.
• International Standing: India’s international reputation and influence depend significantly on human rights record. When violations are documented internationally while protections are strengthened domestically, India’s standing improves through enhanced moral authority, stronger partnerships, attraction of investment and talent, and leadership on global issues. Rights protection serves national interest.

Support BRAC’s work protecting rights and building just society through donations that fund comprehensive programs creating lasting change in individuals’ lives, communities’ cultures, institutional practices, and national policies. Together we can make constitutional promises real for every person in India.

7. Call to Action: Join the Movement to Protect Basic Human Rights
Every single day, people across India experience violations of their fundamental rights—people denied dignity, families torn apart by injustice, communities silenced by fear, and dreams destroyed by discrimination. These violations continue not because solutions do not exist, but because insufficient resources, attention, and action are directed toward implementing those solutions. You have the power to change this reality.

Why Your Support Matters Now

The urgency of protecting basic human rights has never been greater, and your support can make an immediate, measurable difference.

• Scale of Need: With 65,973 new human rights violation cases registered in one year alone, and thousands more going unreported because victims lack knowledge, resources, or hope, the need for comprehensive rights protection programs far exceeds available support. Each case represents a person whose life can be transformed through legal aid, counseling, and advocacy.
• Lives Waiting for Justice: Right now, people sit in wrongful detention without access to lawyers, victims of torture suffer without medical care or compensation, families face discrimination without knowing their rights, and communities experience violence without accountability. Every day without support means more suffering. Your donation today can help someone access justice tomorrow.
• Critical Moment for Reform: India recently implemented new criminal laws that create opportunities and challenges for rights protection. This transition period demands intensive work to ensure new laws strengthen rather than weaken protections, train officials on new provisions, and monitor implementation for violations. Resources invested now shape how these laws function for decades to come.
• Growing Threats: Multiple indicators show increasing pressures on human rights including documented concerns from international organizations, deferred accreditation of national human rights institutions, rising discrimination against minorities, and attacks on civil society. In times of growing threats, protecting rights requires enhanced support for organizations doing frontline defense work.

Ways You Can Support: Every Contribution Creates Impact
Your financial support directly funds programs that protect rights and transform lives. We operate with maximum efficiency to ensure every rupee creates maximum impact.

One-Time Donations: Immediate Impact
Each donation amount funds specific interventions that create measurable change:

• ₹2,000 provides legal consultation for five families to understand their rights and available remedies, emergency food and medicine for a victim’s family during crisis, or rights awareness materials for an entire village including posters and pamphlets.
• ₹5,000 covers bail application and initial court appearances for one wrongfully detained person, trauma counseling sessions for a victim of custodial torture, rights training for 20 community members including facilitator costs and materials, or documentation of three human rights violation cases including evidence collection.
• ₹15,000 provides full legal representation through trial court for one victim of serious rights violation, vocational skills training for one person to rebuild livelihood after violation, comprehensive medical care including surgery and rehabilitation for one injured victim, or establishment of one village human rights committee with training and monitoring systems.
• ₹35,000 funds a writ petition in High Court challenging a systemic violation affecting thousands, supports one victim and family for six months including legal aid, counseling, medical care, and livelihood assistance, conducts intensive awareness campaign in one high-risk district reaching 10,000 people, or provides training for 50 police officers on human rights standards and accountability.
• ₹75,000 enables us to take one landmark case to Supreme Court establishing precedent protecting rights for millions, fund comprehensive rehabilitation including counseling, medical care, education, and livelihood support for three victim families, establish legal aid clinic serving an entire block for one year, or conduct major documentation and advocacy project addressing specific systemic violation.
• ₹1,50,000 supports complete program operations in one village for one year including legal aid, awareness building, victim support, monitoring, and advocacy, funds strategic litigation campaign addressing major policy or law requiring reform, provides comprehensive training program for 200 officials including police, judges, and administrators, or establishes model rights protection program that can be replicated in other locations.

Monthly Donations: Sustainable Change
Recurring monthly support enables us to plan long-term programs and build lasting change rather than responding only to immediate crises:

• ₹1,000 per month provides ongoing legal aid support for two families throughout year-long case proceedings, maintains one community rights awareness program reaching new people monthly, supports psychological counseling for one victim throughout recovery process, or funds monitoring and documentation of rights violations in one district.
• ₹3,000 per month maintains one full-time community legal aid worker serving remote areas, provides comprehensive monthly support for one victim family including legal aid, counseling, and livelihood assistance, funds ongoing training and capacity building for community human rights committees, or supports advocacy and litigation addressing one systemic violation.
• ₹5,000 per month maintains complete operations of one legal aid clinic serving marginalized communities, funds ongoing strategic litigation program taking important cases through court system, supports comprehensive victim rehabilitation program including medical care, counseling, education, and livelihood support, or maintains monitoring and accountability program tracking institutional performance.
• ₹10,000 per month supports integrated program in one community including legal aid, awareness building, victim support, institutional training, and advocacy, funds ongoing policy advocacy and litigation addressing multiple systemic violations, maintains comprehensive documentation and research program providing evidence for reform campaigns, or supports development of innovative approaches to rights protection that can be scaled nationally.

Volunteer and Direct Engagement
Beyond financial support, you can contribute time, skills, and energy:

• Legal Volunteers: Lawyers can provide pro bono legal services on specific cases, legal research and documentation support, training for community paralegals, or advice on strategic litigation. Every hour donated multiplies our capacity to serve more people.
• Skills-Based Volunteering: Professionals can contribute through documentation and report writing, translation of materials into regional languages, social media and communications support, training and capacity building in your area of expertise, research and data analysis, or technology and system development.
• Community Volunteers: Anyone can contribute by spreading awareness about rights in your community, identifying and reporting violations, supporting victims to access services, organizing awareness events and campaigns, or mobilizing others to join the movement.

Advocacy and Awareness Building
Your voice amplifies the movement for rights protection:

• Social Media Advocacy: Share information about rights violations and protections, amplify stories of victims seeking justice, educate your networks about constitutional rights, tag and pressure officials to address violations, and build public support for reforms.
• Community Education: Organize discussions in your neighborhood, workplace, or institution about human rights, invite BRAC speakers to present at events you organize, distribute awareness materials in your community, or host screening and discussion of rights-related documentaries.
• Political Advocacy: Write to elected representatives demanding action on rights issues, participate in consultations on law and policy reforms, attend and speak at public hearings and forums, submit testimonies to government committees, or mobilize others to engage politically on rights.
• Media Engagement: Write letters to editors highlighting rights violations, contact journalists to cover important cases, submit opinion pieces educating public about rights issues, or use platforms you have to educate and mobilize.

Transparency and Accountability: Your Trust Matters
We understand that your donation is an expression of trust, and we honor that trust through complete transparency and accountability.

• 85% Program Allocation: We commit that 85% of every donation goes directly to program activities that serve beneficiaries including legal aid, victim support, community education, advocacy, and litigation. Only 15% covers essential administration and fundraising costs necessary to operate effectively.
• Annual Reports: We publish comprehensive annual reports detailing program activities and results, financial statements audited by independent auditors, disaggregated data on people served and outcomes achieved, challenges faced and lessons learned, and plans for the coming year. All reports are available at brac.in/reports
• Independent Audits: Our finances are audited annually by independent chartered accountants, ensuring that funds are used as intended, financial management meets highest standards, donor funds are properly accounted for, and compliance with all legal requirements is maintained.
• Donor Communication: We keep donors informed through regular email updates on program activities and impact, specific reporting on how your donation was used, invitations to visit programs and meet beneficiaries, prompt responses to queries and requests for information, and opportunities to provide feedback shaping our work.

Tax Benefits: Maximize Your Impact
Your donation provides tax benefits while protecting rights:

• Section 80G Deduction: BRAC is registered under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, making your donations eligible for tax deduction. This means you can reduce your taxable income by the amount donated, making giving more affordable while creating maximum social impact.
• Donation Certificates: We provide donation receipts and certificates within seven days of receiving your contribution, containing all information required for claiming tax deduction. These certificates are valid for income tax filing and are accepted by tax authorities.

How to Get Started Today
Taking action to protect basic human rights is simple. Choose the method most convenient for you:

• Online Donation: Visit www.brac.in/donate-now to make secure online donation by credit card, debit card, net banking, UPI, or other payment methods. The process takes less than two minutes and your support begins helping people immediately.
• Phone: Call us at +91 7977386674 to discuss how you can support our work, make donations over phone, arrange large or planned giving, set up corporate partnerships, or get answers to any questions before donating.
• Email: Contact us at partner@brac.in or info@brac.in to learn more about specific programs you can support, arrange visits to programs, discuss volunteering opportunities, coordinate corporate social responsibility partnerships, or receive detailed information before making donation decisions.
• Follow BRAC on social media to join the movement to end Basic Human Rights violations. Connect with our community of supporters, stay updated on program impacts and urgent needs, share content educating others about rights, participate in campaigns and advocacy actions, and inspire others to join the movement.

Every person in India deserves to live with dignity, freedom, equality, and justice. These are not privileges to be earned but rights guaranteed by our Constitution to every person from birth. Yet rights mean nothing if they cannot be defended when violated. Your support ensures that constitutional promises become reality for people facing violations today.

Join us now. Your donation—whatever amount you can give—protects someone’s fundamental rights, helps a family access justice, strengthens a community’s ability to stand against violations, and builds systems ensuring rights are real for everyone. Together, we can make India a nation where constitutional values are lived realities, not just written words.

8. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What exactly are basic human rights in India?
Basic human rights in India are the fundamental freedoms and protections guaranteed to every person by the Constitution in Part III. These include the right to equality before law without discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth (Article 14), six freedoms including speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence, and profession (Article 19), right to life and personal liberty including dignity, livelihood, food, education, and healthcare (Article 21), protection against arbitrary arrest and detention (Article 22), right against exploitation including prohibition of forced labor and child labor (Articles 23-24), freedom of religion (Articles 25-28), and cultural and educational rights for minorities (Articles 29-30). These rights are enforceable through courts under Article 32, meaning if violated, you can seek remedies through the justice system.

Q2: How do I know if my rights have been violated?
Rights violations occur when government authorities or others acting under color of law deprive you of constitutional protections. Common violations include arrest without being told reasons or without opportunity to contact lawyer, detention beyond 24 hours without being produced before magistrate, torture or violence while in police or judicial custody, discrimination in accessing government services based on caste, religion, or other grounds, being prevented from speaking, assembling, or forming associations peacefully, interference with religious practices or forced conversion, demolition of property without proper legal process, denial of access to education for children, forced labor or exploitation, and denial of fair trial or long detention without trial. If you experience any of these, your constitutional rights may have been violated and you should seek legal help immediately.

Q3: Where can I complain if my rights are violated?
Multiple avenues exist for complaints. You can file a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission at www.nhrc.nic.in or in person at their office, or with your State Human Rights Commission. You can file a police complaint at your local police station, and if police refuse to register it, you can complain to higher police officials or magistrate. You can approach courts directly through writ petitions under Article 226 in High Court or Article 32 in Supreme Court for constitutional rights violations. You can contact BRAC at +91 7977386674 or partner@brac.in for free legal aid and support in filing complaints through appropriate channels. You can contact district legal services authority for free legal aid if you cannot afford a lawyer. Keep documentation of violations including photographs, medical records, witness statements, and written records to support your complaint.

Q4: Are the new criminal laws better for protecting rights than old laws?
India implemented three new criminal laws effective July 1, 2024 replacing colonial-era codes. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code, including new provisions like specific punishment for mob lynching based on identity (Section 101(2)), community service as alternative to imprisonment, and consolidated sections on offenses against women and children. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023 replaced the Criminal Procedure Code, including provisions for forensic evidence collection, video-recorded statements, and updated procedures. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023 replaced the Evidence Act with updated provisions for digital evidence. While these laws modernize outdated colonial provisions, concerns exist about some provisions potentially expanding state power. The impact on rights protection will depend on implementation, which requires monitoring and advocacy to ensure protections are strengthened rather than weakened.

Q5: What is the basic structure doctrine and why does it matter?
The basic structure doctrine established in the landmark Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) case holds that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in ways that destroy its basic structure. The Supreme Court identified core features that cannot be changed including supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, independence of judiciary, separation of powers, and fundamental rights. This doctrine is crucial because it protects human rights from being eliminated through constitutional amendments. Even with parliamentary majority, the government cannot amend away fundamental rights or other core constitutional features, ensuring permanent protection for basic liberties and democratic structure.

Q6: How effective is the National Human Rights Commission?
The National Human Rights Commission has registered over 23 lakh cases since inception in 1993 and disposed of most of them, recommending Rs. 256.57 crores in compensation to victims. However, concerns exist about its effectiveness. In 2024, the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions deferred the NHRC’s re-accreditation for the second year, citing inadequate addressing of escalating violations, lack of pluralism in appointments, and insufficient cooperation with UN human rights bodies. The NHRC lacks enforcement power and can only recommend actions to government, which may or may not comply. Between 2019-2024, India received 83 communications from UN human rights experts but responded to only 20, showing limited engagement with international monitoring. While the NHRC serves important functions in receiving complaints, investigating violations, and recommending remedies, strengthening its independence, resources, and enforcement powers remains necessary for maximum effectiveness.

Q7: Why do deaths in custody keep happening despite legal protections?
Custodial deaths persist because of multiple systemic failures. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, 107 deaths occurred in police custody and 1,372 in judicial custody. These deaths continue because police use torture to extract confessions, prison conditions are overcrowded and unhygienic with inadequate medical care, accountability mechanisms are weak with low prosecution and conviction rates for custodial violence, police officers often protect colleagues rather than report abuse, investigation of custodial deaths is often perfunctory and biased, and victims and families face intimidation preventing complaints. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act provides immunity from prosecution to security forces in certain areas, creating environments where violations occur without consequences. Preventing custodial deaths requires independent investigation of every death, prompt prosecution of responsible officials, compensation to victim families, monitoring by citizens and human rights groups, and removing legal immunities that prevent accountability.

Q8: What rights do arrested persons have?
Article 22 of the Constitution guarantees specific rights to arrested persons. You have the right to be informed of grounds for arrest at the time of arrest, right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of your choice, right to be produced before nearest magistrate within 24 hours of arrest (excluding travel time), and protection against detention beyond 24 hours without magistrate’s order. Under BNSS 2023 provisions, you have the right to inform a family member or friend about arrest and detention, right to be medically examined to document any injuries, right to remain silent and not be forced to confess, right to bail in bailable offenses and consideration for bail in non-bailable offenses, right to be treated with dignity and not tortured or subjected to violence, and right to access to free legal aid if you cannot afford a lawyer. If these rights are violated, you can file habeas corpus petition in court requiring authorities to produce you and justify detention. Contact BRAC at +91 7977386674 if you or a family member faces rights violations during arrest or detention.

Q9: How can ordinary citizens help protect human rights?
Every citizen can contribute to rights protection through multiple actions. Educate yourself and others about constitutional rights using materials available online, from BRAC, and other organizations. Speak up when you witness violations rather than remaining silent, documenting incidents and reporting them to authorities or human rights organizations. Support victims rather than blaming them, providing solidarity and connecting them with help. Demand accountability from elected representatives by contacting them about rights issues, attending public meetings, and voting for candidates committed to rights protection. Use your professional skills by volunteering legal services if you are a lawyer, medical care if you are a doctor, documentation and communications support, or any other expertise. Donate to organizations like BRAC doing frontline rights protection work at www.brac.in/donate-now. Engage on social media to educate your networks, amplify victims’ voices, and mobilize support for reforms. Participate in peaceful protests and advocacy campaigns demanding justice. Challenge discrimination in your own community including caste-based discrimination, religious prejudice, and gender inequality. Every action, however small, contributes to building a culture of rights respect.

Q10: How does BRAC ensure donations are used effectively?
BRAC operates with strong transparency and accountability mechanisms. We commit 85% of all donations directly to program activities serving beneficiaries, with only 15% for essential administration. Our finances are independently audited annually by chartered accountants, with reports available at www.brac.in/reports. We maintain detailed records of every case handled, person served, and outcome achieved, tracking impact through measurable indicators including number of cases providing legal aid, compensation obtained for victims, people reached through awareness programs, and policy reforms achieved through advocacy. We provide donation receipts within seven days for tax purposes under Section 80G. Donors receive regular updates on program activities and impact, with opportunities to visit programs and meet beneficiaries. We operate as Section 8 company (CIN: U85100MH2015NPL270633), meaning we are non-profit organization legally prohibited from distributing profits to members—all resources must be used for charitable purposes. We welcome scrutiny and questions from donors and the public, responding promptly to information requests and feedback.

Remember, your support transforms the promise of constitutional rights into lived reality for people facing violations. Whether you contribute Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,50,000, volunteer your time, or use your voice for advocacy, you become part of the movement ensuring every person in India can live with dignity, freedom, equality, and justice guaranteed by our Constitution. Join BRAC today in protecting basic human rights for all.

Disclaimer
This article is written in simple language to be accessible to a general audience and is not a judicial or formal document. For clarity and to keep it short, we sometimes summarize legal provisions rather than citing them in full. While we have tried to ensure accuracy, this article is for general awareness and education only—not legal advice. If you find any error in this article, please email us at info@brac.in with the exact words or sentences that need correction. We welcome feedback to ensure accuracy. Laws may vary across states and are subject to change; readers should seek qualified legal advice for specific cases. The plans and work presented are based on BRAC’s research-driven proposals and illustrative projections. They do not represent outcomes of current or ongoing programs. This model illustrates the scale of impact that could be achieved with your support and regular donations. Actual results may differ depending on available resources, external conditions, and program execution. With your donation, these projections can move from vision to reality. Donate now by visiting our Donate Now page and choosing the cause that matters most to you.

BRAC® is a registered trademark (2015–2035) under the Indian Trade Marks Act, 1999. Unauthorized use will result in legal action. Report: legal@brac.in

Note: This article may be shared for educational and awareness purposes with proper attribution to BRAC (www.brac.in). Commercial use, reproduction, or distribution without written permission is prohibited. For permissions, contact info@brac.in