UN on the CAA Issue

The United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights is to file an ‘intervention application’ with the Supreme Court with regards to the Citizenship Amendment Act.

•  Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights:

The Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights is the top United Nations entity on human rights. It is mandated to protect human rights across the world. The High Commissioner is the principal human rights official in the UN and the post was created by the UNGA in 1994 by the resolution 48/141. The present High Commissioner is Michelle Bachelet Jeria.

• Previous Instances:

The functions of the High Commissioner includes supporting domestic courts in ensuring the implementation of the international obligation of protecting human rights. Previous instances of filing ‘amicus curiae briefs’ include those to European Court of Human Rights, International Criminal Court, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, US Supreme Court and other apex courts in Asia and South America.

• Highlights of the Intervention Application:

The intervention application cited the potential implication of the CAA on India’s human rights international obligations as its reason for the interest in the CAA issue. It flagged the following principles of international human rights law:

• Impact of CAA on migrants
• Equality before law (of migrant non-citizens)
• Enjoyment of human rights by all migrants
• Non-refoulement principle (prohibition of repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers against their will when there is a likelihood of persecution).