From Switzerland to Sivaganga: Decoding the international, national and local breakdown of India’s human rights machinery

AS THE 61ST HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION convened in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions condemned the systemic use of torture in Indian policing and extrajudicial killings, urging the Indian government to take immediate corrective action. This is not an isolated event. Besides this, India has been unresponsive to the international human rights ecosystem in several ways, despite which it has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council. While this symbolises institutional failure at the international level, the situation at the national and local levels reveals a sobering tale.

National breakdown

Unlike the European Convention on Human Rights or the Inter-American or the African System, India – often described as a subcontinent unto itself – lacks a dedicated human rights court for individuals to enforce their human rights. It is often the constitutional courts that the citizens approach through the constitutional route to enforce their rights. However, the lack of resources and adverse social conditions prevents many individuals from approaching the court. In this situation, the National Human Rights Commission of India (‘NHRC’) is ideally the most approachable and easily accessible institution at the national level to protect the rights of citizens. Sadly, even this institution faced significant international pushback last year, when the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (‘GANHRI’) — the international body responsible for accrediting and monitoring such commissions — decided to downgrade its status.

While this recommendation came out in May 2025, the Commission’s conduct in the period since is equally important to examine.. You might have wondered why the title says ‘from Switzerland to Sivaganga’. While this article started with what the Special Rapporteur from Geneva said regarding the Indian situation, it is pertinent to recall one of the most horrendous incidents locally, which happened in Sivaganga. Last year, a 27-year old man from Sivaganga district was brutally tortured until death by the Tamil Nadu police, which stirred national debates about police accountability in India. The NHRC, which has a mandate to look into these deaths, neither took suo motu cognisance of this case by itself nor did it respond to the complaints sent by individuals.

Stubborn defiance despite global pushback

Sivaganga, however, is not an anomaly. Tamil Nadu has long been notorious for its culture of abusive policing, a reality the world was forced to confront during the Sathankulam custodial deaths in the pandemic year of 2020, which drew inevitable comparisons to the killing of George Floyd in the United States around the same time. In March 2025, around the same time when the NHRC was recommended to be downgraded, Tamil Nadu witnessed three back-to-back extrajudicial killings in a single week. Ideally, the NHRC should have immediately responded to this, also considering its timely global pushback. A complaint was also sent to the Commission in this regard, but what happened later reveals the complete picture of this international, national and local mockery of justice.