WUNRN
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION -
HUNGER ALERT PROGRAMME
India
- Post Mortem Report Confirms 2-Year-Old Girl Dies
from
Acute Malnutrition
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a post mortem report on a two-year-old girl, whom we reported to have died on November 7, confirms that her death was due to acute malnutrition and illnesses closely associated to this. After the victim's death, however, the local police authorities have threatened her father and falsely accused a villager who is assisting the victim's family of murder.
In our previous appeal (AHRC-HAC-010-2008), we have already reported that two-year-old Namita Pal died from acute malnutrition and other illnesses closely associated to this. Her family have also been struggling to survive after the family's mud hut where they had been living was demolished by a village head in Gokulpur village. They demanded food and housing yet the local government have neglected them.
According to the recent information from the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), a local human rights group, the post mortem report No. 1554/08 confirms Namita's death was caused by acute malnutrition and that she developed septicaemia, an illness causing lung infection; and severe anaemia, an illness caused by deficiency of haemoglobin in the blood, which resulted in her death.
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"Under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the principal obligation of States is to take steps to achieve progressively the full realization of the right to adequate food."
Women's Rights: "The previous Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food explored why the full respect for women's rights is crucial to the enjoyment of the right to adequate food, particularly in its nutritional aspects. As noted by the World Bank, 'in many societies, women bear the primary responsibility for feeding the family, yet without having control of family resources. In many countries, women and girls are also frequently less favoured in the intra-household distribution of food.' ....There is a high degree of consensus, therefore, on the need to strengthen women's rights, particularly in rural areas as required under article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and on the contribution this could make to food and nutrition security. However, many obstacles remain in the implementation at the national level, owing to discriminatory laws or customs. States should be encouraged to move further in this direction by making women's rights an explicit component of their national strategies to respond to the food crisis."
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Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/9/23 8 September 2008 Original: ENGLISH |
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Ninth Session
Agenda Item 3
Promotion and Protection of All
Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including
the Right to Development
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON
THE RIGHT TO FOOD,
OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER
BUILDING RESILIENCE: A HUMAN RIGHTS
FRAMEWORK FOR WORLD
FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY
FULL REPORT IS ATTACHED.
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