Human rights and victimology / by V. V. Devasia and Leelamima Devasia

The concept of human rights has its origin in humanism. Humanism is a basic aspect of the Renaisance. Human freedom refers primarily to a condition characterised by the absence of coercion or constraint imposed by another person. So long as a man acts of his own volition and is not coerced in what he does he is free. The absence of coercion is a necessary condition of being free, but the existence of coercion indicates the violation of one's human rights.

In a democratic country like India, political activity and participation in Government are considered as expressions of one's freedom. A vast majority of our people in remote rural and tribal areas and pavements in big cities are often excluded from such participation. A society in which power is restricted to criminal politicians and corrupt bureaucrats is also likely to be characterised by the existence of wide possibilities of victimisations and human rights violations.