Are they doing enough to ensure that our rights are known?

There are plenty of people living in the prominent areas that really do not know that the constitution obliges the state to provides the rights enshrined in it.

I was taking a drive this evening and  I was listening to Metro FM and I was lucky enough to catch a really interesting conversation between the DJ and the CEO of the human rights commission. I know, who or what is the Human rights commission and where do we find them.

So I am today making it my responsibility to let those, who are learned and educated and uneducated alike, know who they are.

Extract from their website: www.sahrc.org.za

About the SAHRC

The South African Human Rights Commission is the national institution established to support constitutional democracy. It is committed to promote respect for, observance of and protection of human rights for everyone without fear or favour.

ESTABLISHMENTThe Commission was inaugurated on 02 October 1995 under the Human Rights Commission Act 54 of 1994 and as provided for by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993.

The Constitution is the highest law in the country and it was adopted to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights. These rights are listed in the Bill of Rights, in Chapter 2 of the Constitution.

CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE
The mandate of the Commission as contained in Section 184 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996 is as follows:
1. The South African Human Rights Commission must –
   a) promote respect for human rights and a culture of human rights;
   b) promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights; and
   c) monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic.

2. The Commission has the powers, as regulated by the national legislation, necessary to perform its functions, including the power - 

   a) investigate and report on the observance of human rights;
   b) take steps and secure appropriate redress where human rights have been
       violated;
   c) carry out research; and
   d) educate.

3. Each year, the Commission must require relevant organs of
    state to provide the Commission with information on the measures that they have taken
    towards the realisation of the rights in the Bill of Rights concerning housing, health
    care, food, water, social security,education and the environment.

4. The Commission has the additional powers and functions
    prescribed by national legislation.

VISION
Transforming society. Securing rights. Restoring dignity.

MISSION
The Commission as the independent national human rights institution is created to support constitutional democracy through promoting, protecting and monitoring the attainment of everyone's human rights in South Africa without fear, favour or prejudice.

VALUES
The values of the Commission are: intergrity, honesty, respect, objectivity, Batho Pele Principles, and equality 

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
The South African Human Rights Commission is made up of Commissioners and a Secretariat. Commissioners provide strategic leadership and direct policy. They are appointed by Parliament on a seven-year term and can be reappointed to an additional term.

Are those your real findings or have you manipulated your data?

There have been numerous studies conducted on benefits and demerits of a certain phenomenon that have had the world on its knees. We all believe, well some of us do, and the sad thing is that we take it at face value. The reasons for those that believe is because it's written by people that have credentials that are, sometimes, beyond, our understanding.

I have come to learn that it is not a bad thing to question the findings of those that are professors and doctors of philosophies. This has come to light when I was attending my research module at my varsity. The lecturer shared an interesting story, and I will share it with you...

"Researcher working on benefits of red wine 'falsified data more than 100 times'

• University of Connecticut have started dismissal proceedings against Dipak Das
• Spokesman said the university was 'deeply disappointed by the flagrant disregard' for conduct codes
• 
  

By CLAIRE BATES

UPDATED: 10:35 GMT, 12 January 2012

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A U.S. university has said a researcher known for his work on red wine's benefits to cardiovascular health falsified his data in more than 100 instances.

Nearly a dozen scientific journals are being warned of the potential problems after publishing the University of Connecticut professor's studies.

Dipak Das is the director of the Cardiovascular Research Centre at the University of Connecticut

University officials say dismissal proceedings have started against Dipak Das, director of the UConn Health Centre's Cardiovascular Research Centre.

The university said it started investigating Mr Das' work after receiving an anonymous complaint in 2008 of potential irregularities in his research, and that it found 145 instances of fabricated, falsified and manipulated data.

Mr Das has gained attention for research into an ingredient in red wine that has shown potential for promoting health, though the university did not say whether the falsifications occurred in research on that topic.

Dr Nir Barzilai, whose research team conducts resveratrol research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, said Das is not a major figure in the field. 

He added the new allegations will not make a material difference to resveratrol research, which is being conducted extensively around the world with encouraging results from many labs.

Enthusiasm in the potential health benefits from red wine grew after a widely reported study in 2006 in which obese mice lived longer, healthier lives after getting resveratrol. Das was not involved in that research.

The university's health centre recently declined to accept £580,000 ($890,000) in federal grants awarded to Das as its review was under way, and has frozen all other external funding for his lab.

The UConn report found what it called 'a pervasive attitude of disregard within the (lab)' for commonly accepted scientific practices.

It also said there were so many problems - and over so many years - that the review board members 'can only conclude that they were the result of intentional acts of data falsification and fabrication, designed to deceive.'

Some examples included several cases in which data was digitally altered; data from one experiment was used to justify findings in another; and controls from one experiment were used to denote another experiment's controls, which are the unchanged factors against which experiments are compared.

Philip Austin, the UConn health affairs vice president, said they are 'deeply disappointed by the flagrant disregard' for UConn's conduct codes, but grateful that the anonymous tipster notified authorities.

'The abuses in one lab do not reflect the overall performance of the Health Center's biomedical research enterprise, which continues to pursue advances in treatments and cures with the utmost of integrity,' he added.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085609/Researcher-working-benefits-red-wine-falsified-data-100-times.html#ixzz1pJSzxx6q "