American administration has said while releasing the annual country human rights report that it will continue to ‘strongly urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments’ The report claimed that last year India experienced significant human rights violations including alleged unlawful and arbitrary killings.
The country human rights report has raised Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by police and prison officials; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; political prisoners or detainees; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence or threats of violence, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression; restrictions on internet freedom; interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; restrictions on freedom of movement and on the right to leave the country; refoulement of refugees; serious government corruption; harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, workplace violence, child, early, and forced marriage, femicide, and other forms of such violence; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of national/racial/ethnic and minority groups based on religious affiliation, social status or sexual orientation; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons; and existence of forced and compulsory labor.
Report has pointed out lack of accountability for official misconduct persisted at all levels of police officers, and an overburdened and underresourced court system contributed to a low number of convictions. The report states that There were reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and terrorists. There were reports that prisoners or detainees were killed or died in police and judicial custody. The 2021 Prison Statistics of India (PSI) report from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) documented 2,116 inmate deaths in judicial custody in 2021, which was an increase of 12 percent compared with 2020. The report attributed most prison deaths to natural causes and stated the highest number of custodial deaths occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. On May 20, 2022,media reported a panel of three independent investigators appointed by the Supreme Court recommended criminal charges, including homicide, against 10 Telangana police officers. The police officers were allegedly involved in the “encounter killings” of four suspects in the 2019 rape and murder of a woman.
An “encounter” death is a term to describe any death that occurs because of an encounter between the security or police forces and alleged criminals or insurgents. The commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge V.S. Sirpukar, rejected the police claim that they fired in self-defense after the suspects tried to attack them. The Supreme Court deferred to the Telangana High Court to proceed with a trial against the police officers accused of the killing. The Telangana High Court was scheduled to hear the case in January 2023. Killings by government forces and nongovernment entities were reported in Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern states, and Maoist-affected areas of the country. The South Asia Terrorism Portal reported 412 fatalities through December 29 because of terrorism throughout the country. In Jammu and Kashmir, terrorists killed 30 civilians through December in targeted attacks against Kashmiri Hindus, Sikhs, and migrant laborers; Kashmiri Muslims were also killed in these attacks.
On May 12, terrorists belonging to U.S.-designated terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad shot and killed Kashmiri Hindu Pandit Rahul Bhat, a government employee, inside his office in the Chadoora area of Budgam District in Jammu and Kashmir. On May 25, terrorists belonging to U.S.-designated terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba killed television artist and anchor Amreen Bhat in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. On July 20, Nityanand Rai, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament) that incidents of Left-Wing Extremist violence decreased from 2,258 in 2009 to 509 in 2021. Similarly, deaths (civilians plus security force members) decreased from 1,005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021. The number of districts reporting this type of violence also decreased from 96 districts in 2010 to 46 in 2021. There were allegations that the police failed to file required arrest reports for detained persons, resulting in unresolved disappearances. Police and government officials denied these claims. The central government reported state government screening committees informed families regarding the status of detainees. There were reports that prison guards sometimes required bribes from families to confirm the detention of their relatives.
The report claimed that last year India experienced significant human rights violations including alleged unlawful and arbitrary killings, challenges to freedom of press, interference with privacy, and violence targeting religious and ethnic minorities. The US and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues. We have and we will continue to strongly urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,Erin Barclay told reporters after the release of the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Responding to a question on a recent BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, she said the US will continue to support press freedom. On the BBC issue, we’re of course aware of the BBC issues and we will continue to support free press around the world and have communicated the same,” Barclay said.
The report on March 20,2023 is Released by Secretary of State Tony Blinken, the annual human rights reports of the State Department is a mandatory requirement of the US Congress giving details of human rights status in countries across the world. The latest edition of the annual report slams Russia and China for the massive violation of human rights, along with some other nations like Iran, North Korea and Myanmar. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine beginning in February 2022 has resulted in massive death and destruction, with reports of members of Russia’s forces committing war crimes and other atrocities, including summary executions of civilians and horrific accounts of gender-based violence, including sexual violence against women and children, Blinken said in the report.
In Xinjiang, China, the country report describes how genocide and crimes against humanity continued to occur against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, he said. “Democracy, human rights, and labor rights are mutually reinforcing, and support for democratic renewal is essential to promoting these rights,” Mr. Blinken said and announced that President Joe Biden will co-host the second Summit for Democracy with the Governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Zambia on March 29-30.
The country report flagged alleged arbitrary arrest and detention, unlawful interference with privacy, restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence or threats of violence, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression. It also mentions restrictions on internet freedom, interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, restrictions on freedom of movement and on the right to leave the country, refoulement of refugees, serious government corruption; and alleged harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations. Access Now, a New York based advocacy group that tracks internet freedom, said India imposed 84 internet shut downs in 2022 marking the fifth consecutive year the world’s largest democracy of more than 1.3 billion people has topped the global list. There were reports that government authorities accessed, collected, or used private communication arbitrarily or unlawfully or without appropriate legal authority and developed practices that allow for the arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, including the use of technology to arbitrarily or unlawfully surveil or interfere with the privacy of individuals, as reported in the country human rights report. Laws permit the government to intercept calls to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the country, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, for public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offense. The government denied conducting surveillance activities that violated laws or formally established procedures,” Observing that independent media were active and generally expressed a wide variety of views, the State Department said citizens generally enjoyed freedom of speech, but the government continued to restrict content based on broad public and national interest provisions.
On July 29, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance and UN special rapporteurs expressed concern over continued allegations of lack of identification, protection, and preservation of large numbers of unmarked single and mass burial sites in Kashmir, including the failure to conduct proper forensic investigations, efforts to search for the forcibly disappeared, and the lack of progress in identifying the remains of individuals buried therein in accordance with international standards. The rapporteurs stated they were concerned by reports of intimidation and harassment against individuals and civil society organizations, including human rights defenders and journalists, who called for investigation and accountability. The laws in India prohibits torture and other abuses, but there were credible reports that government officials employed them. The law does not permit authorities to admit coerced confessions into evidence, but some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported authorities used torture to coerce confessions. Authorities allegedly also used torture to extort money or as summary punishment There were isolated reports of political prisoners and detainees.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who was released in 2020, alleged that she was subjected to periods of house arrest through the year, which security officials at times denied. Chairman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq continued to be under house arrest, and political parties called for his release. According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2022, “Authorities continued to intimidate and harass journalists and news outlets critical of the government through politically motivated lawsuits and tax raids.” U.S. criticism of India is rare due to close economic ties between the countries and India’s increasing importance for Washington to counter China in the region. The Indian government dismisses the accusations by saying its policies are aimed at the development of all communities.
