Human rights violations occurred throughout India against a backdrop of political instability. The socially and economically weaker sections of society continued to be particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses. Attacks, often with the apparent connivance of police and local authorities, on dalit communities and tribal people were commonplace. Women continued to be particularly vulnerable to abuse in these contexts. Access to justice for these victims of human rights abuses remained problematic and those engaged in protecting the rights of the most vulnerable groups also came under increasing pressure, often themselves becoming the victims of abuses. 1999 saw a rise in communal violence, often attributed to Hindu groups close to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The government's preoccupation with matters of national security led to discussion of new anti-terrorism legislation at the end of the year. Armed conflicts in northeastern states and in Jammu and Kashmir claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians. ..

Human Rights Defenders

Human rights defenders working on a range of issues including caste discrimination, domestic violence and trade union rights came under attack from both the state and other powerful interests throughout 1999 ... Methods of harassment included the filing of apparently false criminal. cases. 'Section 151 of the Criminal Code of Procedure, which allows police to preventively detain people they suspect may commit a crime, was regularly used to detain human rights defenders and suppress peaceful. Several activists were detained under the 1980 National Security Act (NSA).

... The government imposed increased administrative restrictions on human rights organizations. Several organizations, including those involved in an advertisement campaign at the time of the elections to  raise concerns about the gender policies of the BJP, werethreatened with having their registration withdrawn. Requests to visit India by UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and by the UN Working Group on Enforced or

Involuntary Disappearances were not taken up by the authorities.

Impunity

There were continued concerns about the government's failure to implement recommendations made by various commissions of inquiry, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), state human rights commissions, and other statutory commissions.

In August the NHRC filed a petition i.e., the Supreme Court indicating that the government was hindering its five-year-long investigation into the shooting of 37 people in October 1993 in Bijbehara, Jammu and Kashmir, by members of the Border Security Forces ... The NHRC asked the Court to order the authorities to hand over certain files which they had refused to release.

The new state government in Maharashtra announced its intention to reconsider the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry The Commission's report had pointed to communalism in the police force which led to discrimination against Muslim communities, and incitement to riot by members of the Shiv Sena Party. The Commission's recommendations had been rejected by the former Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the state.

Human Rights Commissions

In January the NHRC clarified its role with reference to a 1996 Supreme Court order that the NHRC should investigate human rights violations in Punjab following allegations that hundreds of bodies had been illegally cremated by Punjab police. The NHRC stated that it would restrict itself to awarding monetary compensation only to those families who could prove that their relatives were  illegally cremated by police in Amritsan district between 1984 and 1994 ... By the end of 1999 the NHRC had reportedly received around 80 claims from individuals in Punjab.

In October an Advisory Committee, established in 1998 by the NHRC to review the 1993 Protection of Human Rights Act, finalized its recommendations: These included amendments to the composition of the NHRC and a proposal that the NHRC should be able to independently investigate allegations of human rights violations by members of the paramilitary forces, but not the armed forces. The NHRC was still considering these recommendations at the end of the year.

... The NHRC continued to monitor abuses and make recommendations.

No further state human rights commissions were established during 1999.

Special Legislation

The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, as recommended by the Law Commission, retained many of the features of the 1987 Terrurist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) which lapsed in 1995 and which had been used to detain thousands of political suspects without charge or trial.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act – which gives the security forces powers to shoot to kill and grants them virtual immunity from prosecution -- remained in force in areas of the northeast and in Jammu and Kashmir ...

In February the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Ordinance was enacted. This gives the police widespread powers to intercept communications and allows for arrest, detention and trial procedures which do not conform fully to international standards.

In May the Tamil Nadu state government withdrew the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Bill. There had been strong objections to the legislation which bore many similarities to the TADA.

The authorities continued to use the lapsed TADA to detain people in Jammu and Kashmir by linking them to ongoing cases filed before 1995. Hundreds of people remained in detention under the TADA despite Supreme Court orders for the review of all cases.

Many individuals were detained under the 1978 Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, which allows for widespread preventive detention.

In September and October, 25 members of the All Parties Hurriat conference, including its chairman, Syed Ali Gilani; senior members Mohammad Yasin Malik, Javed Ahmed Mir and Abdul Ghani Bhat; and their associates were detained under the Act after they peacefully called for a boycott of elections. Their detention appeared to be punitive in character ... Petitions challenging the legality of their indefinite detention were before the High Court in Srinagar at the end of the year.

Torture

Deaths in custody continued to be widespread throughout all states. Various forms of torture, including rape, continued to be used by the police and security forces. This was acknowledged by government officials, including the Attorney General; senior members of the judiciary; and NHRC officials, at an international symposium on torture held in New Delhi in September ...

'Disappearances'

Reports of "disappearances" were received from Jammu and Kashmir and from Assam. Attempts by relatives in Jammu and Kashmir to establish the fate of individuals continued to be obstructed by the state, the security forces and an inadequate legal system. No substantive response was received from the government to an AI report on "disappearances", published in February, which referred to between 700 and 800 people whose fate remained unknown.

In Manipur the report of an investigation by a district judge into the "disappearance" of 15-year-old Yumlembam Sanamacha following his arrest by members of the 17th Rajputana Rifles in February 1998 was published. The. report found clear evidence that Yumlembam Sanamacha had been arrested by the armed forces and that he had not escaped as they claimed. An official Commission of Inquiry into the "disappearance" also submitted its report to the Manipur state government, but this had not been published by the end of 1999.

Death Penalty

... Home Minister continued to refer to government plans to extend the use of the death penalty for crimes including rape.

Abuses by Armed Groups

Armed groups operating in many states continued to violate international humanitarian law. Human rights abuses reported included torture, hostage-taking and killings of civilians ... In Jammu and Kashmir armed groups continued to kill civilians; Hindus were particularly targeted for attack.