In October (1996) the government signed the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or  Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

In July (1996) the UN Human Rights Committee recommended that India remove restrictions on the National Human Rights Commission (UNRC) which prevent it from investigating complaints of human rights violations by the armed forces, and abolish the requirement that central government approve prosecutions of members of the security forces. The Committee also expressed concern at the widespread use of preventive detention, notably under the provisions of the National Security Act and the J&K Public Safety Act. The Committee recommended "the early enactment of legislation for mandatory judicial inquiries into cases of disappearance and death, ill-treatment or rape in police custody". It also highlighted discrimination faced by women and vulnerable groups such as SCs, STs, backward classes and ethnic and national minorities.

At the end of 1996, the Supreme Court issued a landmark judgement establishing. requirements to be followed during arrest and detention to prevent abuse ...

In November the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act - which gives the security forces powers to shoot to kill with virtual impunity ..

The NHRC continued to monitor human rights abuses and raise concerns on a broad range of human rights issues. By the end of the year human rights commissions had been set up in three more states - J&K, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. However, the state commissions were prevented by their mandates from investigating violations by the armed forces ...

Armed conflict between government forces and armed political groups continued in various parts of the country, including J&K, the north-eastern states and AP. Allegations that so-called "renegades" (armed groups cooperating with security forces) were responsible for abuses in J&K continued. In Bihar, armed groups with links to state officials and political parties were involved in several violent attacks on rival political groups and their alleged supporters. Children and women were among those killed.

Thousands of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were arbitrarily detained.

Preventive detention provisions in state and central legislation continued to be used widely. For example, in Tamil Nadu alone, around 2,000 habeas corpus petitions were reportedly filed each year for the release of men and women detained under state legislation allowing detention without trial for 12 months. ..

In J&K, leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference subjected to arbitrary detention and harassment. In November scores of activists were arrested and detained under preventive detention provisions of the ordinary criminal law while peacefully protesting against human rights violations. Some were still in detention at the end of the year.

Torture, including rape, and ill-treatment were endemic throughout the country. Victims included suspected political activists, criminal suspects, members of vulnerable groups, and those defending economic and social rights.

There were increasing reports of rape by members of the armed forces ... Rape by the police continued ... At least 300 people were reported to have died in custody; at least 94 of them in police custody in J&K between January and March ...

Many prisoners and detainees continued to be held in conditions amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Severe overcrowding, lack of medical facilities, poor sanitation and ill-treatment by prison staff were reported. However, NHRC recommendations calling for reform of prison legislation were not implemented ... "Disappearance" continued to be reported and the fate of hundreds of people who "disappeared" in previous years remained unknown ...

The J&K Home Minister told the state assembly in April that since 1990, 454 people had "disappeared" in the state ... In April an investigation ordered by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court into the abduction and killing of Jalil Andrabi, a lawyer and human rights activist ... identified a major in the Territorial Army as responsible. By the end of the year police had failed to arrest him.

Investigations continued into the alleged extrajudicial execution of hundreds of young men who "disappeared" in police custody in Punjab between 1980 and 1994, and the illegal cremation of their bodies. The Supreme Court directed the NHRC to examine "related issues", including compensation for the victims' families. However, at the end of the year, the NHRC's role was challenged in the Supreme Court by the central government, thereby delaying progress in investigations ... Extrajudicial executions continued to be reported from J&K, states of the northeast, Andhra Pradesh and other parts of the country ...

In March the NHRC requested all state governments to ensure that all deaths as a result of "encounters" with police be investigated by an independent agency ...

In July, 10 members of a dalit community (disadvantaged group determined by caste hierarchies) were killed and 14 injured when the police in Mumbai opened fire on a protest against.