HUMAN RIGHTS

US State Department: State of Human Rights, 1995

(Relevant Extracts)

There continue to be significant human rights abuses, despite extensive constitutional and statutory safeguards. Many of these abuses are generated by intense social tensions, violent secessionist movements and the authorities' attempts to repress them, and deficient police methods and training. These problems are acute in Kashmir, where the judicial system has been disrupted both by terrorist threats, including the assassination of judges and witnesses, and by judicial tolerance of the Government's heavy handed anti-militant

tactics.

Serious human rights abuses include: extrajudicial executions and other political killings, torture and excessive use of force by security forces and separatist militants, as well as kidnapping and extortion by militants, in Kashmir and North-east India; torture, rape, and deaths of suspects in police custody throughout India; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention in Kashmir and the North-east; continued detention throughout the country of thousands arrested under special security legislation; long trial delays; widespread intercaste and communal violence; legal and societal discrimination as well as extensive violence, both societal and by police and other agents of government, against women; discrimination and violence against indigenous people; and widespread exploitation of indentured, bonded, and child labor.

During 1995 India made significant progress in resolving human rights problems. The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), special security legislation under which thousands of persons had been held for prolonged periods without charges, was allowed to lapse. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Government reached an agreement to permit prison visits in Kashmir. The ICRC made its first visits to prisoners in October.

In Punjab, the insurgent violence of past years has largely disappeared, and there is visible progress in correcting patterns of abuse by police. The assassination of the Punjab Chief Minister at the end of August, an isolated exception to restored civil peace in the state, resulted in neither a widespread crackdown nor a breakdown of order. The National Human Rights Commission continues to play a useful role in addressing patterns of abuse, as well as specific abuses, and is consolidating an attitudinal shift towards acknowledgement of human rights problems as it seeks to create a "human rights culture" through educational programs.

Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

Political killings by both government forces and insurgents continued at a high rate in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the seven northeastern states, where separatist insurgencies continued. Extrajudicial killings of suspected militants by security forces in Kashmir continued at a high level, but some credible observers believed that they had declined somewhat compared with previous years. Still, human rights groups consider credible reports that dozens of such killings occur every month. Typically, those killed were detained by security forces, and their bodies, bearing multiple bullet wounds and often marks of torture were returned to relatives of were otherwise discovered the same day or a few days. later. Well-documented evidence to corroborate individual cases or quantify trends is lacking. Nevertheless, press reports and anecdotal evidence leave. no doubt that the pattern exists. Security forces claim that these killings, when they are acknowledged, occur in armed encounters with militants.

 Terrorists’ attacks accounted for hundreds of deaths. As in the past, Kashmiri militant groups carried out politically motivated killings on a wide scale, targeting progovernment politicians, government officials, alleged police informers, civilians, members of rival factions, and non-political community leaders who dared call for an end to violence in the state. The total number of deaths in t Kashmir remained very close to 1994's toll. Reliable press reports indicate that 1050 civilians, 202 security force personnel and 1308 militants died in insurgency- related violence in Kashmir.

 While extrajudicial killings continued in areas buffeted by separatist insurgencies, the press and judiciary continued to give attention to deaths in police custody and faked encounter killings elsewhere in India. Such deaths probably numbered 100 to 200 in 1995. In April, the Supreme Court ordered prosecution of five Punjab policemen accused of the murder of a couple in Calcutta 2 years earlier. Charges were brought against police in Uttar Pradesh in the case of a youth who died after being beaten in custody. In Delhi, 6 policemen were suspended and one arrested on charges related to the death in custody of Rajesh Montoo Suresh.

 The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act prohibits the establishment of organizations that promote communal hatred. The Government used this Act to prohibit two organizations, one Hindu and one Muslim, after Hindus destroyed a mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992. The ban on the Hindu organization was lifted following a judicial decision in June, however, and the authorities have not rigorously enforced the ban. Srinagar and other parts of Jammu and Kashmir were under sporadic curfew during much of the year. Freedom of Religion

 India is a secular state in which all faiths generally enjoy freedom of worship. Government policy does not favour any religious group. There is no national law to bar proselytizing by Indian Christians. Foreign missionaries can generally renew their visas but since the mid-1960's the Government has refused to admit new resident foreign missionaries. Those who arrive now do so as tourists and stay for short periods. As of January 1993, there were 1,923 registered foreign Christian missionaries in India. As in the past, state officials refused to issue permits for foreign Christian missionaries to enter some northeastern states. Tensions between Hindus and Muslims continue to pose a challenge to the secular foundation of the state.

Although India is not a signatory to the U.N. Convention and Protocol on Refugees, the Government follows its general principles and has, on the whole, maintained an excellent record of receiving and caring for refugees. The Government recognizes certain groups including Chakmas from Bangladesh and Tamils from Sri Lanka as refugees by providing assistance in refugee camps or in resettlement areas, as in the case of Tibetans. The Government neither deports Afghans, Burmese, and other nationalities nor recognizes them as refugees. Instead these people receive renewable residence permits and are recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or are ignored.

Government Attitude Regarding International and Non-governmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

The Government appointed a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in October 1993 with powers to investigate and recommend policy changes, punishment and compensation in cases of police abuse. In addition, the NHRC is directed to contribute to the establishment, growth, and functioning of non- governmental human rights organizations. The Government appoints the members and finances the operations of the NHRC. Although the NHRC is prohibited by statute from directly investigating allegations of abuse involving army and paramilitary forces, the Commission has made effective use of indirect inquiries to address abuses by the armed forces. During the 1994-95 Indian fiscal year, the NHRC received 6,835 complaints of human rights abuses, as well as 152 cases of custodial death or rape. At the end of the fiscal year, 2,483 cases had been dismissed, 1,563 disposed of "with directions", 276 concluded, and 1,384 remained pending.

 In a February 20 letter addressed to every Member of Parliament, Commission Chairman Justice Ranganath Misra strongly urged that the Terrorism and Disruptive Practices Act (TADA) be allowed to lapse when it expired in May. This letter contributed substantially to the decision to let TADA lapse and to subsequent debate in which Parliament failed to approve successor legislation.

 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status

 The traditional caste system as well as differences of ethnicity, religion, and language deeply divide Indian society. Despite laws designed to prevent discrimination, there are other laws as well as social and cultural practices that have a profound discriminatory impact.

 Religious Minorities

Controversy between Hindus and Muslims continues with regard to three sites where mosques were built centuries ago on sites where temples are believed to have previously stood. The potential for renewed Hindu- Muslim violence remains high.

The Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act makes it an offense to use any religious site for political purposes or to use temples for harboring persons accused or convicted of crime. While specifically designed to deal with Sikh places of worship in the Punjab, the law applies to all religious sites. At the outset of the Kashmir insurgency in 1990, fear of political violence drove most Hindus in the Kashmir Valley (the Pandits) to seek refuge in camps in Jammu or with relatives in New Delhi or elsewhere. The Pandit community criticizes the Government for bleak conditions in the camps and fears that a negotiated solution giving greater autonomy to the Muslim majority might threaten its own survival in Kashmir as a culturally and historically distinctive group.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The Constitution gives the President authority to specify historically disadvantaged castes and tribes which are entitled to affirmative action in employment and other benefits. These so-called "scheduled" tribes and castes benefit from special development funds, government hiring quotas, and special training programs. A national commission investigates specific complaints about deprivation of the rights of scheduled castes and tribes and submits an annual report.

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 specifies new offenses against disadvantaged people and provides stiffer penalties for offenders. However, this law has had only a modest effect in curbing abuse. Government statistics indicate that 10,005 cases of abuse were committed against members of scheduled castes and tribes from January through May, as compared with 38,912 in all of 1994. The national commission is. charged with giving special attention to the problems of these minorities.

The practice of untouchability was in theory outlawed by the Constitution and the 1955 Civil Rights Act, but it remains an important aspect of life in India. Inter caste violence claims hundreds of lives each year.