ISLAMABAD - The United Nations Human Rights Committee has published a series of critical findings about India after reviewing the country’s record during its latest session in Geneva.
The committee, which comprises 18 independent experts monitoring implementation of the international covenant on civil & political rights (ICCPR), adopted concluding observations about India on 22 July after holding hearings earlier in the month.
In its findings, the Committee voiced concern about discrimination and violence against minority groups, including religious minorities, such as Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs, “scheduled castes” and “scheduled tribes” and LGBT people.
The Committee called on India to adopt comprehensive laws banning discrimination, raise awareness among the public, and provide training to civil servants, law enforcement officers, the judiciary and community leaders to promote respect for diversity.
The Committee expressed concern that some provisions of India’s Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts and counter-terrorism laws are not in compliance with the ICCPR.
It also voiced concern over the application of counter-terrorism laws for decades in “disturbed areas”, such as districts in Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, which it said has led to widespread and grave human rights violations, including excessive use of force leading to unlawful killings, prolonged arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced displacement and torture.
The Committee urged India to comply with its obligations under the ICCPR and to ensure that any counter-terrorism and other security measures in the so-called disturbed areas are temporary, proportionate, strictly necessary and subject to judicial review.
It also asked India to establish a mechanism to initiate a process to acknowledge responsibility and ascertain the truth regarding human rights violations in disturbed areas.
India was one of the seven countries reviewed by the Committee during the latest session. The others were Croatia, Honduras, Maldives, Malta, Suriname and Syria. The Committee will hold its next session from 14 October to 8 November 2024 to review the reports of Ecuador, France, Greece, Iceland, Pakistan and Türkiye.
