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TITLE: INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
INDIA
India is a parliamentary democracy with a free press,
civilian-controlled military, independent judiciary, and active
political parties and civic associations. Competitive
elections produce regular changes of leadership at the
national, state, and municipal levels.
The 25 state governments have primary responsibility for
maintaining law and order. However, the central Government
provides guidance and support through use of national
paramilitary forces and in law has ultimate responsibility for
protecting the fundamental rights guaranteed under the
Constitution. The Union Ministry for Home Affairs controls the
nationwide Indian Police Service, most of the paramilitary
forces, and the internal intelligence bureaus. The rapid
growth of the internal intelligence bureaus and the increased
use of paramilitary forces against separatist insurgencies and
communal unrest have given the Home Ministry increasing
day-to-day control over law and order operations. Centrally
controlled paramilitary forces are deployed throughout India
and have been responsible for significant human rights abuses
in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast. These abuses
ultimately raise questions about the effectiveness of civilian
oversight and the extent of the Government's willingness and
ability to prosecute offenders vigorously. Army units are also
deployed for internal security duty in Kashmir and the
northeast, and generally show greater respect for human rights
than the paramilitary forces, although they have also been
responsible for some abuses.
India has a mixed economy, with the private sector dominating
agriculture, most nonfinancial services, consumer goods
manufacturing, and some heavy industry. The Congress (I)
Government pursued economic liberalization and structural
reforms begun in 1991. Trade and foreign investment
restrictions were relaxed, certain government subsidies and
foreign exchange and price controls were reduced, and the
government deficit was brought under control. India's economic
problems are compounded by population growth of 2 percent per
year, with a current total of about 891 million. Income
distribution remained very unequal. Forty percent of the urban
population and 51 percent of the rural population live in
extreme poverty.
Despite extensive constitutional and statutory safeguards,
significant human rights abuses persist throughout India. The
abuses are aggravated by severe social tensions and the
authorities' attempts to contain violent secessionist
movements. Abuses are particularly acute in disturbed areas,
such as Punjab and Kashmir, where the judicial system has
broken down in the face of terrorist threats. As in past
years, areas of abuse include: extrajudicial executions and
reprisal killings by security forces in Kashmir, Punjab, and
northeast India (encouraged in some cases in Punjab by
government bounties on killed militants); political killings,
kidnaping, and extortion by militants; torture, rape, and
deaths of suspects in police custody throughout India;
incommunicado detention for prolonged periods without charge
under special security legislation; inadequate prosecution of
police and security forces' personnel implicated in abuse;
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;
infrequent prosecution of "dowry deaths" (wife murder); and
widespread exploitation of indentured, bonded, and child labor.
In 1993 the Government sought to address human rights concerns
by opening dialogs with international human rights
organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), allowing some international monitors access to Kashmir
and other parts of India, enhancing human rights training for
police and army personnel, and creating a National Human Rights
Commission with powers to investigate and recommend punishment
in cases of police abuse. To date these efforts have produced
only modest results.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Political killings by both government forces and militants
continued at a disturbing rate, particularly in Jammu and
Kashmir, Punjab, and the northeast, where separatist
insurgencies continued in 1993. Extrajudicial executions of
suspected militants and their supporters by government security
forces accounted for hundreds of deaths, as did terrorist
attacks by militant groups. Ethnic and communal strife
resulted in additional killings. Deaths in police custody
received increased public attention in 1993 and were the
subject of significant court decisions mandating compensation
for victims and their families. However, as in the past, there
was little evidence that the responsible officials received
appropriate punishment.
Extrajudicial executions in areas facing separatist insurgency
were generally tolerated by state authorities, who claimed the
breakdown of judicial systems left security forces no
alternative for dealing with accused terrorists. A September
1991 amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure granted broad
protection to all public servants, including the security
forces, for acts committed while discharging their official
duties in states under President's rule. This provision
contributed to the security forces' sense of impunity in Jammu
and Kashmir, which remained under President's rule throughout
the year.
Civilian and security force casualties reported in Kashmir were
relatively stable, but the number of militants killed climbed
significantly. Press reports indicate that 1,161 civilians and
215 security force personnel died in insurgency-related
violence in Kashmir in 1993. Militant casualties during this
same period numbered 1,438, many of whom died under suspicious
circumstances. The Jammu and Kashmir Basic Rights Protection
Committee, a group headed by a retired high court justice, drew
on press accounts to detail 168 deaths in security force
custody during the first 4 months of 1993. The victims of
custodial violence included a state police constable, whose
reported death in army custody in April sparked a 6-day police
rebellion centered in Srinagar. (See Section 1.g. for further
discussion of extrajudicial killing in Jammu and Kashmir.)
Kashmiri militant groups carried out politically motivated
killings on a wide scale, targeting government officials,
alleged police informers, members of rival factions and Hindu
civilians. On August 14, militants stopped a bus in Jammu and
killed 16 Hindu men. On August 3, militants attacked Hindu
pilgrims near Anantnag, killing 1 and injuring 23. Among those
killed in targeted militant attacks were a retired assistant
commissioner, a Hindu leader in Jammu, a Srinagar-based news
reader for All India Radio, and the relative of a local
Congress(I) leader.
In Punjab police continued to engage in extrajudicial killings
including faked "encounter" killings. In the typical scenario,
police take into custody a suspected militant or militant
supporter without filing an arrest report. If the detainee
dies during interrogation or is executed, officials deny he was
ever in custody and claim he died during an armed encounter
with police or security forces. Alternatively, police may
claim to have been ambushed by militants while escorting a
suspect. Although the detainee invariably dies in "crossfire,"
police casualties in these "incidents" are rare.
In one such incident, a 22-year-old Sikh farmer, Manjinderpal
Singh, was picked up by police on July 12. According to the
Punjab Human Rights Organization, the detainee's father and
members of the village council on July 14 contacted the
district police chief, who told them Singh would be released
soon. On July 20, the police chief reported that Singh had
been killed on July 15 in an encounter with militants. The
police reportedly offered no explanation for the delay in
informing the family.
In another case of extrajudicial killing, Kulwant Singh, a Sikh
lawyer, disappeared on January 25 along with his wife and child
after he was called to the Ropar police station to pick up a
client. Following repeated inquiries by local lawyers for over
2 weeks, the district police superintendent announced that
Kulwant Singh and his family were killed on January 25 by two
terrorists who wanted to surrender. The police superintendent
claimed the terrorists who allegedly confessed to the killings
committed suicide by swallowing cyanide shortly before their
role in Kulwant Singh's murder was made public. Punjab Chief
Minister Beant Singh agreed to order an inquiry into the case
but reportedly backed off in the face of police resistance.
The Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of
1983 grants army and paramilitary personnel wide discretion in
the use of lethal force, giving authorities an easy defense for
"encounter" killings. Extrajudicial executions were also
encouraged by the Punjab government's practice of offering
bounties for killed militants. The chief minister told the
state assembly that over 41,000 such bounties were paid between
1991 and 1993; in some cases more than one person claimed
credit for the same killing.
The claim of Indian human rights groups that Punjab police were
engaged in a systematic campaign to liquidate militants and
their supporters is borne out by data showing a high ratio of
militant to security force casualties. Press reports indicate
589 alleged Sikh militants were killed in Punjab in 1993,
compared to 23 civilians and 16 members of the security forces.
There were several reports during 1993 that Punjab police "hit
teams" were pursuing Sikh militants in other parts of India.
On May 17, one such team raided an apartment in Calcutta
looking for alleged militant Lakshmi Singh. According to
neighbors, Punjab police commandos broke into the apartment
early that morning, shot Singh and his wife in their bedroom,
then fled with the bodies. The government of West Bengal
lodged a protest with the Punjab government, but no
disciplinary action was reported against the police commandos.
In a similar incident, on July 3 two brothers, Dilbagh and
Kashmir Singh, were taken into custody in Bombay by a Punjab
police team. After his release, Kashmir Singh claimed they
were subjected to mental and physical torture before being put
on a train for Punjab on July 5. When they turned his badly
bruised body over to family members, police said Dilbagh Singh
had fallen from the moving train. Bombay Sikh activists
claimed Dilbagh Singh was killed by the police and called for a
full investigation, but no action was taken. Punjab Police
Chief K.P.S. Gill told journalists on July 22 that "the purpose
of having such teams has been to trace, identify, and kill top
militants." Gill added that Punjab police teams were stationed
in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar,
Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh.
There were few instances of terrorist violence in Punjab during
1993, in part a consequence of stringent government security
measures. On April 25, the district commissioner (head of
civil administration) in Bathinda was injured by a bomb that
exploded near his vehicle. On March 24, militants on a scooter
killed seven people and injured two when they opened fire on a
crowd near Ludhiana. Sikh militants operating in the Terai
region of Uttar Pradesh killed 11 people and injured 3 in a
string of apparently random attacks on June 9. On September
24, Sikh militants reportedly fired on a bus-load of Youth
Congress leaders near Ludhiana, killing 3 and injuring 11.
In the states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, Maoist revolutionary
Naxalites targeted politicians, landlords, and government
officials in terrorist attacks. The Andhra Pradesh Civil
Liberties Committee, in turn, charged the state government with
killing 249 suspected Naxalites in faked "encounters" during
1992. In February the People's War Group (PWG) assassinated
the Additional Director of the Andhra Pradesh police academy in
a daylight attack. The PWG killed several dozen other police
and paramilitary personnel in ambushes and land mine attacks.
The Maoist Communist Center (MCC), a Naxalite group active in
Central Bihar, operated a parallel judicial system that ordered
summary executions of landlords and other "class enemies."
In the seven states of northeastern India, at least 18 major
insurgent groups were active, including the United Liberation
Front of Assam (ULFA), the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (NSCN), and the Bodo Security Force. Most of the
reported casualties in the northeast were army and paramilitary
personnel. In August and September, however, NSCN militants
killed more than 200 Kuki tribesmen, including women and
children, in a series of attacks in the hill districts of
Manipur. This followed an NSCN ambush on June 29 that left 27
army personnel dead and 24 injured.
Large-scale army operations in Assam were suspended, but the
army retained overall responsibility for coordinating police
and paramilitary forces in the region. Under the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act of 1958, army and security forces were given
wide discretion to use lethal force in Assam and four other
northeastern states. In February the regional high court in
Guwahati ordered the Indian army to pay $1,600 in compensation
to the family of a man who disappeared in 1991 while in army
custody. The court had earlier issued a habeas corpus petition
ordering the Government and army to produce the man in court
after he had been detained for interrogation about his son.
ULFA militants in Assam killed accused informers and at least
seven "deserters" who had accepted a government amnesty.
ULFA's chairman reportedly issued a directive from Bangladesh
calling for the death of all ULFA members who surrendered to
police.
Indian newspapers reported nine deaths in custody or after
police torture in and around Delhi during 1993. Press reports
from the southern city of Bangalore alleged there were six
deaths in police custody there during the year ending August
30. The Chief Minister of West Bengal told the state assembly
there had been 277 custodial deaths in his state since 1977, of
which only 1 case was probed by the courts.
India's Criminal Procedure Code requires a magisterial inquiry
in every case of a death in police custody. However, most
custodial abuse is directed at the poor and uneducated lower
castes, who are unlikely to understand their right to redress.
Inquiries are often not carried out, and when an investigation
does occur, the results are generally not made public.
b. Disappearance
Disappearances are believed to occur on a large scale. There
are credible reports that police throughout India often do not
file required arrest reports, with the result that there are
hundreds of unsolved disappearances in which relatives claim a
person was taken into police custody and never heard from
again. Police usually deny these claims, countering that there
are no records of arrest.
This problem is particularly acute in Punjab, where there was a
sharp rise in reported disappearances as the police sought to
eliminate militants and their supporters. Sikh human rights
groups reported dozens of disappearances in which police
claimed they never held a person, even when there were
witnesses to the arrest.
In cases where officials acknowledged an individual was in
custody, police sometimes report the detainee was killed while
trying to escape when taken to recover an alleged arms cache.
Without exception, human rights groups say, these detainees are
never seen again. The Human Rights Trust, a Delhi-based
nongovernmental organization (NGO), reported 28 such cases,
with registered arrest reports, between January and May. One
case involved Gurdev Singh Kaonke, a Sikh religious leader who
reportedly escaped while being taken to recover an arms supply
on January 2 and has not been seen since.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Although torture is prohibited by law, there is credible
evidence that torture of detainees is common throughout India.
Sometimes this abuse is part of the interrogation process,
sometimes it is to extort money from the victim or his
relatives, and sometimes it is summary punishment doled out by
individual police officials.
Confessions extracted by force are generally inadmissible in
court. Under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities
(Prevention) Act (TADA), however, a confession made to an
officer above the rank of superintendent of police is
admissible as evidence, provided the police have "reason to
believe that it is being made voluntarily." Press accounts and
reports by human rights groups indicate that brutality in
extracting confessions under the TADA is common.
Indian human rights groups have detailed numerous individual
cases of torture and abuse during interrogation by police and
paramilitary forces in Kashmir, Punjab, and Assam. Forms of
torture include beatings, rape, burning with cigarettes and hot
rods, suspension by the feet, crushing of limbs with heavy
rollers, and electric shocks. Many alleged torture victims die
in custody, and others fear to speak out due to the threat of
police retaliation. Consequently there are few firsthand
accounts. One exception was the case of Masroof Sultan, a
Kashmiri student who was pulled from a bus on April 8 and
tortured with electric shocks. Sultan told foreign journalists
he was shot and left for dead by border security force (BSF)
soldiers who tried to pass off his death as a crossfire
incident. Sultan's family claims to have seen him in custody
and pleaded for his release. Although his case was taken up by
several governments and international human rights groups, the
Government did not investigate Sultan's torture or punish those
responsible.
Another case involved the gang-rape of a Kashmiri woman on May
25 by army troops outside Srinagar. The victim, Nazeera Jan,
told reporters that 10 soldiers broke into her room, tied her
husband to a tree outside, and sexually assaulted her. A
medical examination confirmed that she had been raped, and the
army announced court-martial proceedings against four of the
accused. State officials claimed that the four were each
sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, but this punishment was
not publicized. In Calcutta, a police constable was sentenced
to life imprisonment for his involvement in a custodial rape
incident in 1992 that was taken up by opposition politicians
and women's groups.
In response to a parliamentary question on August 19, the Home
Ministry stated that 146 security force personnel had been
disciplined for "acts of omission and commission during
operations in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 3 years."
Because the Government did not publicize the forms of
punishment or the crimes involved, it was impossible to judge
the adequacy of the punishment or even if the crimes involved
human rights issues. A Home Ministry note given to the South
Asia Human Rights Documentation Center described punishments
ranging from 7 years' to 6 months' imprisonment meted out in
nine cases of rape, extortion, or sexual abuse. There is no
evidence that any member of the security forces has been
punished for an incident of custodial death or custodial
torture in Jammu and Kashmir. Among Kashmiris, there is a
general impression that official abuse goes unpunished.
Custodial abuse is common even in Indian states free of
insurgency. Scheduled castes and harijans, people at the
bottom of India's social ladder, are particularly vulnerable to
police violence. There continued to be consistent reports that
police, mostly upper caste Hindus, deliberately targeted
members of these groups and religious minorities for beatings
and rape. A highly publicized case from 1992, involving a low
caste thief castrated while in police custody, remained stuck
in the courts. The district magistrate's report to the Supreme
Court called for disciplinary action against four police
officers, along with three doctors accused of altering
evidence. As of the end of the year, the station house officer
and assistant subinspector charged in the case remained out on
bail, despite a Supreme Court recommendation that bail be
cancelled by May 10.
The Government grew increasingly sensitive to allegations of
police abuse during 1993 and took some steps to address the
problem. The Home Ministry reiterated instructions to police
authorities that coercive methods should not be used on persons
in police custody and expanded human rights training at India's
elite national police academy. The Government says many
members of the police have been disciplined for abuse of
detainees. However, punishment is usually meager (suspension
or transfer) and occurs only in a small percentage of
incidents. The courts have played a role in trying to bring
police behavior into line with Indian law. In a key decision
on March 30, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the right of victims
and their families to seek compensation from the Government for
abuse while in police custody. However, the serious backlog in
India's judicial system means that custodial abuse cases
usually move slowly. In 1993, for instance, three policemen
were sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in a
custodial death in 1980. In August the principal suspect in
this case was granted bail, pending his appeal before the Delhi
high court.
The Government does not allow independent monitoring of prisons
by NGO's. Prison conditions are, however, the subject of
frequent press reports and have been assessed by human rights
groups relying on testimony from former detainees. Press
reports include charges of sexual abuse of prisoners; the use
of prisoners by prison officials for domestic labor; the sale
on the black market of food and milk meant for prisoners; and
the sale of women prisoners to brothels. Women constitute 2 to
6 percent of the total prison population, according to the 1987
National Expert Committee on Women Prisoners Report.
A June 1993 report by the Human Rights Trust charged that
prisoners in New Delhi's Tihar jail, considered one of the
best-run in India, had inadequate food, medical care, and
clothing. The prison houses approximately 8,500 prisoners in
facilities designed to hold 2,219. Over 90 percent are
awaiting trial, according to the jail's inspector general, and
may be held months or even years before getting a court date.
There were reportedly some 120 suicides in Tihar between 1988
and 1992.
The Juvenile Justice Act of 1986 provides that boys under 16
and girls under 18 are not to be held in prisons. However,
these provisions appear to be widely ignored, especially in
police lockups. The Supreme Court has criticized the states
for not providing separate facilities for children in jails and
for not constructing reformatory institutions.
In August the Supreme Court took up the issue of persons with
mental disorders who have committed no crimes but are held in
prisons throughout India. In its response to a petition by a
West Bengal human rights monitor, the Court restrained the
Government from putting mentally ill people in jail and
directed all state governments to report on the status of
"noncriminal lunatics" in their states. A senior West Bengal
official stated that there were more than 1,000 such persons in
West Bengal prisons.
There are three classes of Indian prison facilities. Class "C"
cells are the worst. They often have dirt floors, no
furnishings, and poor quality food. They are overcrowded, and
the use of handcuffs and fetters is common. Prisoners in these
cells reportedly suffer the most abuse. Prisoners are
designated class "C" on the basis of their standing in society,
not on the nature of the crime--those who cannot prove they are
either college graduates or income taxpayers when they come
before the magistrate are class "C."
Class "B" cells are for college graduates and taxpayers.
Crowding is less of a problem in "B" cells, and the food and
treatment of prisoners are reportedly better than in class
"C." Class "A" cells are for "prominent persons," as
designated by the Government. Prisoners in these cells are
accorded private rooms, visits, and adequate food, which can be
supplemented by their families. In fact, very few prisons
actually maintain class "A" cells; class "A" prisoners are
usually held in government guest houses. These provisions are
not evenly enforced. Kashmiri political leaders Abdul Gani
Lone and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, for instance, were held in
class "C" cells at New Delhi's Tihar jail, even though their
backgrounds entitle them to class "A" facilities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
There were credible reports of widespread arbitrary arrest and
detention under the special security laws enacted over the past
decade to help law enforcement authorities fight separatist
insurgencies.
The Constitution requires that an arrested person be informed
of the grounds for arrest, given the right to be represented by
counsel, and (unless he is being held under a preventative
detention law) produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of
arrest. At this initial appearance, the accused is committed
to custody (either police or judicial remand) or released. An
accused must be informed of his right to bail at the time of
arrest and (unless he is being held for a nonbailable offense)
may apply for bail at any time. The police must file a charge
sheet within 60 or 90 days of arrest, depending on the severity
of the crime. If the police fail to do so, court approval of a
bail application becomes mandatory.
The Constitution permits the enactment of preventive detention
laws in the event of threats to public order and national
security. These laws provide for limits on the length of
detention and for judicial review. Government critics charged
with political offenses such as sedition or disruptive speech
are typically held for extended periods under the TADA or the
National Security Act (NSA) but are never formally tried. Some
alleged militants in Kashmir and Punjab have been in detention
for years. International human rights groups claim there are
thousands of political detainees in India.
The NSA, passed in 1980, permits detention of persons
considered security risks; police anywhere in India (except
Kashmir) may detain suspects under NSA provisions. The Jammu
and Kashmir Public Safety Act (1978) covers corresponding
procedures for that state. Under the NSA's strong preventive
detention provisions, a person may be detained without charge
or trial for up to 1 year on loosely defined security grounds.
A detention order must be confirmed by the state government and
reviewed by an advisory board of three high court judges within
7 weeks of arrest. NSA detainees are permitted visits by
family members and lawyers and must be informed of the grounds
for detention within 5 days (10-15 days in exceptional
circumstances). Some 16,000 people have been detained under
the NSA since its inception. More than two-thirds of those
detained were released by order of the state government or
advisory board. According to the Government, as of May 1993,
there were 639 people under NSA detention nationwide. The
cumulative figure for Public Safety Act arrests in Kashmir (as
of January 1, 1993) was 2,983, with all but 998 of the
arrestees subsequently released.
The TADA, though enacted in 1985 to fight insurgency in Punjab,
has been invoked by almost every state in India, including
those where no real emergency exists. The TADA punishes those
found guilty of terrorist and disruptive acts or membership in
a terrorist gang with no less than 5 years' imprisonment and up
to the death penalty for certain terrorist crimes. Disruptive
activities are defined broadly to include speech or actions
that disrupt or challenge the sovereignty or territorial
integrity of India. The TADA extends the period to 60 days
during which a detainee may be held in police custody after
remand by the court and allows administrative detention up to
180 days (1 year in special circumstances). Suspects held
under the TADA must be presented within 24 hours before an
executive magistrate who reviews the detention order, but human
rights groups say this requirement is frequently ignored. The
Act was extended for 2 years in May, when an amendment was
added requiring authorization from a state police inspector
general before a court takes cognizance of a TADA case. (See
also Sections 1.c. and 1.e.)
There were 7,816 reported arrests under the TADA in 18 states
and union territories during 1992. The Government claimed a
total of 52,268 people were arrested under the TADA between
1985 and February 15, 1993. Of these, only 434 were
convicted. The vast majority of TADA detainees are eventually
freed on bail or released without charge.
There are widespread accusations that the special security laws
have been misused in states not experiencing civil unrest as a
convenient way to hold people without trial. These accusations
are borne out by government data showing TADA and NSA arrests
by state. In 1992, for instance, TADA was used more frequently
in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh than in Punjab, which was the
Act's original target. Indeed, during the first 7 months of
1993 Gujarat registered 1,409 TADA arrests, more than half the
nationwide total of 2,514. As of April, detentions under NSA
in 1993 were highest in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
Human rights monitors and the president of the Madras High
Court Lawyers Association accused the Tamil Nadu government of
using the NSA and other special security laws to detain
political opponents under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
In Punjab, state authorities used the TADA to arrest Sikh
political leaders and prevent opposition rallies. In Assam,
authorities used the TADA to silence journalists and human
rights activists suspected of separatist sympathies. In
Maharashtra, police were accused of using the TADA to round up
Muslims indiscriminately on suspicion of involvement in the
March 12 Bombay bombings.
Exile is not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
India has an independent judiciary with strong constitutional
safeguards. An October Supreme Court decision gave the Chief
Justice of India--in consultation with his colleagues--a
decisive voice in selecting judicial candidates. Under the
Constitution, judges are appointed by the President and may
serve up to age 65 in the Supreme Court and age 62 in the state
high courts. India's legal procedures generally assure a fair
trial when they function normally, but the process can be drawn
out and inaccessible to the poor. Defendants have the right to
choose counsel from an Indian Bar that is fully independent of
the Government. There are effective channels for appeal at
most levels of the judicial system. This is not true for cases
tried under the TADA which can be appealed only to the Supreme
Court. Since many TADA detainees lack the resources to gain
access to the Supreme Court, the act effectively limits appeal.
The Indian Criminal Procedure Code provides for an open trial
in most cases but allows exceptions in proceedings involving
official secrets, trials in which statements prejudicial to the
safety of the State might be made, or under provisions of
special security legislation such as the TADA. Defendants are
presumed innocent until proven guilty except in certain cases
(see below). There are effective channels for appeal at all
levels of the judicial system, although there is some
limitation on appeals under the special security laws.
Sentences must be announced in public.
The TADA authorizes secret testimony to protect witnesses and
suspends the usual prohibition on the use of evidence gathered
through police interrogation. Indians charged under the TADA
with certain categories of crimes are presumed guilty and carry
the burden of proving their innocence. Human rights groups
charge that these categories are so broad--including cases in
which weapons are recovered or there is strong incriminating
evidence--that they can be manipulated to fit any case. TADA
trials are held before special courts. The state or central
government may designate a court as a TADA court for any
geographic area, any case, or any class of offenses.
Appointees to TADA courts must have served as a Sessions Judge
or Additional Sessions Judge immediately prior to their
appointment. Some 450 petitions have been filed before the
Indian Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the
Act, but the court has yet to give its opinion. Constitutional
challenges to the TADA cover a broad spectrum. Many contend
that the TADA violates the accused's right to due process.
Others claim the TADA abrogates the jurisdictional rights of
the States by eliminating appeal to the High Court. Still
others address the TADA's incompatibility with the
constitutional guarantee of free speech.
Muslim personal law governs many noncriminal matters involving
Muslims, including family law, inheritance, and divorce. The
Government's declared policy is not to interfere in the
personal laws of the minority communities, with the result that
laws that discriminate against women are upheld. Different
personal laws are administered through the single civil court
system.
In Kashmir and Punjab the judicial systems barely function. In
both states, threats by militants against judges, witnesses,
and their family members have created a situation in which no
court is willing to hear cases involving terrorist crimes. As
a result, there were no convictions of alleged terrorists in
Kashmir or Punjab during 1993.
There are no political prisoners in India. (For political
detainees, see Section 1.d.)
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Under Indian law, warrants are normally required for searches
and seizures. In a criminal investigation, however, police may
conduct searches without a warrant if obtaining one would cause
undue delay. They must justify such searches after the fact in
writing to the nearest magistrate with jurisdiction over the
offense being investigated. This requirement appears to be
respected. The Special Powers Acts allow an officer or
noncommissioned officer of the Armed Forces to arrest, without
warrant, any person who has committed a cognizable offense or
against whom a reasonable suspicion of such an act exists. The
officer may use such force as necessary to effect the arrest,
enter and search, without warrant, any premises, and recover
any property reasonably suspected to be stolen or any arms
believed to be unlawfully kept. There is no judicial review of
this procedure. Indeed, the Acts bar any prosecution, suit, or
other legal proceeding against any person in respect to
anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers
conferred by the Acts, except with the prior sanction of the
central Government.
Surveillance of communications, including tapping telephones
and intercepting personal mail, is authorized under the Indian
Telegraph Act "on the occurrence of any public emergency or in
the interest of the public safety or tranquility." These
powers have been used by every state government.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
Law in Internal Conflicts
Both government forces and militants committed egregious
violations of humanitarian law in the disputed state of Jammu
and Kashmir. The Muslim majority population in the Kashmir
valley increasingly found itself trapped between the repressive
tactics used by security forces to combat insurgency and the
militants' acts of wanton violence. Approximately 400,000
Indian army and paramilitary forces have been deployed
throughout Jammu and Kashmir to contain the separatist
movement. Under the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special
Powers Act, security force personnel have sweeping powers,
including authority to shoot to kill suspected lawbreakers or
disturbers of the peace and to destroy structures suspected of
harboring militants or arms.
There were credible reports that security forces frequently
used excessive force against civilians, sometimes in
retaliation for attacks by Kashmiri militants. On January 6, a
40-man BSF unit responded to a hit-and-run attack by militants
by firing on civilians and setting fire to buildings in Sopore,
a stronghold of the Hizb-Ul Mujahideen militant group.
According to Kashmiri and Delhi-based investigators, the
day-long BSF rampage left 43 people dead, 14 injured, and
around 300 homes and businesses burned. Witnesses reported
that BSF personnel used rags dipped in fuel to spread the
flames and fired indiscriminately on civilians.
The Government responded by dispatching senior officials to
Sopore, promising compensation to victims, suspending nine BSF
personnel (including the commandant), and transferring the
entire BSF unit. The Government also ordered a judicial
inquiry into the incident. This effort was hampered by a
reported militant order to witnesses to boycott the
investigation. As of year's end, the judge assigned to the
probe had yet to complete his investigation. BSF troops were
accused of firing without warning on an October 22
demonstration in the militant stronghold of Bijbehara, leaving
41 dead and 76 injured, according to the Peoples Union for
Civil Liberty. Despite government claims that the security
forces were ambushed by militants, only one BSF subinspector
was injured. The Government subsequently announced two
official investigations and a separate inquiry by the National
Human Rights Commission into these incidents.
There were other examples of BSF personnel using excessive
force against civilians. In mid-April, at least 16 people were
killed and 260 shops and houses were gutted when fire swept
through the Lal Chowk area of Central Srinagar. It appeared
the blaze began when Kashmiri demonstrators set fire to an
abandoned BSF bunker. However, press reports indicate the BSF
troops responded by firing randomly at demonstrators and
setting fire to homes and businesses in neighboring areas. An
official inquiry was announced, but the results were never
released. In July a BSF soldier shot and killed an 8-year-old
boy when he reportedly mistook a kitchen utensil the boy was
holding for a grenade. When the enraged parents ran at the BSF
men, they too were shot and killed.
Kashmiri militant groups were also guilty of serious human
rights abuses. In addition to political killings detailed in
Section 1.a., militants committed extortion and carried out
acts of random terror that left hundreds of Kashmiris dead.
Two people were killed and three injured on May 11 when
militants reportedly fired a rocket at the government
headquarters in Srinagar. Twenty-five people were injured on
May 3 when a bomb planted by alleged militants exploded in a
Jammu theater. On September 15, a bomb reportedly planted by
militants exploded in a Hindu temple in Jammu, killing one
person and injuring eight others. Between January 1990 and
July 1993, the Government claimed, militants killed 1,817
civilians.
Militant groups were accused of executing captured soldiers and
informers by strapping grenades to their bodies and setting
them off in public. In addition, militants were implicated in
dozens of killings involving rival separatist factions. The
Government accused the Hizb-Ul Mujahideen group of
responsibility for the March 31 execution of Dr. Abdul Ahad
Guru, a leading Kashmiri human rights monitor. On March 22, a
Delhi paper carried a report that Dr. Guru was being used by
the Home Ministry as a channel to the Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation Front. Ten days later, his bullet-ridden body was
found on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Kashmiri militants continued to use kidnapings of prominent
businessmen and politicians to seek the release of detained
militants, sow terror, and extort funds. After a hiatus of
several months, kidnapings in Jammu and Kashmir climbed sharply
during the first part of 1993. Among those held were a former
Member of Parliament, the director of the State Tourism
Development Corporation, and a university professor. The Home
Ministry reported that 22 government employees were kidnaped
during the period from April to June. Press reports indicate
that abductions continued at a similar pace throughout the year.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution protects these freedoms, and they are, with
some limitations, exercised in practice. A vigorous press
reflects a wide variety of public, social, and economic
beliefs. Indian newspapers and magazines regularly publish
investigative reports and allegations of government wrongdoing,
and the press as a whole champions human rights and criticizes
perceived government lapses.
The Press Council of India is a statutory body of journalists,
publishers, academics and politicians, traditionally chaired by
a sitting or former Supreme Court justice. Designed to be a
self-regulating mechanism for the press, it investigates
complaints of irresponsible journalism and sets a code of
conduct for publishers. This code includes not publishing
articles or details that might incite caste or communal
violence. The council publicly criticizes newspapers or
journalists it believes to have broken the code of conduct, but
its findings, while noted by the press community, carry no
legal weight and have little influence on journalists.
National television and radio are government monopolies and are
frequently accused by opposition politicians and the print
media of manipulating the news to the benefit of the
Government. However, international satellite television is not
censored or otherwise controlled by the Government and is
widely distributed in middle-class neighborhoods via cable. It
is gradually eroding the Government's monopoly on electronic
media.
Under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Government may
restrict publication of sensitive stories, but this is
sometimes interpreted broadly by the Government to suppress
criticism of its policies. For instance, in Punjab, despite
the decline of militancy, the Government occasionally impounded
issues of newspapers because of what it considered
objectionable reporting.
The 1971 Newspapers Incitements to Offenses Act remained in
effect in Jammu and Kashmir throughout 1993. Under the Act, a
district magistrate may restrict the press from carrying
material resulting in "incitement to murder" or "any act of
violence." Punishment permitted under the Act includes seizure
of newspapers and printing presses. Despite these
restrictions, newspapers in Srinagar regularly carried militant
press releases attacking the Government and reported in detail
on alleged human rights abuses. The Government has taken no
steps to prevent Kashmiri papers from printing militant press
releases. Reporters were subject to harassment by security
forces. On August 5, three journalists in Srinagar were beaten
with batons and rifle butts by BSF troops who objected to their
coverage of an opposition rally. In Assam, the Government
arrested an editor and several reporters in connection with
articles they published about ULFA militant activities.
Journalists and academics who gathered in the state capital on
February 20 to protest these arrests were met with a police
baton charge in which 25 people were reportedly injured.
In Tamil Nadu, the state government applied intense pressure to
the opposition press as relations between the state government
and Delhi deteriorated. State officials frequently used
"defamation" charges in the courts to intimidate editors and
journalists. In July the state government withdrew police
protection from a Madras weekly; shortly thereafter, the
newspaper was ransacked. An official investigation was
launched immediately after the attack. There has never been a
determination of responsibility. The Government permitted
foreign journalists to travel freely in Kashmir, meet with
militant leaders, and file reports on government abuses.
On January 31, militants in Punjab assassinated a reporter for
the Hind Samachar News Group. The Babbar Khalsa International
claimed responsibility, saying it would not tolerate
journalists who projected a negative image of militancy.
In Kashmir, rival militant groups threatened journalists and
editors and even imposed temporary bans on some publications.
Militants burned the residence of an Urdu-language newspaper
editor who refused to carry their press release. In September
the paper suspended publication, citing militant harassment.
Journalists in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat
were subject to regular harassment by Hindu radicals
representing nongovernment political groups. On August 18,
members of the Shiv Sena Organization assaulted the editor of a
Bombay newspaper when he criticized the Shiv Sena newspaper at
a journalists' seminar. The same day, members of a Hindu labor
organization ransacked the office of a Bombay tabloid and beat
up its senior reporter. In May the editor of a Gujarat
newspaper was stabbed to death by unidentified attackers. Six
months earlier, the local Shiv Sena chief had publicly
threatened the editor's life, after he published editorials
critical of the group.
A government censorship board reviews films before they are
licensed for distribution. Board members are appointed by the
Government, through the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting. The board deletes material deemed offensive to
public morals or communal sentiment. Producers of video news
magazines are also required to clear their products with the
board, which occasionally censors parts of stories that put the
Government in a bad light. There is a mechanism to appeal the
board's decision which sometimes results in a censorship ruling
being overturned.
Indians enjoy complete academic freedom, and students and
faculty espouse a wide range of views. In addition to 10
national universities and about 160 state universities, states
are empowered to accredit local private institutions.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution protects the right of peaceful assembly and
the right to form associations, and these rights are generally
respected in practice.
Local governments ordinarily respect the right to protest
peacefully, but authorities sometimes require permits and
notification prior to holding parades or demonstrations. Under
the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC), the authorities may order
the dispersal of any assembly of five or more people that is
likely to cause a disturbance of the peace. The Code allows
the authorities to ban such assemblies prospectively for a
period up to 2 months. At times of civil tension, authorities
may ban public assemblies or impose a curfew. In February the
Government used provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code to
ban a large rally in the capital by the Hindu Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) and to arrest those defying the ban. The BJP
claimed about 50,000 people were arrested nationwide, most of
whom were released within a few days. In October and December,
the State government in Punjab arrested over 1,000 opposition
party members in an effort to prevent a protest march to Delhi
and a proposed series of sit-ins at district headquarters
buildings.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 empowers the
Government to ban organizations whose activities promote
communal hatred. Five religion-based organizations (three
Hindu and two Muslim) were banned under the Act in reaction to
the destruction of a mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992, but
enforcement of the bans was lax. A special tribunal overturned
the ban on three of the organizations in June. The Government
restricted freedom of assembly in Srinagar and other parts of
Jammu and Kashmir by placing them under sporadic curfew during
much of the year.
c. Freedom of Religion
India is a secular state in which all faiths enjoy freedom of
worship. Government policy does not favor any religious
group. Nevertheless, tensions over religious differences pose
challenges to the secular foundation of the Indian State.
Hindu-Muslim tensions remained high in the aftermath of the
December 1992 Ayodhya crisis. Communal riots in Bombay during
early January left at least 550 people dead and 2,500 injured.
Witnesses said some of those killed were stoned to death or
burned alive. In a report published in August, the Indian
People's Human Rights Tribunal, led by two retired high court
judges, characterized the riots as "an organized crime
perpetrated by communalists in connivance with the police."
The Tribunal's report, supported by over 2,000 depositions,
asserts that the police were either passive bystanders or
openly sided with Hindu mobs. Press accounts state that the
overwhelming majority of those killed or injured in the riots
were Muslims.
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 technically applies to all
religious sites.
Indian religious organizations may maintain communications with
coreligionists abroad, but financial contributions from
overseas are regulated by the Home Ministry and may not be used
to finance publishing. There is no national law to bar
proselytizing by Indian Christians, but laws in some states
discourage them from practicing openly.
Foreign missionaries can generally renew their visas, but since
the mid-1960's the Government has refused to admit new resident
missionaries. Those who arrive now do so as tourists, and stay
for short periods. As of January 1992, there were 1,611
registered foreign missionaries in all of India. The sharp
rise of conversions among tribals of the northeast continued to
create tensions; as in the past, state officials refused to
issue permits for foreign Christian missionaries to enter some
northeastern states.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Indian citizens enjoy full freedom of movement within the
country, except in certain border areas where, for security
reasons, special permits are required. Travel abroad is
generally not restricted, but there are exceptions. Under the
Passports Act of 1967, the Government may deny a passport to
any applicant who "may or is likely to engage outside India in
activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of
India." This provision is occasionally used to bar government
critics (especially advocates of Sikh independence) from
traveling abroad.
Millions of people of Indian origin live abroad. Indian
citizens may emigrate without restriction.
Although India is not a signatory to the U.N. Convention and
Protocol on the Status of Refugees, the Government follows the
general principles laid down in that document, including
opposition to turning back refugees at the border. Those whom
it recognizes as refugees are placed in camps (Chakmas, Sri
Lankan Tamils) or resettlement areas (Tibetans). Tibetans have
been accommodated by the Indian authorities since the 1950's.
Afghans, Burmese, and other nationalities are neither deported
nor recognized as refugees. Instead, they receive renewable
residence permits and are recognized as refugees by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or are ignored.
Bangladeshis formerly received the same treatment, but as
domestic political pressure increased during 1991 and 1992, the
Indian government began to crack down on their entry. During
1991, according to government statistics, 53,733 illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh were apprehended on the border and
turned back. Government officials say there is no firm
estimate of the number of Bangladeshis living illegally in
India, but estimates range from 2 to 15 million. In addition,
India is home to over 54,000 Chakma tribal people who fled the
Chittagong Hill tracts of Bangladesh during the 1980's. Indian
and Bangladeshi officials meeting in May reached agreement for
expeditious repatriation of the Chakmas. Press reports assert
that rations and cash assistance to the camps in Tripura were
reduced in a bid to encourage repatriation under this
agreement. As of the end of the year, however, there had been
no discernible repatriation.
About 80,000 Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka were living in 131
government-run camps, and up to 100,000 more were settled with
friends and relatives throughout Tamil Nadu. The state
government, using central government resources, provided
shelter and subsidized food to those in the camps. In May the
Tamil Nadu government banned all NGO assistance to the camps in
an apparent effort to encourage repatriation. About 7,000
Tamils were repatriated voluntarily during August and September
under an Indian government program monitored by the UNHCR.
India also provided humanitarian assistance to over 100,000
Tibetan refugees in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and elsewhere
in India.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Indian citizens freely exercise their right to change their
government. India has a democratic, parliamentary system of
government with representatives elected under universal adult
suffrage; the voting age is 18.
Multiparty elections are held regularly at local, state, and
national levels. A Parliament sits for 5 years unless
dissolved earlier for new elections or under constitutionally
defined emergency situations. State governments are elected at
regular intervals except in states under President's rule.
On the advice of the Prime Minister, the President may proclaim
a state of emergency in any state in the event of war, external
aggression, or armed rebellion. Similarly, President's
rule--rule from the center--may be declared in the event of a
collapse of a state's constitutional machinery. President's
rule remained in effect in Jammu and Kashmir throughout the
year. It was lifted in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Himachel Pradesh, and Rajasthan following elections in
1993 and declared in the northeastern state of Manipur on
December 31.
Under the Constitution, seats are reserved for scheduled tribes
and scheduled castes in Parliament and state legislatures in
proportion to their population. Political parties and tribal
groups work to advance the interests of indigenous people and
on several occasions have extracted specific concessions from
the Government. Women account for about 7 percent of the
members of Parliament. They hold or have held a variety of
senior positions, including Deputy Speaker of the upper house
and Prime Minister. By law, women are guaranteed 30 percent of
seats in all local elected bodies (municipal councils and
village panchayats). Some states have discussed the idea of a
similar reservation for state assemblies. A government report
stated that 40 to 50 percent of women exercised their franchise
in the 1991 national election.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Independent Indian human rights organizations are active and
vocal. They include the People's Union for Civil Liberties,
the People's Union for Democratic Rights, the South Asia Human
Rights Documentation Center, Citizens for Democracy, and
numerous regional organizations. These groups investigate
specific allegations of human rights abuses and publish reports
on their findings, which are often highly critical of the
Government and militant groups. All of India, including
Kashmir and Punjab, is open to Indian investigators.
The central Government is generally tolerant of dissent.
Nonetheless, human rights monitors have been targeted by the
police for arrest and harassment. In addition, a number of
monitors were the victims of killings, some of which may have
been politically motivated. Dr. Farooq Ashai, a prominent
Kashmiri orthopedic surgeon and specialist in the treatment of
torture victims, died on February 18 when he was caught in the
line of fire from a security forces' bunker. Five weeks later,
Dr. Abdul Ahad Guru, a leading Kashmiri human rights activist,
was abducted and killed by unidentified gunmen (see Section
1.g.). Another Kashmiri human rights figure, Hirdai Nath
Wanchoo, was killed under similar circumstances in December
1992. Results of the official investigation were never
released; however, according to press accounts the Government
investigators blamed the Jamait-ul-Mujahideen for Wanchoo's
death. Since Wanchoo was a vocal critic of security force
abuses, most Kashmiris found the accusation not credible and
accused the Government of the killing.
In Punjab, the police harassed, intimidated, and occasionally
arrested human rights monitors. In one case, a Sikh human
rights monitor was held without charge for 3 weeks, then
released with instructions to say nothing about his time in
police custody. In Maharashtra and Gujarat, hundreds of
activists and local residents attempting to block the Narmada
Dam project were arrested and subjected to police intimidation;
some alleged they were tortured by police. Doctors in Delhi
who treated victims of communal riots in December 1992 and
documented charges of official involvement were later subject
to harassment by police investigators. Hospital administrators
reportedly received requests from the Home Ministry directing
them to seek explanations from some doctors who were involved
in an NGO investigation of the Delhi riots. The doctors were
associated with the Delhi Medicos and Scientists Forum, which
published a report on the Delhi riots that accused the Delhi
police of communal bias and excessive use of force.
In May the Government introduced authorizing legislation for a
national human rights commission. The bill was criticized by
Indian human rights groups, which claimed the commission would
be dominated by government servants, barred from investigating
allegations of abuse involving the army and paramilitary
forces, and provided with inadequate investigatory staff. A
Presidential Ordinance issued on September 29 and passed by the
Parliament in December revised the Commission to give greater
representation to retired jurists but left it with a limited
mandate to investigate security force abuses In December the
Commission instructed state governments to inform it within 24
hours of any custodial death. If an incident is not reported
on time, the Commission will assume there was a cover-up
attempt.
The central Government remains sensitive to international
allegations of human rights violations. However, in July the
Home Ministry reversed its longstanding policy of barring
investigating teams from Amnesty International and other
international human rights organizations. Although no such
investigations occurred in 1993, the Government indicated the
timing of such visits would be determined in consultations with
the central Government and the concerned state government. The
Government also reached agreement with the ICRC for a seminar
on international humanitarian law to be held in Delhi in early
1994. In August a four-member delegation from the
International Commission of Jurists traveled to Kashmir as
guests of the Government and met with a range of lawyers and
human rights monitors.
Indian human rights groups say the Government seldom responds
to inquiries from U.N. bodies such as the U.N. Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Special
Rapporteur on Torture. The official review performed by the
Human Rights Committee of India's 1989 Report to the Committee
produced several recommendations for policy changes to
strengthen the protection of human rights in India, including
revision of India's special security legislation which could
violate provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
Section 5 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,
these differences are frequently manifest in social and
cultural practices that have a profoundly discriminatory impact.
Women
India has an elaborate system of laws to protect the rights of
women, including the Equal Remuneration Act, the Prevention of
Immoral Traffic Act, and the Sati (Widow Burning) Prevention
Act. Deeply rooted traditions, often tied to religious or
social practice, lead to lax and sometimes no enforcement of
these laws, especially in rural areas. Female bondage and
forced prostitution remain common in parts of Indian society.
According to an Indian government study, which is borne out by
press reporting, violence against women--including molestation,
rape, kidnaping, and wife murder ("dowry deaths")--has
increased over the past decade. Domestic violence in the
context of dowry disputes is a particularly serious problem.
In the typical dowry dispute, a groom's family will harass a
woman they believe has not provided a sufficient dowry.
Occasionally, this harassment ends in the woman's death, which
family members often try to pass off as a suicide or kitchen
accident. Although most "dowry deaths" involve lower
middle-class families, the phenomenon crosses both caste and
religious lines. The Government's strategy to combat violence
against women emphasizes education and legislation to stiffen
punishment for abuse. A National Commission for Women,
established in January 1992, investigates cases of abuse and
reports to the Government on measures to improve the status of
women in Indian society. The Commission has publicized several
cases of sexual harassment and physical abuse, but is
criticized by women's groups for acting in a politicized manner.
Government figures show a total of 4,785 dowry deaths during
1992, down about 7 percent from 1991. Under a 1986 amendment
to the Indian Penal Code, in every unnatural death of a woman
in the first 7 years of marriage where it is proved she was
subject to harassment, the court must presume her husband or
in-laws were responsible. In such cases, police procedures
require that the investigation be conducted by an officer of
deputy superintendent rank or above and that a postmortem be
performed by a team of two or more doctors.
In March three family members were sentenced to capital
punishment in a dowry death case in Aligarh. However, such
convictions are rare. One case highlighted by the Indian press
took 4 1/2 years to reach a preliminary hearing where a judge
was to decide if there was sufficient evidence to try the
victim's husband and in-laws for murder. Moreover, lawyers
handling dowry cases complain that judges and prosecutors
(usually men) are uninterested in cases of domestic violence
and are susceptible to bribes.
Despite several provisions in the Constitution promising
equality before the law and prohibiting discrimination on the
basis of gender, the personal laws of several Indian religious
communities provide for legally sanctioned gender
discrimination. Under Islamic personal law, a Muslim husband
may divorce his wife unilaterally; there is no such provision
for women. Islamic law also provides for a man to have up to
four wives, while polyandry is prohibited. These provisions
have sparked debate within India's Muslim community and have
been loudly criticized by some Hindu groups as examples of
preferential treatment given to Muslims.
Existing laws relating to asset and land ownership give women
little control over land use, retention, or sale. The Hindu
Succession Act provides equal inheritance rights for Hindu
women, but in practice married daughters are seldom given a
share in parental property. Islamic personal law, while
recognizing the right to inheritance of both sons and
daughters, specifies that a daughter's share should be only
one-half of a son's. Under the tribal land system, notably in
Bihar, tribal women do not have the right to own land; the
traditional practice of putting women to death there as
"witches" is closely linked to the denial of property rights.
India has thousands of grassroots organizations working for
social justice and economic advancement of women. These
efforts are usually supported by the Government, despite strong
resistance from traditionally privileged groups. This
resistance is illustrated by a case in September 1992 in which
a women's rights activist in rural Rajasthan was gang-raped by
men who objected to her advocacy against child marriage.
Although the case was referred to the Central Bureau of
Investigation, as of late October the five men accused by the
victim had not been arrested.
Children
The Government places a high priority on children's health and
welfare, but its resources are often overwhelmed by demographic
pressures. A recent government report estimated the population
under 6 years of age at 130 million. A Department of Women and
Child Development functions under the Human Resources
Ministry. The Department's 1992-93 budget accounted for about
0.44 percent of total government expenditures. India has a
large population of street children, with perhaps as many as
100,000 in major cities such as Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta.
Child prostitution in these cities is rampant. Child marriage,
a traditional practice in northern India, was outlawed by the
Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act of 1976. This law
raises the age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18, but
enforcement is uneven. (See Section 6.d. on child labor.)
Because of a strong cultural preference for male offspring,
sex-determination tests (amniocentesis and sonogram) are widely
used, resulting in a disproportionate number of abortions of
female fetuses. Human rights groups estimate that at least
10,000 cases of female infanticide occur each year throughout
India, primarily in poor rural areas. Female foeticide and
infanticide have produced a steady decline in the ratio of
females to males in the Indian population. This figure has
gone from 972 per 1,000 at the turn of the century to 955 per
1,000 in 1981 and 927 per 1,000 in 1991. Parents often give
priority in both health care and nutrition to male infants over
females. Women's rights groups point out that the burden of
providing an adequate dowry for girls is one factor in making
female births less desirable. Although abetting or taking
dowry is theoretically illegal under the Dowry Prohibition Act
of 1961, it is still widely practiced.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The Constitution gives the President authority to specify
historically disadvantaged scheduled castes and tribes which
are entitled to affirmative action in employment and other
benefits. Scheduled tribes constitute about 8 percent of the
Indian population and scheduled castes about 16 percent.
Scheduled castes and tribes benefit from targeted development
funds, government hiring quotas, and special training
programs. However, spaces in national education institutions
reserved for tribals and lower castes are often taken by more
influential people from other backgrounds. A national
commission on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes reports
annually on the status of tribal peoples and investigates
specific complaints about deprivation of rights of scheduled
castes and tribes. The seven-member commission was established
through a constitutional amendment in March 1992. Although the
commission was given the powers of a civil court to call
witnesses and investigate abuse, it has yet to issue a report
and has had no impact thus far.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act of 1989 provided additional legal protections
for these disadvantaged groups. However, it has not checked
atrocities committed against them. Scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes continued to be the victims of murder, rape,
robbery, burning, and beating because of their status. The
Welfare Ministry told Parliament in 1993 that in the states of
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi, not a single
trial involving atrocities against scheduled castes and tribes
had been completed since 1986.
Although the practice of untouchability was in theory outlawed
by the Constitution and the 1955 Civil Rights Act, it remains
very much a part of life in India. The resulting intercaste
violence claims hundreds of lives each year. In Karnataka, 2
people were killed and 51 injured when police fired on a
procession of dalits (untouchables) protesting against
atrocities and discrimination by higher caste Hindus.
The Innerline Regulations, enacted by the British in 1873,
still provide the basis for safeguarding tribal rights in most
of the border states of northeastern India. These regulations
prohibit any person, including Indians from other states, from
going beyond an inner boundary without a valid permit. No
rubber, wax, ivory, or other forest products may be carried out
of the protected areas without prior authorization. No
outsiders are allowed to hold land in the tribal areas without
approval from tribal authorities.
Despite constitutional safeguards, the rights of indigenous
groups in eastern India are often ignored. There has been
encroachment (including by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh)
on tribal land in almost all the states of eastern India, and
businessmen, flouting the Innerline Regulations, have taken out
forest and mineral resources. These violations have given rise
to numerous tribal movements demanding protection of land and
property rights, including the Jharkhand movement in Bihar and
Orissa and the Bodo movement in Assam.
Religious Minorities
There is no obvious discrimination against religious minorities
in civil rights areas such as jobs, housing, and education.
People with Disabilities
India has a long history of concern for its disabled. The
country's first NGO dedicated to rehabilitation of the blind
was created nearly a century ago. With over 12 million Indians
suffering from physical disabilities, according to the
Government, demand for services often exceeds supply.
The Government's Ministry of Welfare has principal
responsibility for programs for the disabled and targets
comprehensive rehabilitation services to India's rural
population through 16 district centers. A national
rehabilitation plan commits the Government to putting a
rehabilitation center in each of India's more than 400
districts, but services are now concentrated in urban areas.
The Government reserves 3 percent of positions in official
offices and parastatal enterprises for people with visual,
hearing, or orthopedic disabilities. Other support programs
include: special railway fares; assistance for purchase and
fitting of aids and appliances; customs exemptions under
bilateral agreements for donated rehabilitation supplies;
education allowances; and scholarships. The Welfare Ministry
also provides substantial funding to several hundred NGO's
involved in rehabilitation and training of special educators.
National education policy emphasizes the mainstreaming of
handicapped children and stipulates that all educational and
vocational programs must provide for the special needs of
people with disabilities. The Department of Education provides
funding to state governments and NGO's to install necessary
facilities. Although the Government is developing legislation
modeled on the Americans with Disabilities Act, there is
currently no requirement for provision of accessibility for the
disabled.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution guarantees the right of association. Workers
are guaranteed the right to form and join unions of their own
choosing without prior authorization, including in export
processing zones (EPZ's). Several trade union centrals also
exist. Most trade unions have some tie to a national or local
political party. However, trade unions stress their formal
independence from political parties and, on occasion, differ
from their respective political allies on labor-related
issues. According to available data, somewhat less than 25
percent of workers in the modern sector--roughly 2 percent of
the total work force--are organized.
Trade unions have the legally protected right to strike, but
public sector unions mustgive at least 14 days' notice prior to
striking. Some states have laws requiring workers in certain
nonpublic sector industries to give prior strike notice. The
Essential Services Maintenance Act allows the central
Government to ban strikes and requires conciliation or
arbitration in specified essential industries. Legal
mechanisms exist for challenging the assertion that a given
dispute falls within the scope of this Act. In 1992 (the last
year for which data are available) there were 894 strikes. The
Trade Unions Act of 1926 specifically prohibits employers from
taking retribution against striking workers.
Human rights abuses against nationally organized unions or
unionized workers have generally not been a problem in India.
However, as with other peripheral groups in Indian society,
unaffiliated unions of low caste or tribal workers cannot
always avail themselves of protections and rights guaranteed by
law. The investigation into the 1991 murder of Shankar Guha
Niyogi, a tribal union leader, is yet to be completed. The
judicial inquiry that was to investigate the killing of more
than 18 of Niyogi's followers during a protest sitdown in July
1992 has not yet commenced. In June a "peoples tribunal"
inquiry held state government authorities responsible for the
massacre.
Unions are free to affiliate with international trade union
organizations. For example, the Indian National Trade Union
Congress is affiliated with the International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and the All India Trade Union
Congress (AITUC) is affiliated with the formerly
Soviet-controlled World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The right to organize (including protection against antiunion
discrimination) and to bargain collectively has existed in
Indian laws for decades. Trade unions carry out these
activities independently and without government or, in general,
employer interference. Although hampered by long delays and a
severe backlog of unresolved cases, a system of specialized
labor courts exists to hear and adjudicate labor-related
complaints.
Collective bargaining is the normal means of setting wages and
settling disputes in the organized industrial sector, and trade
unions are usually vigorous in defending worker interests in
this process. When collective bargaining fails to establish
locally equitable wage levels, the Government may set up
tripartite boards, including trade union representation, to
determine them. The Trade Union Act prohibits discrimination
against union members and organizers, and employers may be
penalized if they discriminate. The Supreme Court has
repeatedly upheld the 1926 Act and reinstated workers dismissed
for union activity.
There are seven EPZ's in India. Physical access to the EPZ's
ordinarily is limited to those who work in them, and union
organizers are not exempt from these limitations. While
workers in EPZ's have the legal right to organize and bargain
collectively, trade union activity is rare. Women workers
constitute the bulk of the work force in the EPZ's.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced labor, and legislation passed
in 1976 specifically bans the practice of "bonded labor." A
Supreme Court decision defined "forced labor" as work at less
than the minimum wage (minimum wages are usually set by the
states, not the central Government). Under this definition,
"forced labor" is widespread throughout India, particularly in
rural areas. "Bonded labor," the result of a private
contractual relationship whereby a worker incurs or inherits
debts to a contractor and then must work off the debt (plus
extensive interest), is illegal but prevalent. While
violations are punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years,
individual state labor departments are responsible for law
enforcement, and prosecutions are rare.
Based on reports from the states, the Government estimates that
between enactment of the Bonded Labor (Regulation and
Abolition) Act in 1979 and March 31, 1993, approximately
251,424 bonded workers had been released, of whom 223,108 had
been "rehabilitated" by March 31, 1992. Other sources,
including the Bandhua Mukti Morcha and the Gandhi Peace
Foundation, have estimated that those released represent only
one-tenth of the total number of bonded laborers in India.
Private and autonomous social organizations, such as trade
unions, the Council for Advancement of Peoples' Action and
Rural Technology, and Action for Welfare and Awakening Rural
Environments, attempt to identify cases of bondage and pursue
them with the appropriate officials. However, even with better
coordination and increased resources to overcome the
complicated jurisdictional division between central and state
governments, the eradication of bonded labor is proceeding
slowly.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Article 24 of the Constitution prohibits employment of children
under 14 years of age in factories, mines, or other hazardous
employment; Article 45 encourages states to provide free and
compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14. A
law passed in 1986 banned the employment of children under 14
in hazardous occupations (such as glass making, fireworks,
match factories, and carpet weaving) and regulated their
employment in others. The Factories Act of 1948 limits the
working hours of children between the ages of 15 and 18 to 5
hours per day. However, these constitutional and legal
provisions have had little impact on the use of child labor.
Government statistics put the total number of child workers at
17.5 million in 1985. The International Labor Organization
(ILO) put the number at 44 million, while NGO's cite a still
higher figure of 55 million. As in the case of bonded labor,
the central Government often faults divided jurisdiction with
state governments for its inability to curb the practice. The
continuing prevalence of child labor can be attributed to
social acceptance, a widespread official belief that poverty
causes child labor, and the failure of the state governments to
make primary school education compulsory.
Two German-funded International Labor Organization (ILO)
projects begun in 1992 seek to end child labor in the formal
sector and reduce it elsewhere through promotion of primary
school and vocational training alternatives. Some 25
activities of different NGO's have been approved under the
projects thus far. The Tamil Nadu state government and the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) launched a joint
program to eradicate child labor by promoting primary
education, with state authorities pledging to enact legislation
making it compulsory.
Certain industries, especially carpet weaving, have expanded
their presence in the export market by exploiting the low cost
of child labor. The South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude
(SACCS) promoted consumer education campaigns in the United
States and Germany (the world's two largest markets for South
Asian carpets) as well as other European nations and lobbied
for the selective boycott of carpets produced by child labor.
SACCS' efforts induced a significant portion of the industry in
India to join hands with NGO's and the Indo-German Export
Promotion Project to formulate a certification process for
carpets made without child labor. SACCS has lobbied states to
enact universal, compulsory primary school education laws and
force political leaders, irrespective of their party
affiliation, to take a stand on the issue.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
In the "unorganized sector," each state sets separate minimum
wages for agricultural workers, which are not well enforced.
While the basic minimum wage varies according to the state and
sector of industry, most "organized" workers receive much more
than the minimum wage, especially when legislatively mandated
bonuses and other benefits are included. The minimum wage is
considered adequate only for the most minimal standard of
living.
The Factories Act established an 8-hour workday, a 48-hour
workweek, a 24-hour rest period each week, and various
standards for working conditions. These standards are
generally enforced and accepted in the modern industrial
sectors but tend not to be observed in the more extensive
older, smaller, and less economically robust industries. State
governments are responsible for enforcement of the Factories
Act. However, the large number of industries covered by a
small cadre of factory inspectors and their limited training
and susceptibility to bribery make for lax enforcement.
Although occupational safety and health measures vary widely,
in general neither state nor central government resources for
inspection and enforcement of standards are adequate. Safety
conditions tend to be better in the EPZ's. Workers are not
guaranteed the right to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardy to continued employment. The ILO,
in conjunction with the International Social Security
Administration and the Indian National Safety Council, held its
13th World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health in New
Delhi in April. This was the first time this ILO Congress was
held in a developing country. Although the congress evoked a
good response from foreign and Indian practitioners in this
field, it failed to generate interest among India's general
public.
[end of document]
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