The United Nations Human Rights Council should ensure that Indian government takes strong steps to hold members of its security forces responsible for torture, arbitrary detentions, killings, and disappearances, accountable, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
The UNHRC should also demand that New Delhi fulfils its responsibility to protect and support vulnerable communities, including Dalits, tribal groups, religious minorities, and women.
India's human rights record will come under the first-ever Universal Periodic Review when the UNHRC meets in Geneva on April 10, 2008.
"India is a vibrant electoral democracy with an abysmal human rights record," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
"Victims of abuse in India are counting on the Human Rights Council to put maximum pressure on the government to address these problems."
In its submission to the UPR, India said it had adopted various measures for the protection of human rights, including training of government officials, armed forces, prison officials and legal officers.
Such measures have had a 'beneficial effect' and there has been a 'decline in complaints of human rights violations -- even from areas affected by insurgency and terrorist activities and violence,' it added.
While it welcomes the government's efforts, Human Rights Watch still believes that human rights violations are rampant.
According to HRW, security forces in India are responsible for grave human rights abuses during counter-insurgency operations, such as in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Manipur.
Serious abuses are being committed in the many states where there is a violent campaign by Maoist 'Naxalite' groups. Further, the government is ignoring the crime of forced disappearances from past conflicts in Punjab and Nagaland, it said.
Extrajudicial executions, often disguised as encounters with armed criminals, have become the norm and are widely reported in Indian media. Torture and arbitrary detentions continue, not just in insurgency-affected areas, but also in most police stations in the country. Yet India continues to provide effective immunity from prosecution to its security forces and other public officials, HRW laments.
When investigations are started, they are often blocked. The army and other special forces, in particular, remain almost completely above the law, it claimed.
"India likes to tell the world that it has a world class legal system that allows it to solve its own problems, but the reality on the ground is far different," Adams said.
"Killers and torturers in the army and police do their work with official protection, degrading the law and taking the shine off of India's claim to be an emerging world leader. Now is the time to repeal antiquated laws that protect abusers," he added.
In its submission for the UPR, India claimed to have "embarked on a programme of affirmative action which was, perhaps, without parallel in scale and dimension in human history."
The policies are intended to end discrimination against Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and provide quotas in jobs, education and political representation.
India cited policy initiatives and legislation, including the recent Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, which recognizes customary land rights of these communities. These efforts are welcome and the necessary foundation for reform.
However, India has failed to effectively implement these policies and laws. Dalits, tribals and other so-called backward classes continue to suffer severe discrimination, exploitation and violence.
They are routinely denied access to land, water and shelter, forced to work in degrading conditions, and abused at the hands of the police and private actors belonging to so-called higher caste groups.
These vulnerable groups also have unequal access to services, employment opportunities, justice mechanisms, and development programs. Protection for Dalits, tribals and other groups is limited because officials and police responsible for abuses or failing to discharge their duties to protect vulnerable persons routinely go unpunished.
India urgently needs to reform its policing systems. Junior police officials operate in abysmal working conditions, which make it more likely that they will succumb to corruption and brutality. Senior officers, on the other hand, complain of improper interference from politicians.
There is an urgent need for proper training in criminal investigations and access to forensic tools for evidence gathering, which will decrease the pervasive culture of torture and mistreatment during interrogation to obtain forced confessions.
