US Report Finds Significant Rights Abuses By Indian Police

WASHINGTON – A USCongress-mandated report saidthat abuses by police and securityforces are the most significanthuman rights problems in India,but that the government hadmade some “progress” in casesseeking to punish officials forkillings during the 2002 Gujaratriots.”The most significant humanrights problems were police andsecurity force abuses, includingextra-judicial killings, torture,and rape; widespread corruptionat all levels of government, leadingto denial of justice; and separatist,insurgent, and societalviolence,” said the annualCountry Reports on HumanRights Practices released bySecretary of State John Kerry.Other human rights problemsincluded disappearances, poorprison conditions that were frequentlylife threatening, arbitraryarrest and detention, andlengthy pretrial detention, thereport said. It noted that thejudiciary remained overburdened,and court backlogs led tolengthy delays or the denial ofjustice.Authorities continued toinfringe on citizens’ privacyrights, the report said addingthat the law in some statesrestricts religious conversion,and there were reports ofarrests but no reports of convictionsunder those laws andreligion-based societal violenceremained a problem, it said.Forced labour and bondedlabour were widespread whilechild labour, including forcedchild labour, was also a seriousproblem, it added. In its reportthe State Department said thatthe government made someprogress in cases that seek tohold police and security officialsaccountable for killings duringthe Gujarat riots in 2002.