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Amnesty International Report 2014/15 the State of the World's Human Rights

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Amnesty International Report 2014/15 the State of the World's Human Rights ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS INDIA Arbitrary arrests and detentions of protesters, journalists and human rights Republic of India defenders persisted. National Human Head of state: Pranab Mukherjee Rights Commission data indicated that 123 Head of government: Narendra Modi (replaced illegal arrests and 203 cases of unlawful Manmohan Singh in May) detention were reported from April to July. The authorities used laws authorizing administrative detention to detain journalists Impunity was widespread for human rights and human rights defenders in custody abuses by state and non-state actors. under executive orders without charge or trial. Despite progressive legal reform and court Adivasi villagers in Maoist-affected areas in rulings, state authorities often failed to central India also remained at risk of being prevent and at times committed crimes arbitrarily arrested and detained. against Indian citizens, including children, “Anti-terror” laws such as the Unlawful women, Dalits and Adivasi (Indigenous) Activities (Prevention) Act, which did not people. Arbitrary arrest and detention, meet international human rights standards, torture and extrajudicial executions often were also used. In May, the Supreme Court went unpunished. The overburdened and acquitted six men convicted under anti-terror underfunded criminal justice system laws for attacking the Akshardham temple contributed to justice being denied to those in Gujarat in 2002, ruling that there was no who suffered abuses, and to violations of evidence against them and the investigation the fair trial rights of the accused. Violence had been incompetent. by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern states and areas where Maoist ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS forces operated continued to put civilians Human rights abuses by armed groups at risk. were reported in various regions, including Jammu and Kashmir, north-eastern states BACKGROUND and central India. Armed groups killed and National elections in May saw a government injured civilians and destroyed property in led by the Bharatiya Janata Party come indiscriminate and at times targeted attacks. to power with a landslide victory. Prime Their actions also displaced people. Clashes Minister Narendra Modi, who campaigned between security forces and armed Maoist on promises of good governance and groups led to several civilian deaths. development for all, made commitments In the lead-up to national elections in to improve access to financial services May, armed groups allegedly killed local and sanitation for people living in poverty. government officials and electoral officials However, the government took steps in Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and towards reducing requirements to consult Chhattisgarh states, in order to intimidate with communities affected by corporate- voters and disrupt elections. led projects. The authorities continued In January and May, armed groups in to violate people’s rights to privacy and Assam were accused of killing dozens freedom of expression. There was a rise in of Muslims, and in December, they were communal violence in Uttar Pradesh and accused of killing scores of Adivasis. some other states, and corruption, caste- Armed groups in other north-eastern states based discrimination and caste violence were also accused of targeting civilians, remained pervasive. instigating violence and causing large-scale displacement. 178 Amnesty International Report 2014/15 CHILDREN'S RIGHTS people, mainly Muslims, remained displaced In August, the government introduced a bill to at the end of the year. Parliament seeking to amend juvenile justice November marked the 30th anniversary laws to allow for children aged between 16 of violence in Delhi in 1984 which led to the and 18 to be prosecuted and punished as massacre of thousands of Sikhs. Hundreds adults in cases of serious crimes. India’s of criminal cases closed by the police citing official child rights and mental health lack of evidence were not reopened, despite institutions opposed the move. large public demonstrations seeking an end Protests over the rape of a six-year-old girl to impunity. in a school in Bangalore in July drew attention Progress in investigations and trials to the inadequate enforcement of laws on in cases related to the 2002 violence in child sexual abuse. Gujarat, which killed at least 2,000 people, Incidents of corporal punishment were mostly Muslims, continued to be slow. In reported from several states, despite its November, the Nanavati-Mehta Commission, prohibition under law. Laws requiring private appointed in 2002 to investigate the violence, schools to reserve 25% of places at the entry submitted its final report to the Gujarat state level for children from disadvantaged families government. The report was not made public. were poorly implemented. Dalit and Adivasi Ethnic clashes over the disputed Nagaland- children continued to face discrimination Assam border in August resulted in the in school. deaths of 10 people and the displacement In June, the UN Committee on the Rights of over 10,000. Caste-based violence was of the Child expressed concern about the also reported in several states including Uttar disparity in access to education, health care, Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. safe water and sanitation among different groups of children. Child labour and child CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY trafficking remained serious issues. In In September, the Supreme Court cancelled October, Kailash Satyarthi, a children‘s rights over 200 coal mining licences which it said campaigner who works on these issues, was were granted arbitrarily. The Environment awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ministry weakened existing mechanisms for consultation with communities affected by COMMUNAL VIOLENCE industrial projects, particularly coal mining. A string of communally charged incidents The Ministry also lifted moratoriums on new in Uttar Pradesh prior to elections led to an industries in critically polluted areas. increase in tensions between Hindu and The authorities and businesses failed to Muslim communities. Three people were meaningfully consult local communities in killed in clashes in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh several instances. In August, a subsidiary state, in July. Politicians were accused of, of UK-based Vedanta Resources conducted and in some cases criminally charged with, a public hearing towards expanding its making provocative speeches. Communal alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha state, clashes also occurred in some other states. without addressing existing impacts or In December, Hindu groups were accused adequately informing and consulting affected of forcibly converting several Muslims and communities. Christians to Hinduism. In December, the government passed a In January, survivors of violence between temporary law which removed requirements Hindus and Muslims in Muzzafarnagar, Uttar related to seeking the consent of affected Pradesh, in late 2013 were forcibly evicted communities and assessing social impact from relief camps. Investigations into the when state authorities acquired land for violence were incomplete. Thousands of certain projects. Amnesty International Report 2014/15 179 Thousands of people remained at risk Rights Commission ordered compensation of being forcibly evicted from their homes for the families of people killed in a number and lands for large infrastructure projects. of fake encounters. It also expressed concern Particularly vulnerable were Adivasi about fake encounter killings in Uttar Pradesh communities living near new and expanding by the state police. mines and dams. In February, the country’s top investigative December marked the 30th anniversary of agency charged former officers of India’s the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster. Survivors internal intelligence agency with murder continued to experience serious health and kidnapping in an investigation into a problems linked to the leak and to continuing fake encounter case in Gujarat in 2004. The pollution from the factory site. In November, a Gujarat and Rajasthan state governments Bhopal court asked for its criminal summons reinstated into service police officers on against the Dow Chemical Company to be trial for their alleged involvement in fake re-issued, after the company failed to comply encounter cases after they were released on with an earlier summons. Also in November, bail from pre-trial detention. the Indian government agreed to use medical In September, the Supreme Court laid and scientific data to increase a multi-million down new requirements for investigations US dollar compensation claim against Union into deaths in encounters with the police, Carbide. The Indian government had yet to including that the deaths be investigated by clean up the contaminated factory site. a team from a different police station or a separate investigative wing. DEATH PENALTY In January, the Supreme Court ruled that FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION undue delay in the carrying out of death Laws on criminal defamation and sedition sentences amounted to torture, and that the which fell short of international standards execution of people suffering from mental were used to harass and persecute illness would be unconstitutional. The Court journalists, human rights defenders and also laid down guidelines for safeguarding the others for peacefully exercising their right rights of people under a sentence of death. to free expression. The government also In April, three men were sentenced to used broad and imprecise laws to curb death by a Mumbai court
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