India 2019 HIV Index and Exhibits
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[NAME] [FIRM] [ADDRESS] [PHONE NUMBER] [FAX NUMBER] UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION REVIEW IMMIGRATION COURT [CITY, STATE] ) In the Matter of: ) ) File No.: A ) ) In removal proceedings ) ) INDEX TO DOCUMENTATION OF COUNTRY CONDITIONS REGARDING PERSECUTION OF HIV POSITIVE INDIVIDUALS IN INDIA TAB SUMMARY GOVERNMENTAL SOURCES 1. United States: Department of State, India 2018 Human Rights Report (Mar. 13, 2019), available at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/INDIA-2018.pdf • “…[t]he [HIV] epidemic persisted among the most vulnerable/high-risk populations that include female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender persons, and persons who inject drugs.” (p. 48) • “Antiretroviral drug stock outages in a few states led to treatment interruption.” (p. 48) • “Activists reported that transgender persons continued to face difficulty obtaining medical treatment.” (p. 48) • “The law does not prohibit discrimination [in employment and occupation] against individuals with HIV/AIDS or other communicable diseases …” (p. 53). 2. United States: Department of State, India 2017 Human Rights Report (Apr. 20, 2018), available at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/India.pdf • “Activists reported that transgender persons, who were HIV positive, continued to face difficulty obtaining medical treatment.” (p. 48) 3. United States: Department of State, India 2016 Human Rights Report (Mar. 3, 2017), available at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/India-1.pdf • “Activists reported that transgender persons, who were HIV positive, continued to face difficulty obtaining medical treatment.” (p. 55) • “HIV/AIDS infection rates for women were highest in urban communities, while care was reportedly least available in rural areas. Early marriage, limited access to information and education, and limited access to health services, continued to leave women especially vulnerable to infection.” (p. 56) • “On June 24, a child rights activist complained to district officials in Kendrapara, Odisha that a central government-run residential school did not allow a 13-year-old girl suffering from HIV/AIDS to stay in the school hostel after objections from the parents of other students.” (pp. 56-57). NONGOVERNMENTAL SOURCES 4. Avert: HIV Stigma and Discrimination, available at https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-social- issues/stigma-discrimination (last visited Oct. 1, 2019) • “Healthcare workers may violate a patient’s privacy and confidentiality, including disclosure of a person’s HIV status to family members or hospital employees without authorisation. Studies by WHO in India, Indonesia, the Phillipines and Thailand found that 34% of respondents reported breaches of confidentiality by healthcare workers.” (p. 10) • “A study of health providers in urban health facilities in India found 55-80% of providers displayed a willingness to prohibit women living with HIV from having children, endorsed mandatory testing for female sex workers (94-97%) and stated that people who acquired HIV through sex and drugs ‘got what they deserved’ (50-83%)…. These experiences may leave people living with HIV and people from key affected populations too afraid to seek out healthcare services, or be prevented from accessing them – for instance, if a nurse refuses to treat a sex worker after finding out about their occupation. It also prevents many people from key affected populations being honest with healthcare workers if they’re a sex worker, have same-sex relations, or inject drugs, meaning they are less likely to get services that could help them.” (p. 11) • “A survey of married HIV-positive women (15-29 years) in India found 88% of respondents experienced stigma and discrimination from their family and community. Women with older husbands and from household’s [sic] with lower economic status were significantly more likely to experience stigma and discrimination from their husbands’ family as well as from friends and neighbours.” (p. 12) MEDIA SOURCES 5. The Sydney Morning Herald: India passes HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination law but stigma endures (Apr. 18, 2017), available at https://www.smh.com.au/world/india-passes-hivaids-antidiscrimination- law-but-stigma-endures-20170418-gvmxq6.html • “Neelimi Mohanty is project director of a home for HIV-positive children, founded by G.Ravi Babu, on the outskirts of Hyderabad in southern India, called Desire Society. The NGO runs four other homes in other parts of the country. It takes in orphans, houses them and enrolls the[m] at local schools. The latter is a mammoth task as both teachers and parents of other children often rise up in disgust at the idea of having HIV positive children in the same classroom. Mohanty says the hostility has not softened much ever since the case of Bency and Benson in Kerala caught the headlines. These two young siblings were left orphaned after their parents died of AIDS in 2000. Their grandparents continued raising them but when other parents heard of their condition, they forced the school to expel them.” (p. 2) Dated: [DATE] Respectfully submitted, [CITY, STATE] [FIRM] Pro Bono Counsel for Respondent By: _ [NAME] [FIRM] [ADDRESS] [PHONE NUMBER] [FAX NUMBER] TAB 1 INDIA 2018 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY India is a multiparty, federal, parliamentary democracy with a bicameral legislature. The president, elected by an electoral college composed of the state assemblies and parliament, is the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. Under the constitution the 29 states and seven union territories have a high degree of autonomy and have primary responsibility for law and order. Voters elected President Ram Nath Kovind in 2017 to a five-year term, and Narendra Modi became prime minister following the victory of the National Democratic Alliance coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 general elections. Observers considered these elections, which included more than 551 million participants, free and fair despite isolated instances of violence. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Human rights issues included reports of arbitrary killings; forced disappearance; torture; rape in police custody; arbitrary arrest and detention; harsh and life- threatening prison conditions; and reports of political prisoners in certain states. Instances of censorship, the use of libel laws to prosecute social media speech, and site blocking continued. The government imposed restrictions on foreign funding of some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including those with views the government stated were not in the “national interest,” thereby curtailing the work of these NGOs. Widespread corruption; lack of criminal investigations or accountability for cases related to rape, domestic violence, dowry-related deaths, honor killings remained major issues. Violence and discrimination based on religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, and caste or tribe, including indigenous persons, also occurred. A lack of accountability for misconduct persisted at all levels of government, contributing to widespread impunity. Investigations and prosecutions of individual cases took place, but lax enforcement, a shortage of trained police officers, and an overburdened and under-resourced court system contributed to a small number of convictions. Separatist insurgents and terrorists in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast, and Maoist-affected areas committed serious abuses, including killings and torture of armed forces personnel, police, government officials, and of civilians, and recruited and used child soldiers. INDIA 2 Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings There were reports that the government and its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and insurgents. According to Ministry of Home Affairs 2017-18 data, the Investigation Division of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reported 59 nationwide “encounter deaths,” a term used to describe any encounter between the security or police forces and alleged criminals or insurgents that resulted in a death. This number was less than the prior reporting period. The South Asian Terrorism Portal, run by the nonprofit Institute for Conflict Management, reported the deaths of 152 civilians, 142 security force members, and 377 terrorists or insurgents throughout the country as of September 23. Reports of custodial death cases, in which prisoners or detainees were killed or died in police custody, continued. On March 14, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir told the upper house of parliament the NHRC registered 1,674 cases of custodial deaths between April 2017 and February. Approximately 1,530 were deaths in judicial custody, while 144 deaths occurred under police custody. According to the Asian Center for Human Rights’ Torture Update India report released on June 26, more than five custodial deaths per day occurred on average between April 2017 and February 28. This was an increase from 2001 to 2010, when an average of about four custodial deaths were recorded. On July 22, authorities suspended a senior police officer in Rajasthan after cattle trader Rakbar Khan died in police custody. Villagers reportedly assaulted Khan on suspicion of cow smuggling before authorities picked him up. Police