COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT INDIA 4 JANUARY 2010 UK Border Agency COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE INDIA 4 JANUARY 2010 Contents Preface LATEST NEWS EVENTS IN INDIA FROM 7 DECEMBER 2009 – 4 JANUARY 2010 REPORTS ON INDIA PUBLISHED OR FIRST ACCESSED SINCE 7 DECEMBER 2009 Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 1.01 Maps ............................................................................................ 1.10 2. ECONOMY ........................................................................................... 2.01 3. HISTORY ............................................................................................. 3.01 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ...................................................................... 4.01 Mumbai terrorist attacks, November 2008 ................................ 4.04 General Election of April-May 2009 ........................................... 4.09 5. CONSTITUTION .................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM .............................................................................. 6.01 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 7.01 UN Conventions.......................................................................... 7.05 8. INTERNAL SECURITY SITUATION ............................................................ 8.01 9. SECURITY FORCES ............................................................................... 9.01 Police........................................................................................... 9.01 Paramilitary forces and centralised police organisations subordinate to the Ministry of Home Affairs.............................. 9.13 Armed forces .............................................................................. 9.15 Paramilitary forces subordinate to the Ministry Defence........... 9.18 Other forces ............................................................................. 9.19 Human rights violations by security forces.............................. 9.21 Extra-judicial killings................................................................. 9.24 Arbitrary arrest and detention................................................... 9.30 Torture ..................................................................................... 9.34 Avenues of complaint................................................................. 9.40 10. MILITARY SERVICE ............................................................................. 10.01 11. NON -GOVERNMENT ARMED GROUPS ................................................... 11.01 Overview of armed groups......................................................... 11.01 Human rights abuses ................................................................. 11.12 12. JUDICIARY ......................................................................................... 12.01 Organisation ............................................................................... 12.01 Supreme Court......................................................................... 12.02 High Court................................................................................ 12.03 Fast Track Courts..................................................................... 12.05 Lok Adalats (‘People’s Courts’) ................................................ 12.07 Independence of the judiciary ................................................... 12.10 Corruption in the judiciary ......................................................... 12.14 Case backlogs ............................................................................ 12.17 ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 6 December 2009. Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 4 January 1010. INDIA 4 JANUARY 2010 Fair trial ....................................................................................... 12.20 Provision of legal aid ................................................................ 12.23 Penal Code.................................................................................. 12.27 Code of Criminal Procedure....................................................... 12.30 13. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS .......................................... 13.01 General provisions ..................................................................... 13.01 Security legislation..................................................................... 13.03 Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) ............................ 13.03 National Security Act................................................................ 13.07 Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA)/Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)........... 13.11 Jammu and Kashmir: Security legislation................................ 13.14 J&K Armed Forces Special Powers Act.................................... 13.14 Public Safety Act...................................................................... 13.15 14. PRISON CONDITIONS .......................................................................... 14.01 15. DEATH PENALTY ................................................................................ 15.01 16. POLITICAL AFFILIATION ...................................................................... 16.01 Freedom of political expression ................................................ 16.01 Freedom of association and assembly ..................................... 16.02 Opposition groups and political activists................................. 16.04 17. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ....................................................... 17.01 Treatment of journalists............................................................. 17.08 18. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS , ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS............ 18.01 National and state human rights commissions........................ 18.01 Human rights NGOs and activists ............................................. 18.06 19. CORRUPTION ..................................................................................... 19.01 20. FREEDOM OF RELIGION ...................................................................... 20.01 Overview ..................................................................................... 20.01 Religiously motivated violence and communal tensions ........ 20.08 Jammu and Kashmir ................................................................ 20.13 Attacks by terrorist organisations, 2008-2009........................... 20.16 Gujarat Riots in 2002 (update) ................................................. 20.17 Destruction of the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya, in 2002 (update) ............................................................... 20.21 Inter-religious marriages............................................................ 20.23 Religious conversions................................................................ 20.25 Muslims ....................................................................................... 20.29 Christians.................................................................................... 20.36 Sikhs and the Punjab.................................................................. 20.42 Sikh religion and historical background .................................... 20.42 Militant organisations in Punjab................................................ 20.48 Human rights concerns in Punjab............................................. 20.51 Prosecution of security force personnel.................................... 20.54 Internal relocation for Sikhs...................................................... 20.57 Buddhists and Jains................................................................... 20.65 21. ‘S CHEDULED ’ CASTES AND TRIBES .................................................... 21.01 Background: The Caste system: Dalits ......................................................... 21.01 Tribal peoples (Adivasi)............................................................ 21.06 Constitutional and legal measures............................................ 21.09 22. LESBIAN , GAY , BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) PERSONS ........ 22.01 Legal rights ................................................................................. 22.01 Societal and government attitudes............................................ 22.05 Transgender communities........................................................ 22.11 Organisations providing support to LGBT communities ........ 22.15 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 6 December 2009. iii Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 4 January 2010. INDIA 4 JANUARY 2010 23. DISABILITY ........................................................................................ 23.01 24. WOMEN ............................................................................................. 24.01 Overview ..................................................................................... 24.01 Socio-economic indicators ........................................................ 24.09 Legal rights ................................................................................. 24.10 Political rights............................................................................