http://infochangeindia.org/200901197571/Human-Rights/News/International-rights-group-slams-Indian-government.html
In its 'World Report 2009', Human Rights Watch says India lacks the "will and capacity" to implement many laws and policies despite an overarching commitment to respecting citizens' freedom to express their views, peacefully protest and form their own organisations In India there is a pattern of denial of justice and impunity, whether it is the failure to protect women, children and marginalised groups such as dalits, tribal groups and religious minorities, or in cases of human rights violations by the security forces, says Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its 564-page report reviewing international civil liberties during 2008. "The failure to properly investigate and prosecute those responsible leads to continuing abuses," the report says. Since August 2008, Hindu militant groups in Orissa have attacked Christians, many of them tribal minorities or dalits. The militants burned down churches, beat priests and nuns and destroyed property. More than 40 people were killed in the Orissa violence. Failure to secure justice for the 2002 Gujarat riots -- in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed following an attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims -- too has been underlined by the rights body. While India "claims" that its national and state human rights commissions ensure protection of human rights, HRW says, these commissions are "not fully independent", for their members and chair are appointed by the government. Thus, they lack sufficient resources to conduct their own investigations, it adds. India has routinely ignored recommendations from UN human rights bodies including UN committees on the elimination of racial discrimination and discrimination against women. Despite a scheme launched four years ago to provide universal education, millions of children in India still have no access to education and work long hours, many as bonded labourers. Women and children continue to be trafficked for marriage, sex work, or employment. Others languish in sub-standard orphanages or detention centres. Children and adults living with HIV/AIDS, as well as those whose marginalised status puts them at highest risk -- internal migrants, sex workers, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, and transgender populations -- face widespread stigmatisation and discrimination, including denial of employment, access to education and healthcare. According to the National AIDS Control Organisation, more than 2.5 million people are living with HIV. Four southern states (Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) account for nearly two-thirds of those infected. Although antiretroviral therapy is supposed to be freely available at public health facilities, there are significant regional disparities in implementation of the policy. India is a member of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and, in 2008, came up for universal periodic review by the HRC, agreeing to several recommendations including that it sign and ratify UN treaties banning torture and enforced disappearances. But the report alleges Indian security forces are responsible for extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, due process violations, and ill-treatment in custody. It criticises laws such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which, it says, sanctions impunity. "Violence continues in secessionist conflicts in northern Jammu and Kashmir and in Manipur, low-intensity insurgencies in other parts of the northeast, and the Maoist conflict in several states of central India… Armed groups are responsible for human rights abuses against civilians, including the use of explosive devices and landmines, forced recruitment, including of children, threats, extortion, and killings," the report adds. Maoist armed groups, also called Naxalites, continue to carry out bombings, abductions, beatings, and killings in several Indian states including Chhattisgarh. Security forces have responded with arbitrary detention, torture, and extrajudicial killings of suspected Naxalites or their alleged supporters. "In Chhattisgarh, government security forces and state-government-backed vigilantes called the Salwa Judum are responsible for attacking, killing, and forcibly displacing tens of thousands of people in armed operations against Maoist rebels. The Naxalite rebels retaliate in a brutal manner, abducting, assaulting, and killing civilians perceived to be Salwa Judum supporters." All parties to the Chhattisgarh conflict have used children in armed operations. The Naxalites admit that it is standard practice to recruit children aged 16 and above in their forces; children as young as 12 have been used in some armed operations. Likewise, the Salwa Judum has included children in its violent attacks on villages as part of its anti-Naxal campaign. Another case highlighted is that of Dr Binayak Sen, physician and human rights activist with the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) who was detained in May 2007 under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act. The trial of Sen, accused of having links with Naxalites, began in May 2008 but he continues to be behind bars without sufficient evidence. In May 2008, the police arrested filmmaker and PUCL member Ajay TG under the same Act for alleged links with unlawful Maoist organisations. He was granted bail in August after the government failed to file charges within the mandatory 90 days stipulated in the Act. Source: http://www.hrw.org, January 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk, January 2009 http://www.zeenews.com, January 2009 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
