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Journalism of Courage
The annual US report 2022 on human rights practices across the world has flagged “significant human rights issues” in India that includes “targeting of religious minorities”, “gender-based violence”, “persecution of journalists” and “restrictions on freedom of expression” among others.
Published on Monday, the US State Department report mentioned “lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, workplace violence, child, early, and forced marriage, femicide, and other forms of such violence,” and stated that “a lack of accountability for official misconduct persisted at all levels of government”, is contributing to widespread impunity. “Lax enforcement, a shortage of trained police officers, and an overburdened and under-resourced court system contributed to a low number of convictions.”
The US State Department cited Supreme Court-panel report terming the encounter of four accused in the 2019 Telangana gangrape-and-murder case “fake”, and said, “There were reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and terrorists.”
The report listed out torture and other inhuman treatment stating there were “credible reports” that confirm that government officials employed them despite the country’s law saying otherwise. “The law does not permit authorities to admit coerced confessions into evidence, but some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported authorities used torture to coerce confessions. Authorities allegedly also used torture to extort money or as summary punishment,” the US State Department report stated.
It also pointed out overcrowding in prisons terming the conditions of jail as “life threatening”, due inadequate sanitary conditions, and lack of medical care.
The department mentioned about reports of “arbitrary arrests” under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA) and stated that the judicial system of India remained “seriously overburdened and lacked modern case management systems, often leading to delaying or denying justice”. Citing journalist Siddique Kappan’s case, the report said although Kappan was granted bail by the Supreme Court in a UAPA case two after his arrest in 2020, activist Atikur Rahman — who was also arrested along with him during their travel to Hathras following a Dalit woman rape case — continued to be in custody till of the end of the year despite reports of severe medical conditions.
The report also mentioned about violence in conflict areas and said its intensity however “continued to decline”. “The country’s armed forces, the security forces of individual states, and paramilitary forces engaged with terrorist groups in several northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir, and with Maoist terrorists in the northern, central, and eastern parts of the country. The intensity of violence in these areas continued to decline. The army and security forces remained stationed in the northeastern states, Jharkhand, and Bihar. The armed forces and police also engaged with terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.
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