India took “minimal credible steps” to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, the United States government said in a report on Tuesday.
The US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said in its 2024 country report that significant human rights problems in India included credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, disappearances, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The Indian government is yet to comment on the report.
The report also flagged arbitrary arrests or detentions, transnational repression against persons from another country, serious abuses in a conflict, unlawful recruitment or use of children in armed conflict by Maoist groups, and instances of coerced abortion or forced sterilisation.
There were “serious restrictions” on the freedom of expression and press freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists and censorship.
The report added that the ethnic conflict in Manipur had continued to result in human rights abuses in 2024.
The armed forces of the Union government “maintained a buffer zone between the two factions, but media reported there was continued conflict” with 48 civilian deaths as of October 29 [2024], said the US State Department.
The ethnic clashes between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities started in May 2023. At least 260 persons have been killed and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the violence broke out. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024.
President’s Rule was imposed in the state on February 13, four days after Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister.
The police used stun guns and fired tear gas shells to disperse student-led protests criticising the government’s failure to resolve the conflict in Manipur, the US report noted.
The report also noted that incidents of terrorism had led to the deaths of security personnel and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, the North East and the areas affected by the Maoist insurgency.
There were reports of communal violence. Authorities investigated and prosecuted terrorism-related abuses.
Also read: On India’s 78th Independence Day, an SOS: Let mass atrocities not become inevitable
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