26.05.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Annual Report 2004 (covering 2003) ("Annual Report 2004") [#22668],  [ID 7096]

"Security legislation

The Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) continued to be used to detain political opponents and members of minority populations. The lapsed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act continued to be used to arrest people in Jammu and Kashmir by linking them to cases filed before 1995. Preventive arrest and detention provisions contained in other security laws as well as in the Code of Criminal Procedure were also misused against political and human rights activists.

There were grave concerns about recommendations of the Malimath Committee to incorporate into criminal law several provisions of the POTA which violate international human rights standards or which, if implemented, would lead to a heightened risk of human rights violations. For example, the Committee recommended that confessions recorded by a Superintendent of Police (or higher rank) which was also audio or video recorded should be admissible as evidence. Concerns that the provisions of the POTA could encourage the use of torture and ill-treatment by admitting such confessions appeared to have been realized in practice. In Gujarat several detainees alleged in court that their confessions were extracted under duress. Preventive arrests and detention continued to be used against political opponents using state legislation similar to the POTA in a number of states including Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and New Delhi Union Territory. Only a handful of high-profile releases had been made by the end of the year despite a promise to review all cases of detainees held without trial for long periods under security legislation made under the Common Minimum Programme adopted by the new state government in Jammu and Kashmir."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003 ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 7097]

"[...]There were frequent curfews in areas of conflict, including in New Delhi, in recent years.

[...] New Delhi's Tihar jail was notorious for the mistreatment of prisoners, with approximately 10 percent of custodial deaths nationwide occurring there.

[...]For example, the Government reported that New Delhi's Tihar jail held four times as many prisoners as its capacity at year's end. The Government announced plans to address the overcrowding in prisons by building four additional prisons; however, no further action had been taken by year's end."

Document(s): Open document

25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

USDOS: New Delhi: Girsl trafficked to the major prostitution centers ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 7098]

"[...]There was a growing pattern of trafficking in child prostitutes from Nepal and from Bangladesh (6,000 to 10,000 annually from each). Girls as young as 7 years of age were trafficked from economically depressed neighborhoods in Nepal, Bangladesh, and rural areas to the major prostitution centers of Mumbai, Calcutta, and New Delhi. NGOs estimate that there were approximately 100,000 to 200,000 women and girls working in brothels in Mumbai and 40,000 to 100,000 in Calcutta. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

01.01.2004 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

Analysis of the POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) judgement and POTA Amendment Bill 2003 ("Interpreters of the Draconian: An analysis of the POTA judgement and POTA Amendment Bill 2003 (ACHRF/01/2004)") [#18832],  [ID 7099]

Document(s): Open document
Open document