MN Rights Group Testifies at Congressional Hearing on the Plight of Minorities in India

India's 814 million registered voters are set to vote in history's largest democratic exercise. The general elections are being watched with keen interest by the rest of the world. Adding to the mix of India's commitment to democracy is the concern about the possibility of the extremist Hindu nationalists coming to power under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Modi is considered persona non grata in the United States, and was denied entry into the country in 2005 on the grounds of a religious freedom violation under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the first and only time such a denial has been issued.

While the US has human rights as part of its US-China strategic dialogue, human rights and religious freedom issues are missing from the US-India strategic dialogue framework. When India is on the brink of electing a prime minister with the blood of 2,000 people on his hands and belonging to a party with an overt record of oppressing minorities, the incorporation of human rights as part of the bilateral framework assumes a great deal of urgency.

In view of the upcoming Indian elections, the commission sought to examine the impact of the increasing cases of intimidation, discrimination, harassment, and violence against minorities on US-India relationship. The witness list included key human rights leaders as follows:

• Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, Vice Chair, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
• John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch
• Robin Phillips, Executive Director, The Advocates for Human Rights
• John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council, Government of India

Robin Phillips, executive director of Minnesota based The Advocates for Human Rights testified at a hearing before the United States Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission about religious minorities in India. The text of Robin's comprehensive testimony on "The Plight of Religious Minorities in India" is reproduced below:

For more than 30 years, The Advocates for Human Rights has worked with diaspora communities—people living outside their country of origin or ancestry who retain ties to and interest in that country. Some come to the United States seeking asylum after facing religious persecution. Others come as professionals or students, or to join family members. And some are second- or third-generation immigrants. They are part of our communities, they are your constituents, and their voices should help inform our policies toward their countries of origin and ancestry.

Indian diaspora sounds alarm about religious freedom in India
The Indian diaspora groups with whom we work have consistently expressed concern about religious freedom in India. We share their concerns, including: communal violence; impunity for the instigators of such violence and those in government who may be complicit; anti-conversion laws; vague anti-terrorism laws that facilitate profiling and persecution of Muslims; police and armed forces practices such as encounter killings and torture targeting Muslims; and a culture of impunity for such practices. These practices violate international human rights standards.

Indian diasporans around the world have been sounding the alarm as elections approach. In the first eight months of 2013, there were 451 incidents of communal violence, up from 410 in all of 2012. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief cautions that "political exploitation of communal distinctions" presents "a real risk that [large scale] communal violence might happen again."

Multifaceted impunity fuels communal violence
Impunity fuels communal violence. This impunity is multifaceted: officials do not hold private parties accountable for communal violence; courts do not hold government officials accountable for sanctioning or encouraging that violence; political parties rally behind political leaders who are implicated in communal violence; obstruction of justice and witness intimidation are commonplace in court procedures; immunity laws shield security forces from accountability; and officials accept torture and extrajudicial killings as the norm.

Some examples raised by Indian diasporans highlight these points. Cases brought against officials alleged to be complicit in the 2002 Gujarat violence have been dismissed for lack of evidence after witnesses were intimidated and prosecutors and judges effectively stood in as defense counsel. UN human rights bodies have described the proceedings as "flawed from the outset," reflecting concerns of religious bias and high levels of corruption. Whistleblowers in Gujarat law enforcement have faced threats and arrests.

Wounds of past communal violence still fresh, especially for women
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women visited India last May. She observed that communal violence in India "is frequently explained away by implying that equal aggression was noted on both sides." By characterizing this violence as "riots," the government "den[ies] the lack of security for religious . . . minorities, . . . disregarding their right to equal citizenship." "This issue is of particular concern to many," the Special Rapporteur noted at the end of her visit last May, "as the wounds of the past are still fresh for women who were beaten, stripped naked, burnt, raped [or] killed because of their religious identity, in the Gujarat massacre of 2002."

In some communal attacks, police reportedly arrest victims and protect the attackers. And the government has been negligent in its duties to victims displaced by communal violence who are afraid to return home. These internally displaced persons continue to languish in subhuman conditions in isolated settlements.

Indian police confident of impunity for torturing people
While in custody, many suspects are also subject to torture and ill-treatment. The independent Ravi Chander Commission reported that Muslim men were held without charge for several weeks at illegal detention centers and tortured to extract forced confessions of terrorism offenses. In my own personal discussions with Indian police officers, they have been alarmingly candid about their use of torture as a legitimate interrogation technique, signifying a complete disregard for international standards and confidence of impunity for these human rights violations. Not surprisingly, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture's request for permission to visit India has been pending for more than 20 years.

Attorneys for religious minorities face threats, violence
The due process rights of accused religious minorities have been further diminished by interference with obtaining legal counsel. Attorneys representing Gujarat victims have faced threats, intimidation, and hostility from colleagues. Multiple bar associations have issued official or unofficial resolutions instructing members not to represent terrorism suspects; there have also been reported incidents of harassment and physical violence against lawyers who represent Muslim defendants.

"Encounter killings" have become state policy in India
In addition, "encounter killings," or killings that occur during staged clashes between security forces and alleged armed suspects are becoming increasingly common. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions reported last year that encounter killings "have become virtually a part of unofficial State policy."