Tuesday, March 1 2005 10:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The United States yesterday (Feb 28, 2005) presented a stark picture of India's human rights situation alleging security forces committed abuses "with impunity" killing civilians in Jammu and Kashmir and north-eastern States and Gujarat Government "failed" to arrest those responsible for post-Godhra riots.

The Human Rights Report of the State Department also voiced concerns over human trafficking saying it was a "significant" problem in India and the estimate of the number of Indians trafficked into forced labour and sex trade runs into millions.

"In Jammu and Kashmir, torture victims or their relatives reportedly have difficulty filing complaints as local police allegedly were instructed not to open a case without permission from higher authorities," said the report.

The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act gives security personnel the authority to shoot suspected lawbreakers and those disturbing peace and to destroy structures suspected of harbouring militants or containing special weapons, it said.

"There was a pattern of rape by paramilitary personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, as a means of instilling fear among non-combatants in insurgency-affected areas," the State Department report charged.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reported that it registered 756 cases against the military, 172 against paramilitary forces and 109,902 cases against the police since 2001, it said.

During the year, however, the Government gave NHRC the authority to recommend interim compensation, in cases relating to human rights abuses by the armed forces, according to the report.

There was increasing concern about the failure of Gujarat Government to arrest and convict those responsible for the widespread communal violence in 2002, said the State Department.

Officials who attempted to conduct a serious investigation into the incidents were promptly removed from the case, it added quoting media reports. It says prison conditions in India were harsh and threatening and at the end of September, Delhi's Tihar Jail housed over 10,000 inmates-three times its sanctioned capacity.

"Non Governmental organization sources alleged three deaths in police custody, occurred within hours or days of initial detention," according to the report.

"The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary and the Government generally respected this provision in practice," it said.

"However, serious problems remained. The judiciary was backlogged and understaffed in most parts of the country. In Jammu and Kashmir, the judicial system barely functioned due to threats by militants against judges witnesses and their family members; because of judicial tolerance of the Government's often heavy-handed anti-militant actions and because of frequent refusal by security forces to obey court orders," said the report.

The estimate of the number of Indians trafficked into forced labour and sex trade runs into the millions in addition to thousands of Nepalese and Bangladeshis trafficked to India for sexual servitude, the report said, also referring to boys being trafficked to the Middle East as jockeys in camel races.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) reported that organised crime played a significant role in the country's sex trafficking trade, it added.

"Despite the outlawing of the practice of untouchability and discrimination, such discrimination remained an important aspect of life," the report alleged.

"Many Christians descended from low caste or Dalit families continued to suffer the same social and economic limitations, particularly in rural areas," it said.

There was encroachment on tribal land in almost every eastern State, including by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and by businesses that illegally removed forest and mineral products, it added.

There were some positive developments for Dalits during the year. In April, the Orissa Government reportedly began paying compensation to victims following intervention by the NHRC. In January, the first Dalit woman was elected as mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the report noted.

The US State Department report also alleged that the BJP Government in Rajasthan has selectively withdrawn a large number of cases related to communal conflicts filed during the tenure of the previous Congress-led Government."