Impunity Reigns In India

This article was originally published on Eurasia Review.

Once again, it seems India’s pledge to uphold the tenets of human rights has come to nothing. In January this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) painted a damning picture of the state of human rights in its World Report. The report assessing 90 countries indicts India for allowing impunity for human rights violators, for failing to protect vulnerable communities and victims of abuse and for missing vital opportunities to prove its commitment to human rights internationally. Yet, in the 4 months since the report was published, little has been done.

The report illuminates sickening acts of cruelty and brutality perpetrated by the security forces around the country. Forcible disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir, unlawful killings by Border Security Forces at the Bangladesh border and during counterinsurgency operations in Maoist-controlled states, threats, beatings and deaths of activists and whistleblowers, are just some of the violations mentioned. Most damning of all is HRW’s conclusion that little or nothing has been done to end the impunity of the forces sworn to protect the citizens of this country. Christof Heynes’ visit last month, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings, reiterated these deep-seated concerns when he mentioned these abuses, particularly focusing on special acts which write impunity into the law.

Only last year, India stood up and solemnly pledged to the Human Rights Council that it “will continue to abide by its national mechanisms… to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens.” It vowed to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights, promote the empowerment of women, ratify the United Nations treaties against torture and enforced disappearances, abide by the Right to Information Act and strengthen civil society. Yet, little progress has been made – perpetrators of grave human rights violations continue to run free whilst millions of innocents remain hidden in the depths of India’s prisons.

Maja Daruwala, Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, points out: “Rights violations take place in all countries but it is the response that matters. Governments must act swiftly and sternly particularly against criminal acts by its own agents but it does not. There is also a high tolerance for illegal behavior within security forces and the police. The senior leadership must speak out and act against bad apples if they really believe in upholding the law.”

A plethora of ‘special’ acts allow for impunity to unreservedly embed itself in daily practice. Even as the Home Minister repeatedly promises to amend and moderate the effects of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) – a law which provides extensive police powers and wide protections to armed forces operating in vaguely defined “disturbed” areas – no great efforts have been made. Bringing criminal and illegal acts of armed forces, operating in conflict areas, to justice remains absurdly difficult. ‘Special’ acts apart, general protections for government servants written into ordinary law are routinely abused to deliberately delay well-deserved investigation and prosecution. The pace at which the legal system clunks along helps contribute to the culture of ‘getting away’ with abuse under the guise of uniformed authority. Despite the continually piling up evidence, the promised law to severely punish torture remains a pipedream, police reforms are strongly resisted and no overhaul of the criminal justice system is in sight.

Due to India’s new economic clout, its presence and influence on the global stage is more visible than ever before. As a member of both BRICS (Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa) and IBSA (India Brazil South Africa Dialogue Forum), India’s human rights stance is now being scrutinised even more closely; the failure to act is noticed and will most definitely be critiqued. As a member of the Human Rights Council, India is positioned at the very forefront of promoting human rights, but credibility can only come if it acts with integrity at home. India’s leadership on human rights is courted by the West as a counter to China, but in reality India’s domestic human rights record repeatedly forces it to be defensive and equivocal on human rights issues.

In light of Katherine Boo’s acclaimed Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope In a Mumbai Undercity which has shaken naïve views of India as an emergent superpower and instead highlighted the rampant corruption and police abuse, the Government of India needs to start taking human rights abuse seriously. Otherwise, damning reports will again humiliate the country as its human rights record comes up at the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in the next few months. India must prevent the blows of rights violation and impunity from falling upon individual victims, their families and whole communities. Otherwise, another shaming report will be ignored and suppressed by a power-hungry and cavalier political class, leaving behind an enduring mess of human suffering and abuse throughout the country.

“Asking for it”: Delhi police blame rape on the victims

This article was originally published here on The F Word, an online UK feminist magazine.

A recent sting exposé in an Indian magazine, Tehelka, well-known for its investigative journalism, showed police officials in New Delhi, blaming rape on the victims. Their views ranged from “it was about the money”, “she was drinking alcohol”, these “girls wear short skirts”, “she had sex with her boyfriend, and so his friends joined in” and the all-encompassing “she was asking for it”. The insensitive, misogynistic and deeply horrifying commentary given by high-ranking police officials in the capital and its satellite towns, Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad, are representative of the embedded misogyny still so prevalent in Indian society.

The problematic nature of casual jokes about rape in the UK have been discussed on The F-Word, and are taken note of in the mainstream media, but what about a society which brushes sexual crime under the carpet, refuses to introduce sex education in schools, and still holds men superior to women in a myriad of ways?

In much of India, women’s rights remain paltry. Recent reports have detailed dowry deaths, child marriage, honour killings, trafficking and domestic violence as rife in both rural and urban areas. These facts are widely noted by human rights organisations, are covered in the media but a culturally lackadaisical attitude (“this is India, anything goes”) has meant that little has been done to combat these issues.

Tehelka’s exposé very baldly paints a damning picture of the attitudes towards women. The fact that these men are police officers, are educated, have been trained and supposedly sensitised, are entrusted with the safety of India’s citizens, gives us an insight into how safe the city really is. Known as the rape capital of India, hardly a day goes by when a case of molestation, rape, or gang rape is not reported by the mainstream media. And yet, for every rape case, studies show that 50 go unreported, because of the social stigma attached to rape. According to the police, only 10% of cases are genuine, because no true victim would report the crime. They claim: “In reality, the ones who complain are those who have made rape a business”.

The propensity of these officers to speak so bluntly about sensitive issues shows a complete lack of sensitisation to the proliferation of rape cases in India. The lack of safe public transport at night limits female independence, so much so that the Gurgaon administration recently told women to stop working after 8pm because they could not guarantee their safety. Instead of attempting to weed out the corrupt, sleazy and untrustworthy forces within the police, the administration chose to restrict women’s freedom. The mentality then that women are to blame is pervasive not just through the police force, but also the government who prefer to blame the victims instead of indicting the actual criminals. This move would take India back decades, creating a greater skew towards men, as employers will resent being told to ensure women have safe transport home. On April 13th, 200 women protested against the 8pm curfew demanding a safer city: these are women who refuse to take this attitude lying down. The feminist movement is most definitely alive then and acting as a counter to a misogynistic and patriarchal society.

As an emerging power on the global stage, which is being considered for a place on the United Nations Security Council, which has gained a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, the hypocrisy of India’s ruling class must be addressed. While most articles on India note the economic disparities which permeate the country, rarely do they consider India’s human rights record, its treatment of the stigmatised and unfortunately of women, who remain a vulnerable group. The continued use of the archaic and heinous “two-finger test” to determine a victim’s “virginity” and “habituation to sexual intercourse” merely provides another mode by which women can be subjugated. If the two inserted fingers are easily admitted, the victim is quite literally describes as a “loose” woman. The fact that a victim must be further abused, that her lack of virginity calls into question her moral character, is a sickening violation of human rights. It is no wonder then that so many rapes go unreported.

For India to sit up on its high horse and ignore the extreme rights violations perpetuated by its own forces is quite blatantly ridiculous. The exposé has caused a flood of outrage on both social and mainstream media by activists, advocates and public figures; however, there has been little coverage in the international media. Activists, feminists and indeed, anyone who believes it is the perpetrators not the victims who should be punished, should take note of the vitriolic attitudes towards women still alive in the vibrant, power-hungry and emerging power-to-be that is India.