The UN Human Rights Council has expressed concern over the heavy-handed police response to peaceful protests against government decisions and voter-roll deletions in India. The experts have also highlighted reports of sexual violence, detentions, and digital surveillance misuse.
On Tuesday, a group of United Nations human rights experts issued a statement expressing concern over the heavy-handed police response to peaceful youth-led demonstrations in New Delhi and other parts of India. The protests have been held against government decisions regarding the education system and voter-roll deletions affecting millions of individuals, reportedly from the Muslim minority, Scheduled Castes, and Tribes. According to the experts, over the last months, hundreds of thousands of students and their supporters have gathered peacefully in different parts of the country to protest these issues.
The experts noted that law enforcement agencies have used force against unarmed students during these protests, including lathi charges, and prevented thousands from joining the protests. They also expressed concern about reports of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based abuse in the protests and related detentions.
More than 7,000 persons, including young persons, journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, and political party members, were detained in New Delhi and taken to remote detention centres. The UN experts noted that the phones of those who were detained were allegedly seized and all protest-related material deleted. Most were released 24 hours later, including protest leaders.
The experts described this crackdown as part of a broader, troubling pattern. They had repeatedly alerted the Indian authorities about the undue restrictions on peaceful assembly, excessive force, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the targeting of student activists. These actions, they said, violate India’s core international legal obligations.
Since October 2, Opposition parties, student groups, and the Cockroach Janta Party have been staging protests in Delhi and other parts of the country, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over concerns about the Election Commission’s functioning and its handling of the voter roll revision.
Source:
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