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Rights group raps India, slam S Asia
Published on Wed, Dec 13, 2006 at 21:04 in World section
Tags: South Asia, Human Rights Violations , New Delhi
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New Delhi: India reported hundreds of judicial deaths both in 2004 and 2005 and attacks on Christians in BJP-ruled states, a South Asian human rights group said on Wednesday.
Extra-judicial killings, attacks on religious and ethnic minorities and curbs on press freedom are endemic in South Asia, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) said in a report.
With its entrenched parliamentary democracy and free press, India was the least bad offender in terms of rights in the region, the AHCR said. But it said Dalits continued to face "widespread rights violations".
Citing data from National Crime Records Bureau, it said more than 21,000 cases of human rights violations against Dalits were reported last year.
"This vulnerable group continued to suffer discrimination, violence and (lack of) access to justice," Suhas Chakma, director of ACHR, told a news conference during the release of the group's 2006 report.
Bangladesh was mentioned as the worst violator of human rights in the region. "Human rights violations are systemic, endemic; and torture forms part of the administration of justice," Chakma said.
Rapid Action Battalions in Bangladesh, created to fight Islamic militants, were operating with "impunity" and were responsible for most of the 396 extra-judicial killings in that country in 2005, the New Delhi-based ACHR said in the report.
Most of the deaths at the hands of the Rapid Action Battalions were allegedly caused by "crossfire" but the rights group called this a euphemism for execution.
The rights group also slammed Bangladesh for not doing enough to protect journalists, saying they faced attacks from armed opposition groups, state agencies and political parties. Two journalists were killed and 142 were wounded in attacks last year.
Not the right-s region
Pakistan also came in for severe criticism, especially over "entrenched legal repression and cultural cruelties" that make women "excessive targets" of violence. The ACHR said that nearly 4,400 women were victims of so-called honour killings, murders carried out ostensibly to protect a family's honour and which authorities are often reluctant to prosecute.
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