UN rights body asks India to reform counter-terror laws

ISLAMABAD:

The UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) has called upon India to adopt comprehensive legislation to prohibit discrimination, raise awareness among the general public, and provide training to civil servants, law-enforcement officers, judiciary and community leaders to promote respect for diversity.

The committee has issued its findings on Croatia, Honduras, India, Maldives, Malta, Suriname, and Syria after examining the seven states in its latest session. The findings contain the HRC's main concerns on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In the reports, the Geneva-based rights body of the United Nations voices its concern over the application of counter-terrorism legislation for decades in India's "disturbed areas", such as districts in Manipur, Kashmir and Assam.

The report says that India's counter-terrorism legislation has led to widespread and grave human rights violations.