Washington, May 25: The US Friday castigated India’s human rights record citing “security force abuses”, “extrajudicial killings”, and widespread corruption at all levels of government as major issues to contend with.
 The US State Department’s annual document on ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011’, gave a detailed account of human rights records of different countries including India.
 “The most significant human rights problems (in India) were police and security force abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and rape; widespread corruption at all levels of government; and separatist, insurgent, and societal violence,” the report released by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said.
 The report also listed violence by Naxalites and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir as another human rights problem but contended that the violence had declined as against the previous year.
 “Separatist insurgents and militants in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt committed numerous serious abuses, including killing armed forces personnel, police, government officials, and civilians. Insurgents in Naxal areas were responsible for numerous cases of beheading, kidnapping, torture, rape, and extortion. However, the number of incidents declined considerably in the Northeast States and Jammu and Kashmir compared with the previous year,” said the US report.
 According to the document, other human rights problems in India included disappearances, poor prison conditions that were frequently life threatening, arbitrary arrests and detention, and lengthy pretrial detention.
 It said the judiciary in India was overburdened, and court backlogs led to lengthy delays and authorities continued to “infringe on citizens’ privacy rights”.
 “The law in some states restricted religious conversion, and there were reports of arrests, but no reports of convictions under these laws. There were some limits on freedom of movement. Rape, domestic violence, dowry-related deaths, honor killings, sexual harassment, and discrimination against women remained serious problems,” it said.
 Noting that child abuse, child marriage, and child prostitution were problems, the report said, trafficking in persons and caste-based discrimination and violence continued, as did discrimination against indigenous persons.
 “Investigations into individual cases and legal punishment for perpetrators occurred, but in many cases a lack of accountability due to weak law enforcement, a lack of trained police, and an overburdened court system created an atmosphere of impunity,” the report noted.

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