SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2228awaiting trial. The Government prepared a national prison manual during the yearto facilitate reform. It also continued to provide financial aid to the states. However,the Prison Act of 1894 remains unamended. According to the SAHRDC, in the pooreststates, such as Bihar, where 265 police stations have no lock-up facilities, thelack of prisons led police to shackle prisoners to trees. An NHRC investigatory teamvisiting Meerut jail in Uttar Pradesh in 1998 found about 3,000 inmates in a facilitydesigned to hold 650 persons. As a result of this and other jail visits, the NHRChired a consultant to draft the prison reform bill to be submitted to the Government.The draft bill, meant to be enacted by the national Parliament, encounteredopposition from state governments asserting that prison management is the responsibilityof the states. No new initiatives were taken on the bill during the year. The1,114 deaths in judicial custody in 1998–99, occurring in a prison population of approximately246,000 persons, many of whom are held for years, include a large proportionof deaths from natural causes that, in some cases were aggravated by poorprison conditions (see Section 1.a.). A study conducted by the NHRC in 1997–98found that tuberculosis was the cause of death in 76 percent of deaths in judicialcustody. Deaths in police custody, which typically occur within hours or days of initialdetention, more clearly imply violent abuse and torture. The NHRC has no authorityto investigate abuses by security forces directly, and security forces inJammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states are not required to report custodialdeaths to the Commission.With the exception of an agreement with the ICRC for visits to detention facilitiesin Jammu and Kashmir, the Government does not allow NGO’s to monitor prisonconditions (see Section 4). However, 15 states and union territories have authorizedthe NHRC to conduct surprise check-ups on jails. Although custodial abuse is deeplyrooted in police practices, increased press reporting and parliamentary questioningprovide evidence of growing public awareness of the problem. The NHRC has identifiedtorture and deaths in detention as one of its priority concerns. In 1998 it createda ‘‘Special Rapporteur and Chief Coordinator of Custodial Justice’’ to help implementits directive to state prison authorities to ensure that medical check-ups areperformed on all inmates. In June the country’s first women’s correctional facilitywas opened in the Tihar complex in New Delhi.d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile.—During the early 1980’s, the Governmentimplemented a variety of special security laws intended to help law enforcement authoritiesfight separatist insurgencies, and there were credible reports of widespreadarbitrary arrest and detention under these laws during the year.Although the law that had been subject to the most extensive abuse, the TADA,lapsed in May 1995, 1,502 persons previously arrested under the act continued tobe held as of January 1, 1997, in a number of states, according to the NHRC’s 1996–97 report. Human rights sources estimate that about 1,000 persons remained in custodyunder TADA or related charges at year’s end. A small number of arrests underthe TADA continued for crimes allegedly committed before the law lapsed. In 1997the Government asserted that every TADA case would be reviewed. However, fewpersons have been released as a result of the review. Criminal cases are proceedingagainst most of those persons still held under the TADA, with more than 3,000charged under other laws in addition to the TADA. In 1996 the Supreme Courteased bail guidelines for persons accused under TADA, taking into account the largebacklog of cases in special TADA courts. In March 1999, the state minister for homeaffairs told the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly that 16,620 persons had beendetained under the TADA in the state since 1990; of these, 1,640 were brought totrial and 10 were convicted. TADA courts use abridged procedures. For example, defensecounsel is not permitted to see witnesses for the prosecution, who are keptbehind screens while testifying in court. Also, confessions extracted under duressare admissible as evidence. The special task force established by the state policeforces of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to capture a bandit hiding in forests in theborder area between the 2 states had arrested some 121 persons under the TADAprior to the law’s lapse; 51 of these persons were in custody at year’s end.During the year, the Government sent a draft Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2000to the Law Commission of India for review and possible introduction in Parliament.The bill is similar to the TADA, in that it would permit summary trials and thehearing of testimony exacted under duress. It also would allow witnesses to testifyin camera, without having to disclose their identities to the defense at any stageof the proceedings. In addition it would compel journalists to disclose to authoritiesany information regarding terrorist groups or actions, or face charges of terrorismagainst them. Finally, the bill would require the law to be reviewed every 5 years,instead of every 2, which was the case with TADA. In August the NHRC issued anopinion stating that the new Prevention of Terrorism Bill was not necessary. Commentingon these and other provisions of the bill, the NHRC wrote: ‘‘These provi-VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00072 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1