ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Global Torture Index 2025, released by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), offered a sobering and evidence-backed indictment of the human rights situation in India.
Designated as a “high-risk” country, India’s poor performance across all seven thematic pillars of the index raises deep concerns about the systemic nature of torture and custodial abuse, especially toward marginalized communities.
Black laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act (PSA), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and other laws provide de facto immunity for Indian forces personnel, according to the Factsheet 2025.
The thematic pillars include Political Commitment Against Torture; Ending Police Brutality & Institutional Violence; Freedom from Torture in Detention; Ending Impunity; Victims’ Rights; Protection for All; and Right to Defend and Civic Space. Unfortunately, India was found at ‘very high risk’ on all counts.
The Index states that torture, especially that perpetrated by police and security forces during law enforcement operations and interrogations, remains widespread and systemic in India. For 2025, the Global Torture Index classifies the country as facing a high risk of torture and ill-treatment, based on data collected in 2023 and 2024. Incidents involving severe beatings, forced confessions and custodial deaths frequently occur, particularly targeting marginalised communities such as Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, LGBTQIA+ individuals and migrant labourers.
Residents of West Bengal, especially near the Indo-Bangladesh border, face routine violence, torture, and extrajudicial killings by state forces.
Legal impunity granted to the Border Security Force (BSF) severely hinders accountability and justice for victims.
Common practices include unlawful detention in unofficial locations and extrajudicial killings, often rewarded with promotions for police personnel. Human rights defenders are routinely subject to arbitrary arrest, preventive detention and torture and ill-treatment, underscoring a culture of institutional violence and impunity.
India’s political and institutional framework significantly contributes to this crisis. Despite constitutional prohibitions on torture, there is no specific national legislation criminalising torture or CIDTP, and key international treaties, including the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) and its Optional Protocol, remain unratified.
The 2019 amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has enabled the arbitrary labelling of activists as terrorists, intensifying the suppression of dissent. Although formally inviting international oversight, India effectively blocks visits by mechanisms like the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, reflecting insufficient political commitment to addressing torture comprehensively.
In 2024, the National Human Rights Commission reported 2,739 custodial deaths, following approximately 2,400 cases in 2023. Additionally, 1,995 prisoners died in judicial custody in 2022, including 159 unnatural deaths.
At least 61 human rights defenders have faced detention under the UAPA since 2018. High-profile cases include the extended incarceration and subsequent death of activist Professor G.N. Saibaba, detained despite having a severe disability, and journalist Siddique Kappan’s two-year imprisonment for investigating caste violence.
The rights of victims of torture and ill-treatment remain severely limited, with no comprehensive law defining victims of torture, leaving most survivors without adequate redress or rehabilitation. Complaints mechanisms are ineffective and often lead to reprisals against complainants.
Although the National Human Rights Commission exists, it faces criticism for insufficient independence and inadequate responses to victims’ needs.
Key recommendations for India
Ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture, its Optional Protocol, and the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Apply the Méndez Principles on Effective Interviewing and provide law enforcement and security forces with the necessary training to manage mass assemblies—ensuring adherence to the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms and other international standards.
Repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) that provides broad immunity to security forces, and implement robust mechanisms to ensure accountability for human rights abuses.
Enforce the guidelines from Paramvir Singh Sahani v. Union of India (2020) by installing CCTV cameras in police stations and by establishing both District and State Level Oversight Committees for effective monitoring.
Reduce overcrowding in prisons and detention facilities by expanding the use of non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment. Ensure that detention conditions strictly adhere to the Mandela Rules, the Bangkok Rules, the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice.
Conduct thorough investigations into all custodial deaths occurring in police or judicial custody, in accordance with Section 196 (2) of BNSS, under the supervision of a Judicial Magistrate, in line with the Istanbul and Minnesota Protocols. Ensure that internal protocols uphold the rights of family members to view the body before the autopsy begins, and guarantee that the family receives both the post-mortem report and a video recording on the same day.
Cease the misuse of anti-terrorism, national security and preventive detention laws against Human Rights Defenders, and guarantee that they are not deterred from engaging in legitimate and peaceful human rights activities.
Amend the Protection of Human Rights Act (2019) to integrate the recommendations of The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions-Sub Committee on Accreditation, ensuring the National Human Rights Commission of India maintains its independence, autonomy and effective investigative powers.
Enact comprehensive legislation that recognises and protects human rights defenders, in line with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and other international standards.
Repeal the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 2010, to uphold the right to freedom of association, ensuring that civil society organisations have the right to access resources and foreign funding. Revise the Information Technology Rules 2021 (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) to bring them in line with international standards.
