This report describes in detail the pattern and practice of torture, including rape, and deaths in custody in India, where Amnesty International has recorded the deaths of 415 people in the custody of the police and security forces since 1985. In all 415 cases there is evidence that the victims, who include women and children, were brutally beaten or otherwise tortured until they died. The cases described in this report are only a sample of the total (covering most states, plus Delhi); according to the Indian news media, many cases are never reported at all, especially if they occur in remote areas. Reports of deaths in custody are so routine in India that the newspapers simply call them "lock-up deaths.

Topics: the pattern of torture, torture of criminal suspects, torture to punish political activism, the most vulnerable victims, torture in counter-insurgency, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and the northeast states, Punjab, evidence, numbers, the victims, criminal suspects, minority groups- Muslims, Daits and adivasis, victims of armed conflict, failure to convict, legally sanctioned impunity, non-legal systems of impunity: systematic cover-up, failure to comply with legal requirements, distortion of cause of death, intimidation of witnesses, involvement of magistrates, medical aspects of official cover-up, the law, the practice, inquiries, compensation, civil suits and private criminal complaints

Terms: May 1990 custodial rape of Mubina Gani, Kunan Poshpora, torture of lawyer Zahid Ali, custodial torture, custodial rape, lack of redress, arbitrary detention, mass detention, denial of access to justice, detention without trial, state impunity, mass human rights violations, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), impunity, failure of international accountability

This is a report of the UN Special Rapporteur on arbitrary executions (S. Amos Wako) submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights. 

Topics: killing of unarmed civilians, arbitrary killings, excessive use of force, impunity

Terms: May 20 1990 mass killing, June 11 1991 Chota Bazaar mass killing, March 11 1991 Srinagar mass killing by CRPF, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), immunity from prosecution, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killing of minors, violation of freedom of assembly, extrajudicial executions, state disinformation, state propoganda, organized lying, collaboration of Press Council of India in state propoganda

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This is a report of the UN working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances that was submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Topics enforced disappearances, state impunity, judicial failure

Terms: disapperaces by police, disappearances by paramilitary, fake encounters, impunity, violation of habeas corpus, arbitrary detention, 1991 Phazpora disappearances, arson and killings, denial of access to justice, failure of rule of law

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This is a report of the UN special rapporteur on summary or arbitrary executions (S. Amos Wako) submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Topics: excessive use of force, arbitrary killings, indiscriminate killings, suppression of free expression

Terms: January 1990 massacres, March 1 1990 Tenjura massacre, March 1 1990 Zakura massacre, killings prior to January 1 1990, denial of state responsibility, disinformation, extrajudicial killings, May 1990 killing of Maulana Mohammad Farooq, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)