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India tops SAARC nations in human rights protection

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh is the worst violator of human rights, says a report

NEW DELHI: Thanks to the existence of institutional checks and balances, India figures at the top among the seven South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries so far as upholding and protection of human rights is concerned, according to the SAARC Human Rights Report-2006.

Based on nine thematic issues including political freedom, right to life, administration of justice and press freedom, Bangladesh is the worst violator of human rights, followed by Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The eighth member of the SAARC, Afghanistan, however, has been kept outside the ambit of the report, being a "country in transition."

"Human rights violations across South Asia are systematic, endemic; and torture forms part of the administration of justice. Prison conditions, which are overcrowded by 400 per cent in some cases, reflect the true and deplorable condition of human rights in South Asia," said Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights, releasing the report here on Wednesday.

Praising India for providing greater political freedom to its citizens compared with other SAARC countries, the report, however, says that about 10 lakh refugees, mainly Sikhs, who came to Jammu and Kashmir during the Partition continued to be denied the right to citizenship as they are still to be recognised as citizens of Kashmir.

The report also holds the Indian security forces responsible for widespread violations of human rights including custodial deaths, torture, rape and custodial deaths.

It also touches upon the issues of violence against the STs, SCs and Christian minorities in India.

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