India has several significant human rights issues, including unlawful and arbitrary killings, restrictions on freedom of expression and the press, corruption and tolerance of violations of religious freedom, a US report said on Tuesday.
In its ‘2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices' to the US Congress, the Department of State noted the improvement in the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The government continued taking steps to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir by gradually lifting some security and communications restrictions,” said the State Department in its India section of the report. The government released most political activists from detention, it added.
In January, the government partially restored internet access; however, high-speed 4G mobile internet remained restricted in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The government began a process to redraw electoral constituencies but did not announce a timeline for local assembly elections. Local district development council elections took place in December in which a coalition of Kashmiri opposition parties won the majority of seats, the report said.
Separatist insurgents and terrorists in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast, and Maoist-affected areas committed serious abuses, including killings and torture of armed forces personnel, police, government officials, and civilians, and recruitment and use of child soldiers, it said.
The State Department…
