I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1425

To suspend United States development assistance for India unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Government of India has taken

certain steps to prevent human rights abuses in India.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 6, 1995

Mr. BURTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. COX of California,

Mr. FLAKE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. MORAN, Mr. KING, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. CONDIT, Mr.

FIELDS of Texas, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.

POMBO, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. LIPINSKI,

Mr. CRANE, Mr. HERGER, Mr. WALDHOLTZ, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. FUNDERBURK, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. JONES, Mr.

CALVERT, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas, and Mr. WILSON)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

A BILL

To suspend United States development assistance for India

unless the President certifies to the Congress that the

Government of India has taken certain steps to prevent

human rights abuses in India.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Rights in India

3 Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) In India, tens of thousands of political pris7 oners, including prisoners of conscience, are being

8 held without charge or trial under special or preven9 tive detention laws.

10 (2) The special and preventive detention laws

11 most frequently cited by human rights organizations

12 are the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Preven13 tion) Act (TADA) of 1987, the National Security

14 Act of 1980, the Armed Forces (Punjab and

15 Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of 1983, the Armed

16 Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act of

17 1990, and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety

18 Act of 1978.

19 (3) These laws provide the military and police

20 forces of India sweeping powers of arrest and deten21 tion with broad powers to shoot to kill with virtual

22 immunity from prosecution.

23 (4) These laws contravene important inter24 national human rights standards established under

25 the International Covenant on Civil and Political

26 Rights, to which India is a party, such as the right
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1 of liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, the

2 right to freedom of expression, and the right not to

3 be subjected to torture or arbitrary arrest and de4 tention.

5 (5) Throughout India, political detainees are

6 often held for several months, and in some cases a

7 year, without access to family, friends, or legal coun8 sel.

9 (6) Throughout India, the torture of detainees

10 has been routine, and scores of people have died in

11 police and military custody as a result.

12 (7) Throughout India, scores of political detain13 ees have ‘‘disappeared’’ and hundreds of people are

14 reported to have been extrajudicially executed by

15 military and police forces.

16 (8) In Punjab, the Punjab Government encour17 aged extrajudicial executions by offering bounties for

18 the killing of militants and paid over 41,000 such

19 bounties between 1991 and 1993.

20 (9) Abuses by the military and police forces of

21 India are particularly widespread in the states of

22 Punjab, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and the portion

23 of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir

24 under the control of the Government of India.
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1 (10) Many victims come from underprivileged

2 and vulnerable sections of society in India, particu3 larly the scheduled castes and tribes.

4 (11) The establishment of the National Human

5 Rights Commission by the Government of India is

6 an important first step toward improving the human

7 rights record of India.

8 (12) However, many human rights organiza9 tions are deeply concerned about the severe limita10 tions placed on the powers, mandate, and methodol11 ogy of the National Human Rights Commission.

12 (13) In 1994, the decision by the Government

13 of India to allow the International Committee of the

14 Red Cross to provide limited humanitarian assist15 ance in the portion of the disputed territory of

16 Jammu and Kashmir under the control of the Gov17 ernment of India was an important first step in pro18 viding international humanitarian organizations

19 greater access to troubled areas of India.

20 (14) However, in 1994, the Government of

21 India continued to prohibit several international

22 human rights organizations from conducting inde23 pendent investigations in the portion of the disputed

24 territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the control

25 of the Government of India and provided only lim-
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1 ited access to such organizations to other states such

2 as Punjab, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland where

3 significant human rights problems exist.

4 (15) In India, armed opposition groups have

5 committed human rights abuses.

6 (16) Several human rights organizations have

7 called on such armed opposition groups to respect

8 basic standards of humanitarian law which require

9 that individuals not taking part in hostilities should

10 at all times be treated humanely.

11 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR

12 INDIA UNLESS CERTAIN STEPS ARE TAKEN

13 BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO IMPROVE

14 HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA.

15 (a) LIMITATION.—The President may not provide de16 velopment assistance for India for any fiscal year unless

17 the President transmits to the Congress a report contain18 ing a certification for such fiscal year that the Government

19 of India meets the following requirements:

20 (1) The Government of India has released all

21 prisoners of conscience in India.

22 (2) The Government of India ensures that all

23 political prisoners in India are brought to trial

24 promptly and fairly, or released, and have prompt

25 access to legal counsel and family members.
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1 (3) The Government of India has eliminated the

2 practice of torture in India by the military and po3 lice forces.

4 (4) The Government of India impartially inves5 tigates all allegations of torture and deaths of indi6 viduals in custody in India.

7 (5) The Government of India has established

8 the fate or whereabouts of all political detainees in

9 India who have ‘‘disappeared’’.

10 (6) The Government of India brings to justice

11 those members of the military and police forces re12 sponsible for torturing or improperly treating pris13 oners in India.

14 (7) The Government of India permits citizens of

15 India who are critical of such Government to travel

16 abroad and return to India.

17 (8) The Government of India ensures that

18 human rights monitors in India are not targeted for

19 arrest or harassment by the military and police

20 forces of India.

21 (9) The Government of India permits both

22 international and domestic human rights organiza23 tions and international and domestic television, film,

24 and print media full access to all states in India

25 where significant human rights problems exist.
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1 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR CONTINUING COMPLI2 ANCE.—Any certification with respect to the Government

3 of India for a fiscal year under subsection (a) shall cease

4 to be effective for that fiscal year if the President trans5 mits to the Congress a report containing a determination

6 that such Government has not continued to comply with

7 the requirements contained in paragraphs (1) through (9)

8 of such subsection.

9 (c) WAIVER.—The limitation on development assist10 ance for India contained in subsection (a) shall not apply

11 if the President transmits to the Congress a report con12 taining a determination that providing such assistance for

13 India is in the national security interest of the United

14 States.

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

16 (1) DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.—The term

17 ‘‘development assistance’’ means assistance under

18 chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of

19 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.).

20 (2) INDIA.—The term ‘‘India’’ includes the por21 tion of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kash22 mir under the control of the Government of India.

23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The prohibition contained in

24 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the provision of
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1 development assistance beginning 9 months after the date

2 of the enactment of this Act.

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