I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1519

To reduce United States development assistance to India unless the

Government of India repeals certain special or preventive detention laws.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 30, 1993

Mr. BURTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr.

ROHRABACHER, Mr. WILSON, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. COX, Mr.

MORAN, Mr. HERGER, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. CRANE, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. PETE

GEREN of Texas, Mr. PAXON, Mr. LEHMAN, Mr. FIELDS of Texas, Mr.

ZELIFF, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. HOKE, Mr. POMBO, Mr.

BAKER of California, Mr. KING, Mr. LEVY, and Mr. DREIER) introduced

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

Affairs

A BILL

To reduce United States development assistance to India

unless the Government of India repeals certain special

or preventive detention laws.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice in India Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) each year, in both Jammu and Kashmir and

2 the Punjab, the Government of India detains thou3 sands of persons under special or preventive deten4 tion laws without informing them of the charges

5 against them;

6 (2) most of these detainees are political pris7 oners, including prisoners of conscience;

8 (3) they are often detained for several months

9 and sometimes even more than a year;

10 (4) detainees are not permitted any contact

11 with lawyers or family members unless they are re12 manded to judicial custody and transferred to pris13 on, and only then if the family on its own is able

14 to locate the detainee;

15 (5) in most cases, these persons are detained

16 under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Pre17 vention) Act of 1987, the National Security Act of

18 1980, and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety

19 Act of 1978;

20 (6) the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Pre21 vention) Act of 1987 authorizes administrative de22 tention without formal charge or trial for up to 1

23 year for investigation of suspected ‘‘terrorist’’ or

24 broadly defined ‘‘disruptive’’ activities;
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1 (7) the 1-year period of permissible detention

2 before trial violates Article 9 of the International

3 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which

4 India is a party;

5 (8) Article 9 of the International Covenant pro6 vides, ‘‘Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal

7 charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or

8 other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial

9 power and shall be entitled to trial within a reason10 able time or to release.’’;

11 (9) under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activi12 ties (Prevention) Act of 1987, all proceedings before

13 a designate court must be conducted in secret ‘‘at

14 any place other than...[the court’s]...ordinary place

15 of sitting’’;

16 (10) section 16(2) of the Terrorist and Disrup17 tive Activities (Prevention) Act of 1987 permits the

18 designated court to keep the ‘‘identity and address

19 of any witness secret’’;

20 (11) under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activi21 ties (Prevention) Act of 1987, a confession to a sen22 ior police officer can be admitted as evidence if there

23 is reason to believe it was made voluntarily;

24 (12) the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities

25 (Prevention) Act of 1987 amends India’s criminal
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1 code, which prohibits such confessions, and substan2 tially increases the risk of torture;

3 (13) the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities

4 (Prevention) Act of 1987 reverses the presumption

5 of innocence, placing the burden on the accused to

6 prove that he or she is not guilty;

7 (14) the National Security Act of 1980 permits

8 the detention of persons without charge or trial for

9 up to 1 year in order to prevent them from acting

10 in a manner prejudicial to the security of the state,

11 the maintenance of public order, the maintenance of

12 supplies and services essential to the community, or

13 relations with a foreign power;

14 (15) the National Security Act of 1980 was

15 amended to permit 2 years detention in the Punjab;

16 (16) under this Act, India may detain any per17 son engaged in behavior ‘‘prejudicial to the defense

18 of India, the relations of India with foreign powers,

19 or the security of India’’;

20 (17) the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety

21 Act of 1978 empowers India to detain persons with22 out trial for up to 1 year for a broad range of activi23 ties, including ‘‘promoting, propagating, or attempt24 ing to create, feelings of enmity or hatred or dishar-
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1 mony on grounds of religion, race, community, or

2 region’’;

3 (18) the Armed Forces (Punjab and

4 Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of 1983 and the

5 Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Pow6 ers Act of 1990 empower Indian security forces to

7 search homes without warrant, to make arrests with8 out warrant, to destroy the ‘‘hideouts’’ of suspected

9 terrorists, and to shoot to kill with immunity from

10 prosecution;

11 (19) Indian security forces routinely employ

12 methods of torture, beatings, and threats to induce

13 detainees to sign statements of confession and to

14 identify suspected militants;

15 (20) the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities

16 (Prevention) Act of 1987, the National Security Act

17 of 1980, the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act

18 of 1978, the Armed Forces (Punjab and

19 Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of 1983, and the

20 Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Pow21 ers Act of 1990 facilitate human rights abuses by

22 suspending ordinary safeguards against arbitrary ar23 rest, incommunicado detention, and torture; and

24 (21) these 5 laws are incompatible with the

25 principles of a modern democracy.
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1 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR

2 INDIA UNLESS CERTAIN LAWS REPEALED.

3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

4 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall report

5 to the Congress whether the Government of India has re6 pealed all the laws specified in subsection (d).

7 (b) REDUCTION OF ASSISTANCE.—If the President

8 reports to Congress, either pursuant to subsection (a) or

9 at any other time, that the Government of India has not

10 repealed all the laws specified in subsection (d), all devel11 opment assistance for India under chapter 1 of part I of

12 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 shall be terminated

13 except for assistance to continue the Immunodiagnostic

14 Development Project, the Child Survival Health Support

15 Project, and the Private and Voluntary Organizations for

16 Health II Project.

17 (c) RESUMPTION OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance termi18 nated pursuant to subsection (b) may be resumed only if

19 the President reports to Congress that the Government

20 of India has repealed all the laws specified in subsection

21 (d).

22 (d) SPECIAL AND PREVENTIVE DETENTION LAWS.—

23 The laws referred to in subsections (a), (b), and (c) are

24 the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act

25 of 1987, the National Security Act of 1980, the Jammu

26 and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978, the Armed
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1 Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of

2 1983, and the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Spe3 cial Powers Act of 1990.

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