[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1802 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1802

 To suspend United States development assistance for India unless the 
President certifies to Congress that the Government of India has taken 
         certain steps to prevent human rights abuses in India.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 5, 1997

   Mr. Burton of Indiana (for himself and Mr. Condit) 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 Congress that the Government of India has taken 
         certain steps to prevent human rights abuses in India.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This act may be cited as the ``Human Rights in India Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In India, tens of thousands of political prisoners, 
        including prisoners of conscience, are being held without 
        charge or trial under special or preventive detention laws.
            (2) The special and preventive detention laws most 
        frequently cited by human rights organizations are the 
        Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) of 
        1987, the National Security Act of 1980, the Armed Forces 
        (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of 1983, the Armed 
        Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act of 1990, and the 
        Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978.
            (3) Although TADA expired in March 1995, India continues to 
        hold prisoners under it.
            (4) These laws provide the military and police forces of 
        India sweeping powers of arrest and detention with broad powers 
        to shoot to kill with virtual immunity from prosecution.
            (5) These laws contravene important human rights standards 
        established under the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights, to which India is a party, such as the right 
        to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, the right 
        to freedom of expression, and the right not to be subjected to 
        torture or arbitrary arrest and detention.
            (6) Throughout India, political detainees are often held 
        for several months, and in some cases a year, without access to 
        family, friends, or legal counsel.
            (7) Throughout India, the torture of detainees has been 
        routine, and scores of people have died in police and military 
        custody as a result.
            (8) Throughout India, scores of political detainees have 
        ``disappeared'' and thousands of people are reported to have 
        been extrajudicially executed by military and police forces.
            (9) On September 6, 1995, human rights activist Jaswant 
        Singh Khalra was detained after he published a report regarding 
        the cremation of Sikhs who have died in police custody. Since 
        that date, Mr. Khalra has been neither charged nor released.
            (10) A July 22, 1996 report from India's Central Bureau of 
        Investigation (CBI) to India's Supreme Court, documenting 
        nearly 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies having been cremated 
        by the police after being labeled ``unidentified'', lends 
        credence to these charges.
            (11) In Punjab, the Government encouraged extrajudicial 
        executions by offering bounties for the killing of militants 
        and paid over 41,000 such bounties between 1991 and 1993, 
        according to State Department and human rights reports. In 
        March of 1996, a leading human rights advocate was brutally 
        murdered by Indian military forces in Kashmir. Mr. Jalil 
        Andrabi, the Chairman of the Kashmir Commission of Jurists, was 
        abducted and slain two weeks before he was to travel to Geneva 
        to testify before the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
            (12) Abuses by the military and police forces of India are 
        particularly widespread in the states of Punjab, Assam, 
        Manipur, Nagaland, and the portion of the territory of Jammu 
        and Kashmir under the control of the Government of India.
            (13) Many victims come from underprivileged and vulnerable 
        sectors of society in India, particularly the scheduled castes 
        and tribes. The Dalit, or ``black untouchables'', have also 
        been victims of widespread human rights abuses.
            (14) While the Indian Government should be praised for 
        forming a National Human Rights Commission, the Commissioners 
        powers have been extremely limited, and international human 
        rights groups continue to be denied access to Punjab and 
        Kashmir.
            (15) In 1994, the decision by the Government of India to 
        allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide 
        limited humanitarian assistance in the portion of the disputed 
        territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the control of the 
        Government of India was an important first step in providing 
        international organizations access to the troubled areas of 
        India.
            (16) However, the Government of India continues to prohibit 
        several international human rights organizations from 
        conducting independent investigations in the portion of the 
        territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the control of India and 
        to provide only limited access to such organizations to other 
        states such as Punjab, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland where human 
        rights problems exist.
            (17) In India, armed opposition groups have committed human 
        rights abuses.
            (18) Several human rights organizations have called on such 
        armed opposition groups to respect basic standards of 
        humanitarian law which require that individuals not taking part 
        in hostilities should at all times be treated humanely.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR INDIA UNLESS CERTAIN 
              STEPS ARE TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO IMPROVE 
              HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA.

    (a) Limitation.--The President may not provide development 
assistance for India for any fiscal year unless the President transmits 
to Congress a report containing a certification for such fiscal year 
that the Government of India meets the following requirements:
            (1) The Government of India has released all prisoners of 
        conscience in India.
            (2) The Government of India ensures that all political 
        prisoners in India are brought to trial promptly and fairly, 
        and have prompt access to legal counsel and family members.
            (3) The Government of India has eliminated the practice of 
        torture in India by the military and police forces.
            (4) The Government of India impartially investigates all 
        allegations of torture and deaths of individuals in custody in 
        India.
            (5) The Government of India has established to the best of 
        its ability, the fate or whereabouts of all political detainees 
        in India who have ``disappeared''.
            (6) The Government of India brings to justice promptly 
        those members of the military and police forces responsible for 
        torturing or improperly treating prisoners in India.
            (7) The Government of India permits citizens of India who 
        are critical of such Government to travel abroad and return to 
        India.
            (8) The Government of India insures that human rights 
        monitors in India are not targeted for arrest or harassment by 
        the military and police forces.
            (9) The Government of India permits both international and 
        domestic human rights organizations and international and 
        domestic television, film, and print media full access to all 
        states in India where significant human rights problems exist.
            (10) The Indian Government has thoroughly investigated 
        allegations of cremations of Sikhs who have died in police 
        custody and has made every effort to bring those responsible to 
        justice.
            (11) The repressive laws cited in section 2, paragraph 2 
        have been repealed.
    (b) Requirement for Continuing Compliance.--Any certification with 
respect to the Government of India for a fiscal year under subsection 
(a) shall cease to be effective for that fiscal year if the President 
transmits to Congress a report containing a determination that such 
Government has not continued to comply with the requirements contained 
in paragraphs (1) through (11) of such subsection.
    (c) Waiver.--The limitation on development assistance for India 
contained in subsection (a) shall not apply if the President transmits 
to Congress a report containing a determination that providing such 
assistance for India is in the national security interest of the United 
States.
    (d) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            (1) Development assistance.--The term ``development 
        assistance'' means assistance under chapter 1 of part I of the 
        Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.).
            (2) India.--The term ``India'' includes the portion of the 
        disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the control of 
        the Government of India.
    (e) Effective Date.--The prohibition contained in subsection (a) 
shall apply with respect to the provision of development assistance 
beginning nine (9) months after the date of enactment of this Act.
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