Edgar Kaiser

India has signed a global convention against torture, re-elected itself to the UN Human Rights Council, and yet left a complaint about custodial death unaddressed for ten months. Something is broken.

While the Tamil Nadu police has been consistently lauded as among the best in the country, recent RTI information revealed that in 2024, three hundred inmates entered prison with broken limbs, petty offenders were more vulnerable to custodial torture and police stations rarely had CCTV facilities.

On the UN’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we reflect on a recent report by a global alliance of anti-torture organisations which scored India as ‘high risk’ overall. Between India’s refusal to ratify the Convention Against Torture and the downgrading of the NHRC, the country is facing a critical moment in its human rights stature.

It appears as a diplomatic triumph for the state and a national prestige for the citizens at the outset, but a deeper look into the UN Human Rights System and the situation at home tells us a truly discomforting tale.

The downgrading of NHRC captured perfectly the many qualms civil society has had with how the institution has been run for several years. It is also a reflection that concerted, organised efforts by civil society actors on the international stage can be productive in holding our institutions accountable, especially the ones meant to rein in state excesses.

On the ground, the interactions of people with disabilities with courts, policing and prison infrastructures and the fundamental lack of will to effectively implement the RPWD Act, show that reframing access to justice as a disability issue will require serious, concerted efforts

A deluge of videos document the Delhi police resorting to pellet shots, nail-studded lathis, tear gas, and even assaulting women protestors on July 20. By every metric, it impinged the principles of proportionality and minimal use of force.

Six years after a father and son were brutally tortured and killed in custody, a trial court has finally convicted nine Tamil Nadu policemen. But amidst a breakdown of accountability institutions across India, what does the future of custodial violence in India look like?