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World Organization Against Torture flags India as “high risk” country for police torture: Some reflections | The Leaflet

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World Organization Against Torture flags India as “high risk” country for police torture: Some reflections

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.

Edgar Kaiser

Published on: 26 June 2025, 04:38 pm

World Organization Against Torture flags India as “high risk” country for police torture: Some reflections

THIS YEAR HAS PROVEN TO BE A SOBERING ONE for the Indian police with several reports revealing their unconstitutional and torturous attitude. The Status of Policing in India report 2025 put forth an alarming data about the police officers' stand on torture. As per the report, majority of the police officers justify and admit to using torture as a means during interrogation and investigation. The India Justice Report 2025 cited many problems in policing from overcrowded prisons to lack of women police officers and the sad state of judiciary.

The very recent report by the Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute has revealed systemic reprisal against journalists by the Indian state machinery through illegal detentions, false allegations and other similar means of harassment. At this juncture comes the Global Torture Index 2025 by the World Organisation Against Torture which has placed India in the high risk category on analysing various variables of torture by police in India.

What does the Report say?

World Organization Against Torture (‘OMCT’), a leader in the global anti-torture movement with 200+ partner organisations across the globe, has come up with this ground breaking index. People’s Watch, a non-governmental organisation from India working on torture collaborated with the OMCT to bring the Index on India.

The report has analysed twenty six countries initially under seven thematic areas including political commitment against torture, ending police brutality and institutional violence, freedom from torture while deprived of liberty, ending impunity, victim's rights, protection for all, and right to defend and civic space. All the seven themes were analysed and scored on five different risk levels ranging from low risk to very high risk. What is saddening is that the index has scored India as a high risk country overall and in all the seven themes except for one - the political commitment with considerable risk.

The very recent report by the Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute has revealed systemic reprisal against journalists by the Indian state machinery through illegal detentions, false allegations and other similar means of harassment.

The lack of law exclusively for victims of torture leaves victims at jeopardy, highly limiting their access to justice. The theme "Protection for All" in the index lays bare the decreased protection for the lives of women and children in the country, with courts further intimidating victims through victim blaming, in cases of sexual abuse, and "placing an unreasonably heavy burden of proof on the survivors", and child marriage and bonded labour still rising among children. The violence in Manipur with the state security forces having killed 260 people and the displacement of 60,000 people also finds its place in the report.

The Index also highlights the lack of transparency of data on torture and ill treatment and categorises India under "concealed" which is close to the level of "suppressive", the dangerous one on the scale. The lack of data on torture is again an indicator on the state of affairs in the country. Despite the Supreme Court order in Paramvir Singh v.Baljit Singh (2020) on installation of CCTVs in police stations, 2,701 police stations lack one, according to the report. Concomitantly, several recent RTI data in India expose alarming truths about CCTVs in police and injuries of suspects before entering prisons.

The index also recalls Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions' (‘GANHRI’) recommendation in the 45th session in March to downgrade NHRC of India from its A status to B. The cases of human rights defenders who "frequently face judicial harassment, arbitrary detention and trumped-up charges" , and the torture meted out to Adivasis resulted in this largest democracy being placed as a high risk country.

What has the government and the judiciary done so far?

The government’s hesitance to combat torture is evident from the fact that it promised ratification far back in 1997 but still has not walked the talk. Exactly 25 years ago on the International Day against Torture (June 26, 2000), the then NHRC Chair Justice J.S. Verma again urged the government to ratify the same.

Till today, the government has not done it by giving doltish replies to anyone who questions it in the parliament. A torture bill that was placed before the parliament also did not materialise into a law. In 2019, when a former union law minister Ashwini Kumar Singh approached regarding this, the court asked the states and Union territories for their response on The Prevention of Torture Bill 2017 but to no avail.

The Supreme Court also ended up dismissing the petition saying that it is a police decision. This is truly unbecoming of a constitutional court which is the only safeguard against state abuse in this constitutional democracy. On the other hand, the Supreme Court has observed in the D.K. Basu v. The State of West Bengal (1996) that custodial torture is "a naked violation of human dignity and degradation which destroys, to a very large extent, the individual personality. It is a calculated assault on human dignity".

The way forward

"The Global Torture Index is a barometer of the resilience of the rule of law in times of growing authoritarianism, polarization and inequality. It observes how fair, healthy and safe our societies are", highlights Gerald Staberack the Secretary General of OMCT.

India’s continued refusal to ratify U.N. Convention Against Torture lacks substance