India: Recent Human Rights Reporting

Hearing Notice

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on the human rights situation in India.  

According to its constitution, India, the world's most populous country, is a "sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic." Since 2000, administrations of both parties and Congress have sought to deepen U.S. diplomatic, security and trade ties with India, based on shared interests including regarding China. In 2016 Congress designated India a "Major Defense Partner," conveying defense trade and security cooperation privileges. In 2023, the Biden Administration launched an ambitious U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).

But in recent years, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have consolidated power, concerns about human rights abuses in India have grown. The State Department’s 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for India identified a wide range of significant rights issues, including restrictions on religious and press freedoms, violence or threats of violence targeting members of national/racial/ethnic and religious minorities, harassment of and restrictions on civil society and human rights organizations, corruption, and lack of accountability, among others. Due to the country’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has consistently recommended that the State Department designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).

Since last fall several human rights organizations have published reports on India, among them the ABA Center for Human Rights, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Amnesty International. Witnesses will discuss the findings of these publications and other available reporting, and offer recommendations for Congress.

The hearing will be hybrid. Members of Congress will participate in person. Witnesses may participate in person or remotely via Cisco WebEx. The public and the media may attend in person or view the hearing by live webcast on the Commission website. The hearing will also be available for viewing on Channel 59 of the House Digital Channel service. Please note that members of the public who attend in person must be escorted into the Capitol building. In-person seating is limited and the public will be admitted on a first-come, first-serve basis until the seating limit is reached. For any questions, please contact Kimberly Stanton (for Co-Chair McGovern) or Mark Milosch (for Co-Chair Smith).

Hosted by: