Washington : The Bush administration has drawn attention to “serious” human rights problems in India, particularly those relating to extra-judicial killings, including faked police encounters and custodial deaths throughout the country.

In its annual ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practises for 2003,’ which was released here on Feb. 25, the State Department also acknowledged that the Vajpayee government “generally respected the human rights of its citizens.”

It, however, said that “numerous serious human rights problems remained” to be addressed by India. It listed “as significant human rights excessive use of force by security forces combating active insurgencies in Jammu and Kashmir and several Northeastern states; torture and rape by police and other agents of the government; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.”

It also noted the “continued detention throughout the country of thousands arrested under special security legislation; lengthy pretrial detention without charge; prolonged detention while undergoing trial; occasional limits on freedom of the press and freedom of movement; harassment and arrest of human rights monitors.”

Also mentioned in the abuse of human rights in India are extensive societal violence against women; forced prostitution; female infanticide; discrimination against persons with disabilities; serious discrimination and violence against indigenous people and scheduled castes and tribes; widespread inter-caste and communal violence; and religiously motivated violence against Muslims and Christians.

The report said these abuses were generated by a traditionally hierarchical social structure, deeply rooted tensions among the country’s many ethnic and religious communities, violent secessionist movements and the authorities’ attempts to repress them, and deficient police methods and training.

“These problems were most visible in Jammu and Kashmir, where judicial tolerance of the government’s heavy-handed counter-insurgency tactics, the refusal of security forces to obey court orders and terrorist threats have disrupted the judicial system,” the report said.

Turning to terrorism, the report said terrorist attacks remained a major problem, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. “The concerted campaign of execution-style killings of civilians by Kashmiri and foreign-based militant groups continued and included several killings of political leaders and party workers.”

It said separatist guerrillas were responsible for numerous, serious abuses, including killing of armed forces personnel, police, government officials and civilians; torture; rape; and other forms of brutality. Separatist guerrillas also were responsible for kidnapping and extortion in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states.

It noted that New Delhi accused the terrorist organizations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad of responsibility for carrying out many of the attacks on civilians and military personnel.