New Delhi: The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has called for urgent action against large-scale human rights violations by Indian law enforcement agencies against disadvantaged ethnic groups, indigenous and tribal communities, marginalised caste groups, Muslim migrants and asylum-seekers, while recommending a review of India’s citizenship and migration frameworks.In its concluding observations published on Tuesday (August 25), the committee noted that it had received reports of racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence during law enforcement operations in India. CERD has urged authorities to readily tackle the crisis through thorough and impartial investigations, prosecution of alleged perpetrators and reparations for the victims and their families.The committee said Police Complaints Authorities have been set up in 25 states and seven Union territories, with approximately 100 cases involving alleged human rights abuses during law and order operations pending before the judiciary.CERD specifically called attention to the poor treatment of Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers in India and noted that law enforcement operations had increased following an August 8, 2017, order by the home affairs ministry that treated Rohingyas as “illegal migrants.” Hate crimes against Muslim asylum seekers also peaked significantly after the April 2025 Pahalgam attack in Kashmir.The committee’s press release said “police stops and identity checks involving racial profiling had reportedly resulted in arbitrary arrest and detention without due process, as well as torture and ill-treatment.” It cited allegations of forcible returns of people who lacked international protection, potentially violating the principle of non-refoulement, that prohibits the return of asylum seekers to places where they face serious risks.The report also flagged concerns about the state of detention facilities, the Matia Transit Camp in Assam in particular, with reports of overcrowding and inadequate food, drinking water, sanitation and medical care. It urged India to refrain from collective expulsions, to be more cognisant of detention conditions and investigate alleged abuses against migrants and asylum-seekers.New Delhi acknowledged the committee’s press release on Wednesday and said it “rejects any politically motivated highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves”.Concerns over citizenship and voter-roll revisionThe committee questioned the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, its associated regulations and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), saying that the framework uses religious criteria to provide expedited citizenship to migrants and refugees through what it described as a complex procedure.It added that it had already raised the issue through its early-warning and urgent-action procedures in May 2025 and January 2026, but remained concerned about the plight of Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam due to “systematic and structural racial discrimination” in the updating of the NRC. CERD said it was “gravely concerned” that such a selective and discriminatory implementation could lead to “mass arbitrary deprivation of citizenship.”The committee said the NRC process was reportedly marked by procedural irregularities and difficulties in producing documents, including family records and birth certificates. Women and children were the worst affected. It also highlighted the unfair classification of Bengali-speaking Muslims as “non-original inhabitants” and the difficulties in accessing appeals before foreign tribunals.CERD recommended that the NRC exercise be suspended in India and the CAA reviewed. Furthermore, it pressed India to ratify the 1954 convention relation to the status of stateless persons and the 1961 convention on the reduction of statelessness.The committee also raised concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the current phase of which covers nine states and three UTs. It said that approximately 52 million names had been removed across 12 states and UTs, including 9.1 million names in West Bengal ahead of the April 2026 assembly elections. Bengali-speaking Muslims were reportedly most disproportionately affected in Bengal and Assam.Lastly, the report flagged contentious statements made by senior officials in Assam and Bengal that it said conflated Muslim citizens with foreign nationals. It pushed for an independent inquiry into these irregularities and the usage of SIR to spread racist rhetoric.Caste discriminationAnother major concern cited by CERD was caste discrimination, stating that the Dalit community continued to face segregation and exclusion from shared public, religious and cultural spaces, with severely limited access to adequate infrastructure, healthcare, drinking water, sanitation, education and electricity.It highlighted reports of violence against inter-caste couples and caste-motivated “honour killings,” gender-based violence against girls and women belonging to the Dalit community, bonded labour and the persistent correlation of the Dalit community with sewer and septic-tank cleaning.CERD noted that only 217 exclusive special courts were operating across 15 states and UTs for cases lodged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, with a remarkably low prosecution rate and merely 18 cases of “untouchability” registered in 2024 under the Protection of Civil Rights Act.Of the 849 judges appointed since 2018, only 33 belonged to Schedule Castes (SCs). Meanwhile, only two chief justices in the previous 70 years has been members of the SC community, as per information cited in the report.Tribal displacement and land rightsCERD cited reports of land acquisition, displacement and development projects undertaken without consultation or “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC) of indigenous and tribal communities, including the Naga, Kuki, Chakma and Hajong communities. It noted that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, could exempt certain project from consultation requirements, infringing on the rights of tribal communities.According to the report, following a June 19, 2024, order from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, approximately 89,000 indigenous and tribal families across 18 states had been forcibly evicted. CERD called for such evictions to be suspended until affected communities had completed appeals before court and that they should not take place without their consent, fair compensation and, wherever possible, an option to return.It also called for the suspension of development projects in sensitive tribal areas such as the Great Nicobar and Andaman Islands.Hate crimes and immigrationThe report criticised the gaps in India’s legal framework on racist hate speech and hate crimes, flagging that the “Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) does not recognise racist motivation as an aggravating circumstance.”CERD raised concerns over attacks targeting Christian and Muslims members of SC and ST communities, including alleged forced reconversion campaigns and vigilante activity. It noted that more than 1,800 FCRA licenses were rescinded between 2019 and 2021, with rights groups being the worst affected.The committee also condemned the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, stating that undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers were vulnerable to prolonged detentions with restricted judicial oversight. It asked India to keep detention as a last resort and establish asylum procedure consistent with international standards.The report made mention of the downgrade of India’s National Human Rights Commission to “B” status in March 2025, risking institutional dependence. The committee has asked India to report within two years on steps taken to address law-enforcement abuses, sparse tribal rights, caste discrimination and anti-immigration measures.The committee also acknowledged positive measures taken by the state such as the 2013 prohibition of manual scavenging, amendments made to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 2015 and 2018 and the creation of a welfare board for nomadic and semi-nomadic communities in 2019.‘Rejects any politically motivated highly malicious references’In its response Wednesday the external affairs ministry said that India “rejects any politically motivated highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves”.India sent an inter-ministerial delegation led by solicitor general Tushar Mehta to Geneva, where it “highlighted India’s constitutional safeguards, robust legal framework, pluralism and sustained efforts to protect disadvantaged communities”, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.It also “rejected the sweeping generalisations, unsubstantiated allegations, or tendency to exceed the Convention’s mandate during the review meeting”, Jaiswal added, referring to the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) whose implementation CERD monitors.New Delhi will respond to the committee’s observations through the established procedure for doing so, he said, stating that as a country that “played a leading role in negotiating and drafting ICERD”, India’s “commitment to combating racial discrimination remains unwavering”.This article has been updated to reflect the MEA’s response.