UN experts call on India to stop using ‘excessive force’ against protesters

Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest in New Delhi, India, on October 16, 2026 [Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images]

UN experts have called on the Indian government to stop the use of “excessive force” in the wake of the crackdown on opposition and student protests in India.

In a statement on Tuesday, the two dozen independent experts pressed for an impartial investigation into Indian authorities’ conduct, saying that demonstrators had sustained injuries and some reported being subjected to ill-treatment.

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“Protesters have sustained injuries, with some reporting being subjected to ill-treatment. The experts expressed particular concern about reports of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based abuse in the protests and related detentions,” according to the statement.

UN experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and document specific human rights crises but are independent of the organisation itself.

India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), along with other opposition parties and student organisations, has led protests this month demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, after 130 million names were removed from voter lists.

The protesting groups said the removal disproportionately affected poor and homeless people as well as ethnic minorities including Muslims, who are unlikely to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP and India’s Election Commission deny the accusations. The Election Commission said it was removing duplicate, deceased, shifted and otherwise ineligible voters and that anyone excluded in error can pursue appeals.

“Despite the non-violent nature of the assemblies, law enforcement agencies have reportedly deployed force against unarmed students including by means of police so-called lathi charges, and have prevented thousands from joining the protests,” the UN experts said.

Lathi charges are coordinated movements by a policing force using sticks to disperse crowds.

“We call on the authorities to immediately cease the use of excessive force, rescind blanket assembly bans, and refrain from the misuse of digital surveillance, including through biometrics, and internet disruptions,” they added.

India has repeatedly dismissed such criticism and cast it as interference in the country’s internal affairs, including when the UN human rights office earlier this month expressed concerns over mass detentions in relation to the latest protests.

2026年10月16日，印度新德里，警察在抗议活动中拘留了一名示威者。[Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images]

联合国专家呼吁印度政府停止在镇压印度反对派和学生抗议活动时使用“过度武力”。

周二，二十多名独立专家发表声明，敦促对印度当局的行为进行公正调查，称示威者受伤，一些人报告称遭到虐待。

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声明称：“抗议者有人受伤，一些人报告称遭到虐待。专家们尤其关注抗议活动和相关拘留过程中发生的性暴力和其他形式的基于性别的虐待事件。”

联合国人权理事会任命联合国专家来监测和记录具体的人权危机，但这些专家独立于联合国组织本身。

印度蟑螂人民党（CJP）与其他反对党和学生组织一起，在本月发起抗议活动，要求首席选举专员贾内什·库马尔辞职，此前有 1.3 亿个名字从选民名单中删除。

抗议团体表示，此次移除行动对贫困和无家可归的人以及包括穆斯林在内的少数族裔造成了不成比例的影响，而这些少数族裔不太可能投票给总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的印度教民族主义政党印度人民党（BJP）。

印度人民党和印度选举委员会否认了这些指控。选举委员会表示，他们正在剔除重复登记、已故、已迁居或其他不符合资格的选民，任何被错误剔除的选民都可以提出上诉。

联合国专家表示：“尽管集会性质为非暴力，但据报道，执法机构已对非武装学生动用武力，包括使用所谓的棍棒驱散，并阻止了数千人参加抗议活动。”

警棍驱散是指警察部队使用警棍进行协调一致的驱散人群的行动。

他们补充说：“我们呼吁当局立即停止过度使用武力，撤销全面集会禁令，并停止滥用数字监控（包括生物识别技术和互联网干扰）。”

印度一再驳斥此类批评，并将其视为干涉其内政，包括本月初联合国人权事务高级专员办事处对近期抗议活动中的大规模拘留表示关切时，印度也予以了驳斥。