U.S. will continue to strongly urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments

2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. will continue to strongly urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments

The United States has and will continue to strongly urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments, the Biden Administration said on March 20, 2023 as it released the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

The report claimed that last year India experienced significant human rights violations including alleged unlawful and arbitrary killings, challenges to freedom of press, interference with privacy, and violence targeting religious and ethnic minorities.

"The US and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues. We have and we will continue to strongly urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments," Acting Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Erin Barclay told reporters after the release of the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

"Not surprisingly, we also regularly meet with civil society both in the US and in India to hear their perspectives and learn from their experiences, and we encourage the Government of India to consult with them as well," she said.

Responding to a question on a recent BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, she said the US will continue to support press freedom.

"On the BBC issue, we're of course aware of the BBC issues and we will continue to support free press around the world and have communicated the same," Barclay said.

Released by Secretary of State Tony Blinken, the annual human rights reports of the State Department is a mandatory requirement of the US Congress giving details of human rights status in countries across the world.