(ANALYSIS) A new report identified credible evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations against Muslims in Assam and Uttar Pradesh states, India — violations which may amount to international crimes such as crimes against humanity.
The authors, Sonja Biserko, Marzuki Darusman and Ambassador Stephen Rapp, form the Panel of Independent International Experts. Their report, published in April, was the latest in a series of authoritative reports of religious minorities in India. A report from 2022 detailed the dire situation of Christians in Manipur.
The reports raise serious concerns about the condition of religious minorities in India more broadly, with very little international attention or adequate response.
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This latest report included information on unlawful killings, unlawful use of lethal force against protesters, custodial deaths (which occur while someone is being arrested or while detained or incarcerated), failure to prevent targeted killings by non-state actors and arbitrary arrests and detentions. It also included accounts of torture and other cruel treatment, including excessive force, custodial violence, coercive interrogation practices and shootings, among others.
In Assam, a state in northeastern India, the systematic stripping of citizenship, legality and residence from Bengali-speaking Muslims amounts to apartheid and a crime against humanity, according to the panel.
Similarly, the large-scale expulsions of Bengali-speaking Muslims from Assam may amount to deportation or forcible transfer as a crime against humanity. The same can be said of the large-scale pattern of forced evictions and home demolitions targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.
In Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India, the widespread and institutionalized pattern of anti-Muslim hate speech amounts to persecution as a crime against humanity, the panel determined. The widespread and systematic pattern of abusive and punitive policing targeting Muslims in Uttar Pradesh may be crimes against humanity, too.
The report further identified that in both states, chief ministers (a position similar to a governor) lead the rhetoric against Muslims in their states, publicly endorsing coercive measures, and repeated characterization of Muslims as security and demographic threats.
The report was produced based on materials prepared by legal researchers and experts working with victims, civil society organizations and journalists, but also documentation from national and state authorities, court records and social media.
The new findings add to the serious concerns raised by the panel in their previous report in 2022, which warned that Muslims were at risk of becoming a persecuted minority within India, and called for preventive and corrective measures by India and the international community. However, such measures have not been taken, and the situation of Muslims in India continues to deteriorate.
Human rights violations against religious minorities in India continue to be ignored, despite such violations significantly affecting Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Adivasi populations alike.
In its 2026 Annual Report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that the State Department designate India as a Country of Particular Concern for systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.
This past February, the body further called on the US government to urge Indian officials to hold perpetrators of targeted violence accountable for attacks against religious minorities, including the escalating attacks against Christian minorities in the country. USCIRF cited several recent examples of such violence, including attacks and harassment against Christian pastors, but also destruction and vandalism targeting places of worship and other venues of religious significance.
The serious human rights violations, and in particular, those amounting to international crimes, require comprehensive international responses grounded in effective justice and accountability.
While there may not be many international options to hold the alleged perpetrators to account, it is key to examine domestic options. Some countries are using domestic courts to prosecute international crimes committed abroad. In recent years, Germany, France and the Netherlands have helped hold members of the Islamic State accountable for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Yazidis, a religious minority in northern Iraq.
And in Argentina, a court issued arrest warrants for senior military and civilian leaders from Myanmar for “their role in the genocide against the Rohingya community,” according to Jurist News. The Rohingya are a primarily muslim and are a stateless ethnic group who are considered one of the most persecuted groups in the world.
Religious persecution in India, despite clearly amounting to crimes against humanity, remains underexplored in terms of criminal investigations and prosecutions globally.
The panel’s new report should be a wake-up call and a trigger for action.
Counties can use the principle of universal jurisdiction to offer exactly that. We cannot stand by and let the situation of the religious minorities in India continue to deteriorate.
