In its concluding observations on India’s report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged the Indian Government to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act enacted in 1958 and to replace it “by a more humane Act”. Under the Act, members of the armed forces are granted broad powers, including the authority to kill, to search and arrest suspects without a warrant. These concerns were also raised in February at a hearing held by the ICJ Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights.
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