Geneva, 3 November 2026
The United against Torture Consortium (UATC)* condemns the mass detentions, beatings, excessive use of force and other alleged abuses committed by Indian police and security forces against youth-led protesters in July and October, this year. The crackdown has included the detention of children, the targeting of journalists and reported sexual harassment by police. These acts raise grave concerns about torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as violations of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. The UATC calls on the Indian authorities to end the repression, release all those arbitrarily detained and ensure independent investigations into all alleged abuses.
The crackdown that first took place on July 20 and recurred on October 2, when thousands of people were reportedly detained in Delhi as authorities moved to prevent a planned rally at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner and organized by the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and several other rights-based movements including the All India Students’ Association (AISA). Police reportedly stopped protesters travelling to Delhi, placed youth leaders under house arrest, bet and detained protesters and journalists. At least three women journalists reported sexual harassment by police. Internet services were suspended and public transport was disrupted. The UATC is particularly concerned about children detained away from their families and potentially outside the safeguards provided by the Indian law. Arbitrary detention, particularly when accompanied by violence or the denial of basic safeguards, can expose children to serious harm and may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
On 10 October 2026, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) called on the authorities to immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and engage in meaningful dialogue. The Indian government dismissed these concerns as an “unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India”. However, on 11 October 2026, India’s Supreme Court ordered an end to illegal detentions of two CJP leaders who were then released after being in custody for 7 days.
The protests, involving the CJP cadres, student movements, opposition parties, civil society and the larger youth population, began nationwide on 2nd October 2026 on the anniversary of the birth of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, in response to a revision of electoral rolls that reportedly removed more than 130 million voters. Protesters have demanded accountability from the Election Commission and the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The CJP has also become a prominent outlet for young people’s frustration over unemployment, unfair university entrance examinations and unaccountable institutions. Its name reclaims a remark attributed to India’s Chief Justice comparing unemployed young people to cockroaches. The movement rapidly attracted a substantial following which led to the earlier mass protests demanding the resignation of the education minister for irregularities that followed a brutal crackdown on July 20, 2026
These crackdowns take place against a broader backdrop of systemic torture by law enforcement and impunity in India. The World Organisation against Torture’s Global Torture Index classifies the country as high-risk, highlighting systemic police torture, the absence of legislation criminalising torture and India’s failure to ratify the UN Convention against Torture, which it signed in 1997. These structural failures make effective safeguards, independent investigations and accountability all the more urgent.
The current crackdown follows earlier allegations of serious abuses against young protesters on and around July 20, 2026. In its report The Gen Z Uprising and the State Response, the National Alliance for Justice, Accountability and Rights (NAJAR) documented alleged police use of shotguns firing metal pellets in Delhi, resulting in a 19-year-old student’s loss of sight in one eye. NAJAR also reported the use of nail-studded batons, electric-shock batons and lathis (long batons usually made of bamboo). As outlined in the UN Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement these weapons should never be used by law enforcement officers as they are designed to inflict torture and other ill-treatment. There were also reports of the deployment of an assault rifle against students in Bihar; and the disproportionate targeting of Muslim protesters. In Bihar, around 150 people, most of them children, were reportedly held for more than 40 hours, beyond the legal limit. The absence of independent investigations into these allegations raises serious concerns about impunity and the risk of further abuses.
The UN Model Protocol for Law Enforcement Officials in the Context of Peaceful Protests requires law enforcement officials to facilitate peaceful assemblies and protect participants, rather than resort to unjustified force or arbitrary detention. As the United Against Torture Consortium (UATC) explains in its policy paper Protesting Without Fear, the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment must also guide how authorities police protests and respond to allegations of abuse. This requires authorities to investigate the reported abuses independently, hold those responsible to account and ensure that policing of future protests respects human rights.
The UATC urges the Indian authorities to:
- Immediately release all those detained for peacefully exercising their rights, prioritising children, and drop charges arising solely from peaceful protest.
- Ensure that policing of protests complies with UN standards on the use of force and on peaceful assemblies, and prohibit abusive weapons and practices, including the misuse of pellet guns and nail-studded batons.
- Ensure that policing of protests complies with UN standards on the use of force and on peaceful assemblies, and prohibit abusive weapons and practices, including the misuse of pellet guns and nail-studded batons.
- Ensure all detainees have access to a lawyer, family contact, medical care and judicial oversight, and that children are detained only as a last resort, in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act.
- Ensure all detainees have access to a lawyer, family contact, medical care and judicial oversight, and that children are detained only as a last resort, in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act.
- Independently investigate all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, sexual harassment and arbitrary detention since June 2026, hold those responsible accountable and ensure victims receive reparation.
- Independently investigate all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, sexual harassment and arbitrary detention since June 2026, hold those responsible accountable and ensure victims receive reparation.
- Independently investigate all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, sexual harassment and arbitrary detention since June 2026, hold those responsible accountable and ensure victims receive reparation.
- Independently investigate all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, sexual harassment and arbitrary detention since June 2026, hold those responsible accountable and ensure victims receive reparation.
- Restore internet and transport services where restricted to prevent peaceful protest
- Restore internet and transport services where restricted to prevent peaceful protest
- Ratify the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, and criminalise torture in domestic law.
* About the Consortium: The United Against Torture Consortium pools the strengths and expertise of six leading anti-torture organisations (IRCT, OMCT, FIACAT, APT, Omega Research Foundation and REDRESS) in partnership with over 400 civil society organisations and partners in more than 120 countries, to strengthen and expand the anti-torture movement. The European Union funds this project.
The present statement was issued by the IRCT, the OMCT, Omega Research Foundation and REDRESS.