UN experts, USCIRF and Freedom House urge US to designate India as country of particular concern

By A Representative 

A coalition of senior United Nations officials, U.S. human rights bodies, and civil society leaders have called upon the United States government to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its alleged violations of human rights and religious freedoms. The appeal was made at a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill, attended by over 100 congressional staffers.

Key speakers included Nicolas Levrat, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues; Ed O’Donovan, Senior Adviser to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders; Dr. Asif Mahmood, Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF); Freedom House President Annie Boyajian; and Ria Chakrabarty, Senior Policy Director at Hindus for Human Rights.

Professor Levrat charged that India, despite its democratic claims, is “failing to protect the most fundamental human rights of millions of its citizens,” particularly minorities. He accused the Indian government of actively fostering insecurity among religious minorities, resulting in violence and systemic discrimination. Levrat highlighted a 2024 letter sent by three UN Special Rapporteurs to the Indian government over hate speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, noting that the government never responded.

Freedom House President Annie Boyajian noted a decade-long decline in India’s freedom score, citing the erosion of civil liberties, targeting of political opposition, and rise in religious persecution. “India has lost 15 points in our global freedom index since 2014,” she said, adding that India is the only democracy documented to have engaged in transnational repression, including attempts to target dissidents abroad.

Boyajian called for legal reforms, including repealing anti-conversion laws and strengthening protections for religious minorities. She also urged the U.S. State Department to impose sanctions and designate India as a CPC.

UN adviser Ed O’Donovan condemned what he called the “wanton cruelty” against human rights defenders in India. He pointed to the misuse of counter-terrorism laws, judicial harassment, arbitrary detentions, and suppression of NGOs through the revocation of FCRA licenses. O’Donovan cited the continued detention of activists such as Khurram Parvez and Irfan Meraj under the UAPA and noted that India has received the third-highest number of allegations from the UN Human Rights Defenders mandate since 2020 — responding to only 20% of them.

In a pre-recorded statement, Dr. Asif Mahmood of USCIRF emphasized that his commission has recommended India’s designation as a CPC since 2020, most recently in its 2025 report. He called for targeted sanctions against Indian individuals and agencies, including the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in connection with alleged transnational repression incidents.

Ria Chakrabarty of Hindus for Human Rights sharply criticized the Modi government’s consolidation of power and its authoritarian trajectory. “From majoritarianism to oligarchy to anti-democratic governance, Modi has used every tool in the authoritarian playbook to crush the spirit of Indian democracy,” she said, adding that only a popular pushback can reclaim democratic space.

The briefing was cosponsored by multiple organizations including the Indian American Muslim Council, Genocide Watch, Hindus for Human Rights, World Against Genocide, New York State Council of Churches, American Muslim Institution, and The Humanism Project (Australia), among others.