India must do more to protect tribal, minority communities and disadvantaged castes from extrajudicial killings, torture and police violence, a U.N. watchdog said Tuesday.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said the world's most populous country also urgently needed to address hate crimes against Bengali-speaking Muslims.
"The committee was gravely concerned about reports of large-scale violations perpetrated by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens," it said in a statement on its findings.
"These included racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence," it added.
The committee called on India to investigate all such allegations and bring those responsible to justice.
