UN experts urge India to end excessive force against protesters
Two dozen independent UN experts said on Tuesday that Indian authorities should stop using excessive force against opposition and student protesters, and called for an impartial investigation into how officials have handled the demonstrations. The statement, reported by Al Jazeera, was published as protests in India continued through October 2026.
The protests were led by the Cockroach Janta Party, other opposition parties and student organisations. Their central demand is the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, who heads the body that runs India's elections. The demonstrators object to the removal of 130 million names from voter lists.
The experts said protesters had been injured and that some had reported ill-treatment. They also voiced concern about reports of sexual violence and gender-based abuse linked to the protests and to related detentions. According to the experts, Indian law enforcement reportedly used baton charges, known in India as lathi charges, against unarmed students and prevented thousands of people from joining the demonstrations.
The experts asked India to lift blanket assembly bans, which are orders barring gatherings across wide areas. They also called on the government to avoid misusing digital surveillance, including biometric data such as facial or fingerprint records, and to stop disrupting the internet.
The UN human rights office's press release, datelined Geneva, says the police response to peaceful youth-led demonstrations in New Delhi and other parts of India was repeatedly heavy-handed. Earlier in October, the UN human rights office had also expressed concern over mass detentions connected to the latest protests.
The Election Commission of India has said it is removing duplicate, deceased, shifted and otherwise ineligible voters from the rolls, and that anyone wrongly excluded can appeal. India has repeatedly dismissed UN criticism of this kind as interference in its internal affairs.
A Reuters graphic on how India polices demonstrations says Human Rights Watch reported that security forces used tear gas and batons against protesters, and that alleged excessive police force is under investigation.
UN experts have raised similar concerns before. In 2018 they condemned a deadly police response to a protest against a copper smelting plant in India and called for an investigation. In August 2019 they urged India to end a communications shutdown in Kashmir, which cut phone and internet services, and expressed serious concern about excessive force against protesters, including the use of live ammunition.
