People who stand up for human rights in India are being subjected to threats, harassment, false criminal cases and in some cases even torture, ill–treatment, "disappearances" and political killings, the report says. Indian authorities are failing to protect human rights defenders or prevent these human rights abuses. In some cases they are directly responsible for the abuses while in others state agencies, particularly the police under political influence, connive or acquiesce in the attacks.

"The government of India should support and respect the work of those defending human rights throughout India, in line with the principles set out in the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsiblility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998.

"The valuable contribution made to the protection and promotion of human rights by human rights defenders in all areas of India should be recognised by the state and given active support.

"The government of India must seriously address threats made to the lives of human rights defenders throughout India whether by agents of the state or non–state actors, states the report in its opening remarks. The branding of those defending human rights as ‘anti–national’ because they may be challenging, through peaceful means, injustices which are apparent in the existing economic, political or social order, should be stopped. Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in India are today particularly vulnerable in their work and interventions due to the rise and political legitimacy enjoyed by sectarian groups that use violence with impunity."

The extensive report carries detailed recommendations addressed to the government of India, on the question of strengthening international protection, the acute problem of non–state actors (like Hindu communal groups), recommendations to inter-governmental organizations (like the UN), recommendations to armed opposition groups and movements and recommendations concerning economic actors.

In the section of recommended legal reforms addressed to the government of India, the report outlines that judicial enquiries into all allegations of human rights violations should be timebound; the reports should be made public and mandatorily enforced; that provisions for sanction under Indian criminal law that delay and in effect deny the prosecution of public servants, including officers of the police and army, should be repealed; that witnesses testifying in cases of rights’ violations should be accorded full state protection from threats and intimidation.

The non–implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989 and Rules of 1995 has come in for detailed scrutiny and mention in the report. In particular, the non–implementation of section 4 of the Act that makes it an offence for a public servant to wilfully refrain from discharging his duty under the act has been mentioned; police officers who put pressure on victims of caste atrocities to enter a compromise with assailants of the upper castes should also be prosecuted under this section, the report recommends.

The report also calls for the repealing of all preventive legislation at the state and national level (specifically National Security Act- NSA) in the light of consistent misuse. In this connection, the report also suggests a review of sections 107–110 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that provides for preventive detention; Article 22 of the Indian Constitution that allows for preventive detention, and section 151 of the CrPC (providing for preventive arrest) that has often been misused by prolonging the illegal detention of HRDs.

In light of the vulnerability of human rights defenders to arbitrary arrest and detention, there must be full implementation of the guidelines set out by the Supreme Court in D.K. Basu vs State of West Bengal providing safeguards to detainees. These safeguards must be made part of the statute. The report also recommends the full implementation of the Legal Services (Authorities) Act, 1987, at the state level in order to provide full access to legal aid to all vulnerable groups in society.

The report also states that article 13 of the UN Human Rights Defenders Declaration which states that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to solicit, receive and utilise resources for the express purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means" shall be respected. HRDs utilising such rights of association or resources should not be targeted and victimised for carrying out legitimate and constitutional HR activities.

In the light of restrictions on the movement of human rights defenders and the monitoring of human rights activity by government agencies:

(i) the intimidation of human rights defenders through monitoring and surveillance by government agencies or private agencies promoted by the government should be stopped

(ii) those engaged in human rights activity should be allowed unhindered access to victims of human rights violations in all areas of India (particularly in areas of armed conflict); and to international fora outside India in order to report on human rights concerns, undergo training.

(iii) the government much ensure the full co–operation of the police and the armed forces to court proceedings.

(iv) all kinds of censorship and restrictions regarding dissemination of information concerning HR violations should be removed in both the North–East and Jammu and Kashmir, areas of armed conflict. There is a complete breakdown in the criminal justice system which needs to be addressed urgently as it greatly restricts the right to redress for human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations in those areas. In particular, the report recommends: timely state response to court orders and prompt responses by the courts to habeas petitions.

The report specifically recommends that all cases of encounter deaths should mandatorily be registered as cases of murder under the Indian Penal Code and investigated by the independent investigating agencies of the state and prosecuted accordingly.

The report makes significant contributions to the section on institutional reforms especially with connection to the Indian police and paramilitary forces.

In light of the increasing concerns being expressed by human rights groups, serving and retired police officers and the national and alternate media on the increasing bias being recorded in the functioning of the state law and order machinery, especially related to marginalised sections of Indian society like minorities, tribals and Dalits, the report recommends:

That the government urgently addresses the problem of political influence over the police at all levels; demands implementation of the recommendations of the National Police Commission relating to an independent, democratic and transparent police structure; the immediate punishment of police officers who commit atrocities or unlawful acts in a swift and timebound manner while the victims are compensated by the state with the amount of compensation to be recovered from guilty and indicted police officers.

A serious study of the lacunae in the three bodies, the National Human Rights Commission, the SC/ST Commission and the National Women’s Commission along with the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993 has been done within the scope of the report.

Although the rights of vulnerable groups including Dalits, adivasis, and members of religious minorities are protected in law, attacks on activists defending the rights of these communities demonstrate their continuing vulnerability and the urgent need for the Indian government to take practical steps to protect their rights. Women who campaign for human rights in India also face discrimination from their own families, in the wider community, in the criminal justice system and from the authorities.

"Human rights activists often pay a high price for their courage and commitment," a spokesperson for Amnesty International said when the organisation released the report.

The report carries an interesting section on recommendations to the government of India concerning economic actors within which there are two sets of recommendations, the first addressed to the state as economic actor, the state as facilitator for economic actors (like multinationals) and to national institutions like the NHRCs and the SHRCs on the question of violations committed by economic actors on human rights’ defenders.