The Panel of Independent International Experts (PIIE) has concluded that “international crimes and crimes against humanity” may have been committed against Muslims in the Indian states of Assam and Uttar Pradesh between 2022 and 2025. In Assam, the violations reportedly reached the level of apartheid.
The report, published by the Transnational Legal Clinic at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London, was prepared by three eminent experts: Sonja Biserko (Serbia), President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and member of the UN Human Rights Investigation into North Korea (2014); Marzuki Darusman (Indonesia), former Attorney General of Indonesia and Chair of the UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka and the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar; and Stephen Rapp (USA), former Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and former US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.
The panel examined credible information on alleged violations of international law against Muslims, focusing on Assam and Uttar Pradesh, where patterns of abuse appeared most systematic.
Key findings in Assam
In Assam, the panel documented a wide range of violations targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims. These include arbitrary deprivation of life through police ‘encounter’ killings, excessive force during evictions, custodial deaths, and failure to protect against mob violence. It also cited arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention linked to discriminatory citizenship processes, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, risking statelessness.
The report also highlighted summary cross-border expulsions without proper safeguards, raising concerns of refoulement, along with unjustified restrictions on freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion. It noted discriminatory disenfranchisement, large-scale forced evictions, and severe impairment of economic, social, cultural, and minority rights.
The panel highlighted inflammatory statements by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who reportedly portrayed Bengali-speaking Muslims as “infiltrators” and existential threats. Such rhetoric, it said, appeared to prepare the ground for ethnic cleansing and warranted accountability.
The report concluded that large-scale expulsions may amount to deportation or forcible transfer as a crime against humanity. The cumulative pattern of hate speech and forced evictions could constitute persecution as a crime against humanity. Most seriously, the systematic stripping of citizenship, legality, and residence from Bengali-speaking Muslims may amount to apartheid — an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination over a racialised group.
Findings in Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh, similar violations were recorded against Muslims, including arbitrary killings through police encounters, unlawful use of lethal force against protesters, custodial deaths, and failure to prevent targeted killings by non-state actors.
The panel also documented arbitrary arrests and prolonged pre-trial detention under discriminatory application of criminal, anti-conversion, cow-protection, and national security laws, along with torture, excessive force, custodial violence, and punitive “half-encounter” shootings.
It further cited systemic denial of fair trial and due process rights, including punitive home and business demolitions used as summary punishment, blanket restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, internet shutdowns, and intimidation of journalists and activists.
The report also noted interference with religious freedom through coercive enforcement of anti-conversion laws and restrictions on Muslim institutions, as well as discriminatory interference with political participation and severe impairment of economic, social, and cultural rights.
The panel found that widespread anti-Muslim hate speech, official targeting of Muslim protesters, and discriminatory enforcement against those in meat-related trades may amount to persecution as a crime against humanity. The pattern of abusive and punitive policing could constitute other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity.
Both chief ministers, who also held the home minister portfolio, bore command responsibility for the direction and supervision of police and executive actions. Their public rhetoric characterising Muslims as security and demographic threats allegedly served as a permissive signal for violence by non-state actors.
In both states, the panel noted that domestic remedial mechanisms appeared largely ineffective for Muslims, leaving victims with little realistic prospect of justice.
Justice Madan B Lokur’s remarks
Retired Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur commented: “That experts of this calibre have found it necessary to turn their attention to India is itself a measure of the gravity of what is unfolding. The eyes of the region, and of the world, are on us. The spirit of this age is being determined now: in the choices made by those who hold power, and in whether the Constitution remains a living document or becomes, for millions of India’s citizens, a dead letter.”
Recommendations
The panel urged the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to mandate an independent fact-finding body to investigate violations against Muslims in India and establish a mechanism to preserve evidence for future accountability. It also called for resolutions condemning the abuses, including a comprehensive human rights assessment by the High Commissioner and the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on India to monitor violations against religious minorities.
To the UN High Commissioner, Special Advisers on Genocide Prevention and Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and other mandate holders, the panel called for active monitoring, public expressions of concern, in-country visits, and the creation of an evidentiary repository.
To the Government of India, it recommended immediately ceasing, preventing, punishing, and remedying violations, fulfilling obligations under the ICCPR, Genocide Convention, and R2P, conducting independent investigations and prosecutions, providing reparations, and promoting equal access to socio-economic rights for Muslims.
To the Supreme Court of India, it urged swift resolution of constitutional challenges affecting Muslims and the guarantee of fair trial rights, especially for those in prolonged detention.
To other governments, it recommended monitoring the situation, using diplomatic and economic leverage, exercising extraterritorial jurisdiction, and imposing targeted sanctions against perpetrators where warranted.
To international social media companies, the panel urged enforcement of zero-tolerance hate speech policies, transparency in content moderation, and human rights audits.
To Indian and international civil society, it called for continued documentation, advocacy, and initiatives such as people’s tribunals and truth archives.
The panel’s findings add to growing international scrutiny of the treatment of Muslims in certain Indian states and call for urgent global action to address what it describes as systematic and widespread violations.
