A similar pattern of delays to justice and impunity for perpetrators exists for other large scale incidents of human rights violations in the country. During the period of militancy in the state of Punjab - mid 1980s to mid 1990s - Amnesty International received reports of torture, deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions and %u2018disappearances%u2019. While there have been a small number of prosecutions and despite the recommendations of specially established judicial inquiries and commissions, impunity has prevailed in many cases. Amnesty International calls for an end to impunity in these cases.
Amnesty International is also concerned about the ongoing impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. Over 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in targeted violence, including hundreds of girls and women who were publicly stripped, raped and gang raped, following a fire in a train in which 59 Hindu activists had died. While some cases are being tried outside Gujarat State and the Supreme Court has directed that over 2,000 previously closed complaints be reviewed with a view to possible remedies, few perpetrators have been held to account. Amnesty International urges the Government of India and particularly the Government of Gujarat to take urgent steps to end impunity in the state.
