India mission focus on summary executions

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 16 (UPI) -- A U.N. special envoy said he's planning a 12-day mission to India starting Monday to examine accounts of summary and extrajudicial executions.

Christof Heyns, U.N. special envoy on arbitrary executions, said he's planning his first fact-finding mission to India next week.

Human Rights Watch warned in the 1990s that Indian security forces worked alongside state-sponsored paramilitary groups that were suspected of summarily executing captured militant leaders during the conflict in Kashmir.

In January, the rights group expressed outrage after "horrific" accounts of torture were allegedly carried out by security forces operating near the border with Bangladesh.

"My upcoming mission represents a unique opportunity to assess the situation of extrajudicial executions in India and the efforts undertaken to prevent them and ensure accountability in such cases," said Heyns in a statement.

The special envoy said he'd visit authorities in New Delhi and various Indian states during his 12-day visit.

"It shall give me the opportunity to gather lessons learned in relation to matters concerning my mandate," he said.