Amnesty criticises India's new terror law

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MUMBAI, Dec 19 (AP): Rights group Amnesty International has criticised India's proposed new anti-terror laws. The new laws allow suspects to be detained without bail for up to six months on the orders of a judge and tighten other procedures.
Parliament has approved the new bills and they now require the president's approval before becoming law.
The legislation follows last month's attacks in the city of Mumbai which left more than 170 people dead.
India's government has been under intense pressure following the attacks to reform the country's intelligence and security systems.
New anti-terror laws along with a new federal investigation agency are seen as a first step in its response.
Amnesty International has called on India's President Pratibha Patil not to approve the legislation.
"While we utterly condemn the attacks and recognise that the Indian authorities have a right and duty to take effective measures to ensure the security of the population, security concerns should never be used to jeopardise people's human rights," Madhu Malhotra, of Amnesty International, said in a statement.
It criticised moves to close some courts to public proceedings, to tighten bail laws on illegal immigrants and to require some defendants to prove innocence.
Amnesty said that "India's experience with previous anti-terrorism laws has shown that they can lead to abusive practices".