Repeal UAPA – Page 5 – free them all

UAPA should not remain in this form: Former SC judges flag misuse of anti-terrorism laws

26/07/2021 Rani

The Definition of “Terrorist Act” in UAPA Is So Vague That It Is Susceptible To Misuse: Justice Anjana Prakash

26/07/2021

Live Law / by Mehal Jain

Former Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash on Saturday asserted that while the anti-terror and national security laws are to be used towards the sovereignty and protection of the State, in India, they are being employed for the sovereignty and protection of a political party.
The Supreme Court Senior Advocate was speaking at a webinar by CJAR- “Discussion On DEMOCRACY, DISSENT AND DRACONIAN LAW- Should UAPA & Sedition Have A Place In Our Statute Books?”
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UAPA should not remain in this form: Former SC judges flag misuse of anti-terrorism laws

25/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

FormerSupreme Court judges Aftab Alam, Madan B Lokur, Gopala Gowda and Deepak Gupta on Saturday raised concerns on the misuse of anti-terrorism laws in India, reported The Hindu.
Justice Gupta said the courts should intervene and lay down guidelines on the use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “The UAPA should not remain in this form,” he said. Gupta was speaking at a virtual conference on “Democracy Dissent and Draconian Laws – do UAPA and sedition have a place in our statute books”, organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms.
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It’s Time for the Government To Redeem Itself and Repeal the UAPA

25/07/2021

The Wire / by Anjana Prakash

The UAPA over the years has degenerated into a lethal weapon to quell dissent, and has been used by successive governments to legitimise sinister motives.
Whether the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) fits in with India’s constitutional framework, the international covenants it has signed, its adversarial system of trial, and whether the Supreme Court correctly decided the legality of the law’s bail pre-conditions – which are so irksome and a source of abuse – are questions that need urgent answers. Though the statute was brought in with an objective contrary to what we see today, the UAPA over the years has degenerated into a lethal weapon to quell dissent, and has been used by successive governments to legitimise sinister motives under the clichéd “procedure established by law”.
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In UAPA Cases The Process Itself The Punishment, It Stares Us In The Face In The Death Of Father Stan Swamy Without Trial: Justice Aftab Alam

25/07/2021

Live Law / by Mehal Jain

“Where has this draconian law in the world’s largest democracy taken us? The results are all there for everyone to see. It stares us in the face in the death of Father Stan Swamy without a trial”
“The UAPA shows we are willing to rob our people of freedom far more than any other country without any accountability!”, commented Justice Aftab Alam on Saturday.
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Open National Call: Defend Right to Dissent, Repeal Sedition Law, UAPA and Repressive State Laws

22/07/2021 Maya

Call issued by several organizations across the country

Join National Action to Defend Democracy:

Defend Right to Dissent,

Repeal Sedition Law,

UAPA and Repressive State Laws,

Restore Right to Bail

Dear Friends,

The Institutional murder of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy in judicial custody on 5th July 2021 has brought home to all of us the urgency of the need to take up the defence of democracy against repressive laws. Father Stan, who spent a lifetime working with Adivasis in Jharkhand in defence of their rights, was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case even though he had no connection with it and the police did not require him for any investigation. Father Stan died waiting for a chance to clear his name. In denying Fr Stan bail, the NIA judge, D. E. Kothalikar argued that “the collective interest of the community” outweighed Fr. Stan’s right to personal liberty. His death should shake the conscience of the nation and the judiciary as it “brings to an end a stark tale of injustice – one that has left the highest institutions of India’s justice system diminished.” But even after Father Stan’s death, the same court denied bail to Anand Teltumbde, another member of the BK-16, as the advocates, artists, journalists and intellectuals who have been imprisoned under the Bhima Koregaon case are called. …

Stan Swamy’s institutional murder must lead to a nation-wide movement against draconian laws and state repression

07/07/2021 Rani

By National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

NAPM joins citizens and democratic groups across the globe remembering the life and struggle of Stan Swamy with pain and pride

7th July, 2021: The news of the cold-blooded killing of Fr. Stan Swamy by all the institutions that held him arbitrarily in custody for over 9 months has shaken not just the ‘conscience’ of India, but of the entire world. This incident shall remain a permanent blot on India’s claim of being a ‘democracy’, which oversaw the custodial torture and consequent ‘death’ of an 84-year-old human rights defender, living with Parkinsons, for a crime he never committed. As the world mourns this spartan saint, whose only mission was to fight for justice for the oppressed, we are left with many unanswered questions about the state of our nation and the future path of struggle. …

Video: Online Convention – Repeal UAPA and other repressive laws

26/06/2021 Maya

hindi + en | 45min + 1h30min| 2021

By Movement Against UAPA And Other Repressive Laws

On 26th June “Movement Against UAPA and Other Repressive Laws (MURL)” conducted ONLINE NATIONAL CONVENTION demanding REPEAL OF ALL UNCONSTITUTIONAL REPRESSIVE LAWS
Watch part 1
Watch part 2

Video: Father Stan Swamy’s 84th birthday celebrations online

26/04/2021 Rani

en + hindi | 1h34min | 2021

By PUCL & friends and co-travellers of Father Stan Swamy

The PUCL along with the friends and co-travellers of Father Stan Swamy,
invite you to join online Father Stan’s 84th birthday celebrations.

Watch video @ PUCL fb page here

Through his own writings from the prison, and know why the State fears him and why the Bhima Koregaon case is cooked up, along with messages of solidarity for his release and that of other Prisoners of Conscience.
Father Stan stands as a symbol of struggle and resistance against the repression of Tribals and has been falsely implicated and arrested since October 2020 in the Bhima Koregaon “conspiracy” case. A Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, he has worked in Jharkhand for over three decades on issues of land, forest and labour rights in order to create a world where there is love, peace and justice.
#ReleaseFatherStanNOW #ReleaseAllBK16Prisoners

Also watch: Repeal UAPA – Persecution by Prosecution (PUCL, Jan 2021)

In letters, Stan Swamy speaks about co-inmates, life behind bars

27/04/2021

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Swamy, who turned 84 on Monday, was arrested on October 8, last year, from Ranchi by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in the Elgaar Parishad case.
From his daily routine to the experiences of his co-inmates in jail, Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy’s communication through letters and phones calls with his colleagues and friends gives a glimpse into the 200 days spent in jail by the country’s oldest prisoner arrested in a terror case.
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Andhra govt, Centre ‘collude’ to repeat Bhima Koregaon type case against rights activists

11/04/2021 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Andhra govt, Centre ‘collude’ to repeat Bhima Koregaon type case against rights activists

11/04/2021

Counterview / by Counterview Desk

In a comprehensive statement, running into about 3,500 words, India’s premier human rights organisation, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), even as condemning the recent “unprecedented attack” on rights activists by the Andhra Pradesh government, with the Centre’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and stood in “solidarity”, has said that the main aim of the “witch hunt” is to silence dissent.
Signed by Ravi Kiran Jain and Dr V Suresh, respectively President and General Secretary of PUCL, the statement, drawing a parallel with the Bhima Koregaon case, said, this time too the NIA cover was used to level the allegation that the activists were all supporters and “front organisations” of Maoists.
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NIA Raids 33 Activists in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

10/04/2021

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

On 31st March & 1st April 2021, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the homes of at least 33 human rights and civil liberties activists, members of women’s groups, Dalit organizations, labor unions, and social and cultural movements in 31 locations spread across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The NIA alleged that the activists were all supporters and “front organizations” of Maoists. These raids resemble the ones carried out in the Bhima Koregoan case….
In the past few years, the NIA has frequently stepped in to take control of UAPA cases in states which are not governed by the BJP.
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Also Read: NIA takes over Andhra probe against activists (Hindustan Times, March 2021)

Indian legal system produces unlawful laws

04/04/2021 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Pakistan Today / by Shazia Cheema

The laws based on personal agenda to maintain and retain power have paved the way for civil unrest.
Law and order have always perceived as a relative situation although it meant to serve the purpose of maintaining order and peace, it has been observed that laws are not always enough to keep harmony in society. Law made by man for man has a coherent tendency to create craves between state and society.
The textbook example of that is Indian laws named UAPA, TADA, and POTA. These three laws created for the safety of society have been immensely used to subjugate the population of India and have been criticised by the civil society that named these laws as “Draconian Laws”.
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S.M. Mushrif: Secularists should challenge UAPA in Supreme Court

22/03/2021 Rani

Frontline / by Ziya Us Salam

(Print edition: April 9, 2021)
Interview with S.M. Mushrif, former Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra.
… In the light of Bhima Koregaon and the anti-Citizenship [Amendment] Act protests in Delhi and elsewhere, arbitrary arrests have been made under the UAPA. Many professors, students, poets have been incarcerated for long. Is the law supposed to safeguard the common man or frighten him?
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5,128 Cases Under UAPA Since 2015, 72% Rise in Last Five Years

10/03/2021 Rani

5,128 Cases Under UAPA Since 2015, 72% Rise in Last Five Years

11/03/2021

News Click / by News Click

According to the data, 30 cases were lodged on charges of sedition in 2015 followed by 35 in 2016, 51 in 2017, 70 in 2018 and 93 in 2019.
As many as 5,128 cases under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA and 229 on charges of sedition have been lodged across the country in a five-year period from 2015, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
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UAPA: 72% Rise in Arrests Between 2015 and 2019

10/03/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Data revealed by the home ministry earlier showed that just 2.2% of the cases under the Act ended in court convictions.
There has been a 72% increase in the number of arrests made under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019 in relation to those made in 2015, according to data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Lok Sabha.
According to The Hindu, the MHA revealed that as many as 1,948 persons were arrested under the UAPA in 1,226 cases that were registered across the country in 2019. Between the years 2015 and 2018, 897, 922, 901 and 1,182 cases were registered and 1,128, 999, 1,554 and 1,421 people were arrested, Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy said in a written reply.
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Over 72 per cent rise in UAPA cases since 2019, what does the Act entail?

10/03/2021

Edex Live / by Edex Live

In July 2019, the ambit of UAPA was expanded. It was amended allowing the government to designate an individual as a terrorist without trial.
The Ministry of Home Affairs told the Lok Sabha that there has been over 72 per cent increase in the number of persons arrested under the anti-terror law UAPA.
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How UAPA curtails personal liberty, undermines fair trial

16/02/2021 Rani

Hindustan Times / by Gautam Bhatia

To stop UAPA from continuing to be the tool of repression that it has become, it is vital that the courts either strike down — or substantially read down — this section, and ensure that years in jail do not become an automatic consequence of the police’s (read: the State’s) decision to charge inconvenient opponents under this law.
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