Solidarity – Page 28 – free them all

Protest for release of activists

09/04/2022 Asha

Left groups protest across Punjab, seek to revive spirit of Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom

17/04/2022

Counterview / by Harsh Thakor

Despite political change of guards, which brought Aam Aadmi Party to power, recent events suggest that Left-wing forces of different shades appear to be steadily gaining ground in Punjab.
… Held on April 8 in Singrur on the very day Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru flung a bomb in the parliament house to symbolise liberation from colonial slavery, the Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab Students Union, Naujwan Bharat Sabha and Zameen Prapti Sangharsh demanded unconditional release of political prisoners. Speakers summarised how activists like Gautam Navlakha , GN Saibaba, Rona Wilson, Anand Teltumbde, Varavara Rao, Umar Khalid, Sudha Bharadwaj, Devinder Ghullar etc. were branded for waging a conspiracy against the state as they were posing a question to the autocratic character of the rulers or confronting fascism.
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Protest for release of activists

09/04/2022

Times of India / by TNN

The farmer and student organisations protested in Faridkot on Friday for the release of those who have completed their sentences and of activists who have been arrested on flimsy grounds. Activists of Kirti Kisan Union, Naujwan Bharat Sabha and Punjab Students Union raised slogans for the release of Prof GN Saibaba, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Umar Khalid, Devinderpal Singh Bhullar and others.
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Left leaders protest, seek release of political prisoners

08/04/2022

Tribune of India / by Tribune News Service

Members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) New Democracy on Friday held a protest against the non-release of Sikh prisoners who had completed their sentences and imprisonment of political prisoners, intellectuals, writers, journalists and activists in false cases.
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Video: In Conversation with Sudha Bharadwaj – The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

26/03/2022 Asha

By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ

The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails.

en | 1:21:23 | 2022
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Stan Swamy’s death will always be stain on India’s human rights record, says UN working group

19/03/2022 Asha

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (March 18)
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concludes that Stan Swamy’s death in custody was completely avoidable and it was a failure of the central government. It further adds that this would forever remain a stain on the country’s human rights record.
Read full UN statement

UN Working Group asks India to accord Stan Swamy’s family with compensation and reparations under international law

19/03/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, besides expressing its grave concern over his death in judicial custody, has sought answers from the Indian government on four specific questions.
THE death of Jesuit priest and Adivasi rights activist Stan Swamy in judicial custody will “forever remain a stain on the human rights record of India”, says a new brief by the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The group had formally adopted its opinion on Swamy’s death during its 92nd session on November 16, last year but made its comments public just this week.
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Stan Swamy’s death will always be stain on India’s human rights record, says UN working group

19/03/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said that the activist died in ‘circumstances that were utterly preventable’.
The death of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy will always be a stain on India’s human rights record, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said.
The group had made the comments at its session on November 16, and the comments became public earlier this week.
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Stan Swamy’s custody death a ‘stain forever’

19/03/2022

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has urged Centre to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances that led to Father’s death.
Jesuit priest Stan Swamy’s custody death was a “failure” on the part of India’s government and would “forever remain a stain” on the country’s human rights record, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said.
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India added to human rights watchlist as government blocks funding of NGOs and keeps activists behind bars

10/03/2022 Asha

By CIVICUS

● Government raids offices of NGOs and blocks foreign funding
● Journalists and activists targeted by Pegasus Spyware
● Activists in detention under draconian laws

India is currently rated Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor. There are a total of 49 countries in the world with this rating (see all). This rating is typically given to countries where civic space is heavily contested by power holders, who impose a combination of legal and practical constraints on the full enjoyment of fundamental rights (see full description of ratings).

Read CIVICUS Press Release

Download India Country Research Brief

21 European MPs Express Concern at Treatment of Rights Activists / Solidarity at International Women’s Day

08/03/2022 Asha

21 European MPs Write to Modi Expressing Concern at Treatment of Rights Activists

08/03/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The MEPs highlighted three particular cases: the arrest of 16 activists in the Elgar Parishad case, the arrest of 13 activists in connection with the protests against the CAA and the detention of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez.
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by FLD Brussels (March 8)

Members of @Europarl_EN sent a letter to high level authorities in #India raising the alarm over the dramatic escalation in arrests of HRDs under the #UAPA, incl the #BhimaKoregaon case, CAA protesters & #KhurramParvez, which they condemn in the strongest terms.

Read full letter & signatories at the website of MP Alviina Alametsä
Read full letter

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Rally at International Women’s Day, Berlin (Germany)

08/03/2022

By India Justice Project

On #InternationalWomensDay we remember especially the #womenpoliticalprisoners incarcerated by the Indian govt. In speaking out against their imprisonment, we speak out, too, for the multitudes of people whose struggles they have taken on and carry forward.

Banner: Free all political prisoners in India

International Mother Language Day: Take Action for Hany Babu

22/02/2022 Asha

By PEN International

On 21 February each year, PEN International joins worldwide observations of International Mother Language Day, which celebrates the importance of linguistic diversity around world.
This year, PEN International calls for the release of linguistics scholar and activist Hany Babu (India), who has been unjustly detained by the Indian authorities as part of the government’s wider crackdown on dissidents and advocates for the rights of marginalised communities in India…

Take action
PEN International considers Hany Babu’s detention and that of his fellow activists a breach of their right to freedom of expression, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
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Also watch:

Video: Language and the Problems of Justice

en | 3h5min | 2021

By Field Linguistics JNU

An Online Conference to mark one year of Hany Babu’s imprisonment
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Opposition MPs urge Narendra Modi to free jailed activist / Full statement

06/02/2022 Asha

MPs write to PM, asking for immediate release of all arrested in Bhima Koregaon case

01/02/2022

By CPI (M)

click to enlarge

Bhima Koregaon case: Opposition MPs urge Narendra Modi to free jailed activists

07/02/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The MPs alleged that evidence was planted against the accused persons.
Members of several Opposition parties have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate release of academicians, lawyers and activists detained in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Grant Bail to Activists Arrested in Elgar Parishad Case, MPs Say In Letter to Modi

07/02/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The letter, signed by 20 MPs, expresses “deep concern at the media and cyber-forensic expert reports indicating that Indian citizens have been attacked with illegal cyber weapons”
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Also read:
● Arsenal Report No. 4 Confirms Pegasus Attack on IPhone of Rona Wilson, Key BK Accused (PUCL / Dec 2021)

UAPA and the many victims of the Republic of India

29/01/2022 Asha

AskIndiaWhy / by AskIndiaWhy

January 26 is India’s Republic Day, when the government will conduct an elaborate parade under the vanity of national pride as the world’s largest democracy — supposedly guaranteeing liberty, equality and freedom of speech.
India’s Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was established in 1967 with the purpose of centralising political power to prevent “unlawful activities” and upkeeping the integrity of India’s sovereign democratic status.
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Also watch/read:
● Video: International Solidarity Statement, 73rd Republic Day of India (InSAF / Jan 2022)
● On R-Day, Diaspora Groups Call for Release of Anti-CAA Protestors Charged Under UAPA (The Wire / Jan 2022)

Video: International Solidarity Statement, 73rd Republic Day of India

26/01/2022 Asha

Also read: On R-Day, Diaspora Groups Call for Release of Anti-CAA Protestors Charged Under UAPA (The Wire / Jan 2022)

Video: International Solidarity Statement, 73rd Republic Day of India

26/01/2022

en | 14:45min | 2022

By InSAF India

An International Solidarity Statement remembering the human rights defenders in jail in India who remain under trial for extended periods of time for speaking out against the injustices of the Indian State against its most vulnerable citizens. The meeting to record this statement was initiated by Amnesty International Germany India Coordination group, Amnesty Switzerland and InSAF India (International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India) on the occasion of India’s Republic Day for a collective reading of the preamble of the Indian constitution and saying the names of the BK16 and other imprisoned human rights defenders in India.
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Credits for images/quotes used in the statement …

Fr Stan Swamy, Khurram Parvez, Siddique Kappan on Freedom of Religion or Belief victims list

24/01/2022 Asha

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has listed 1309 victims from across the world on this FoRB victims list.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has listed Human Rights Martyr Fr Stan Swamy, human rights defender Khurram Parvez, journalist Siddique Kappan as Freedom of Religion or Belief victims.
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