Statements – Page 25 – free them all

US panel on religious freedom flags India as ‘country of particular concern’ for third time

25/04/2022 Asha

‘Religious Freedom Worsened’: US Body Names India as ‘Country of Particular Concern’

26/04/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

This is the third consecutive year when United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated India as such.
… The latest report, in a section devoted to India, has accused the Narendra Modi government of muzzling dissenting voices, misusing UAPA and sedition laws, allowing illegal arrests of rights’ activists, carrying out violent attacks against Muslims and Christians and creating “hurdles” for NGOs to receive funds from abroad for charity work.
It has also prominently discussed the arrest and custodial death of Father Stan Swamy.
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US panel on religious freedom flags India as ‘country of particular concern’ for third time in a row

25/04/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Other countries recommended for this designation by the USCIRF in its annual report are Pakistan, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, among others.
… “The UAPA and sedition law have been invoked to create an increasing climate of intimidation and fear in an effort to silence anyone speaking out against the government,” it said.
The report specifically mentioned the treatment meted out to 84-year-old Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Read full report

India among top 10 countries to jail writers, academics in 2021, shows Pen America’s report

16/04/2022 Asha

India figures on list of top 10 ten countries that jail writers, academics & intellectuals

16/04/2022

The Federal / by The Federal

The 2021 Freedom to Write report recently published by Pen America, an NGO, has detailed the arrests of eight people in the country, which includes comedian Munawar Faruqui and those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case.
India has the dubious distinction of figuring among the top ten list of countries that jail writers, academics and intellectual for their writings, works and advocacy.
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India among top 10 countries to jail writers, academics in 2021, shows Pen America’s report

15/04/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

This is ‘one element of the ruling party’s attempts to quash dissent and entrench political control’, the United States non-profit organisation said.
… According to the report published on Wednesday, 277 writers and academics were detained or in prison in 36 countries last year. Of them, eight are from India – comedian Munawar Faruqui and Bhima Koregaon accused persons Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira and Anand Teltumbde.
Read more

PEN America’s Writers at Risk Database (India, 2021)

Also read:
● International Mother Language Day: Take Action for Hany Babu (Pen International | Feb 2022)
● Joint Statement: Freedom for Varavara Rao (Pen International | Oct 2021)
● A Dark Day for Democracy and Freedom of Expression (Pen International | Aug 2018)

PUDR: When The Process becomes The Punishment

13/04/2022 Asha

Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) / by PUDR

Tomorrow, 14th April 2022 marks the completion of two years of PUDR activist Gautam Navlakha’s surrender before the NIA. One of sixteen accused in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam has been imprisoned in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai since 25 May 2020. For more than six months now, since 12 October 2021, the nearly 70 years old Gautam, an undertrial suffering from multiple health problems has been in solitary confinement in one of 33 cells in the ‘anda’ circle, the High Security Area of Taloja Jail, a space meant to segregate those guilty of heinous crimes.
Read more

Also read:
● How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates (The Indian Express │ Oct 2021)
● System of solitary confinement, ‘Anda Cell’, inside the jail be stopped (Groundxero │ Oct 2021)

US Departments 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India

13/04/2022 Asha

US Department’s 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India

13/04/2022

US Department of State / by Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

… Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by police and prison officials; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention by government authorities; political prisoners or detainees; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; restrictions on free expression and media, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists …
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US government report says Indian Muslims are vulnerable to communal violence, discrimination

13/04/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The report also flagged extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests and detentions by government authorities.
… The report specifically mentioned the treatment meted out to 84-year-old Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. The case pertains to caste violence in a village near Pune in 2018. Sixteen people were arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.
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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
Watch video

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

click to enlarge

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.
Read more

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
Watch video

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”
Read more

Also read:
● Arsenal Report No. 4 Confirms Pegasus Attack on IPhone of Rona Wilson, Key BK Accused (PUCL / Dec 2021)