The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee
The award would be sent to the priest at Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai and the money to his organisation in Ranchi.
Father Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old jailed priest, has been selected for an award honouring the late Mukundan C. Menon, journalist and founder of the human rights organisation People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
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The Wire / by Nandini Sundar
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) decided to mark December 10, International Human Rights Day, by remembering several prominent activists arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), especially those arrested in the name of Bhima Koregaon, and the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act…
Mahesh Raut, one of the youngest of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, is a graduate of TISS and was a PM Rural Development Fellow in Gadchiroli.
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hindi | 11:30min | 2020
The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
Why do farmers wish to broaden the scope of their protest?
Farmers protesting at the border on International Human Rights Day demanded the release of all activists who have been arrested. The Wire‘s Political Affairs Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta spoke to the farmers to find out why they wished to broaden the scope of their protest.
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16/12/2020
The Times of India / by Bella Jaisinghani
Mumbai: The Society of Jesus, which runs prominent schools and colleges in the city, has expressed solidarity with their jailed senior colleague Fr Stan Swamy and decried the “abuse” of the UAPA law. The ailing 83-year-old priest remains in Taloja Jail facing UAPA charges in the Bhima Koregaon case, and had to battle for basic amenities like straw and sipper.
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16/12/2020
Times of India / by TNN
A unit of NGO, Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS), affiliated to St Peter’s Church, Bandra, urged citizens to signal support for jailed activists, including the elderly Fr Stan Swamy through their Christmas Star.
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16/12/2020
UCA News / by Saji Thomas
Federal probe agency opposes Father Swamy’s bail after claiming it has serious evidence against him.
An elderly Indian Jesuit priest remains in jail after a special court deferred hearing his bail plea for a fourth time following opposition from the federal probe agency that arrested him two months ago on charges of sedition and links to Maoist rebels.
The bail application of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy came up for hearing on Dec. 14 before the special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) based in Mumbai, capital of western India’s Maharashtra state.
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Also Read: NIA OPPOSES BAIL PLEA OF STAN SWAMY / STAN SWAMY LIKELY TO BE SHIFTED TO ARTHUR ROAD JAIL (Dec 15)
UCA / by Saji Thomas
A demand to release an elderly Jesuit priest and 15 other activists was prominent among calls made at programs marking international Human Rights Day in many parts of India.
Several rights groups joined with citizens to organize demonstrations, webinars and marches across the country on Dec 10, expressing their concern over what they said was a governmental attempt to throttle dissenting voices against its policies and programs.
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The Quint / by Kaleeswaram Raj
Incarceration is not mere curtailment of freedom. It is a diminution of human dignity. And today, one is forced to think that individual dignity in India is in deep crisis.
It is amazing to watch the Supreme Court building that symbolises a wonderful architectural tradition. It is more so when one looks at the flock of birds that fly over the court’s tomb, epitomising universal liberty, a theme that the Constitution tried to imbibe. It contains provisions for certain fundamental rights even for non-citizens. Article 21 promises right to life and personal liberty to ‘any person’. The court has interpreted life to always mean dignified life.
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The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
On Human Rights Day, retired judges say intellectuals have been implicated for speaking against the government.
It is close to three years that intellectuals, activists and lawyers were arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. Retired judges, who organised the Elghar Parishad event, say, “All those accused in the case are not connected with it but they have been implicated because they have spoken against the government. They are denied basic human rights.”
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07/12/2020
The farmer protesters gathered at Tikri border plan to celebrate International Human Rights Day on the protest site (Baba Banda Singh Nagar) on December 10 and raise their voice for the release of intellectuals and human rights activists.
Jhanda Singh Jethuke, Senior Vice President of Bhartiya Kissan Union/BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) told the press that International Humans Rights Day has come when lakhs of farmers are protesting on the roads and Modi government have arrested numerous human rights activists and peo-people intellectuals. The demand for the release of human rights activists has been constantly raised in the ongoing agitation.
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The Leaflet / by Shiv Visvanathan
Each citizen, as Havel once said about totalitarianism, must become iconic of protest from body language to symbolism. When indifference and prejudice becomes a monstrosity of legal indifference, civil society must reinvent democracy as a new politics of caring, says Shiv Visvanathan.
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03/12/2020
Counterview / by Counterview Representative
A well-known Jharkhand civil rights organization has blamed the Maharashtra government for failing to ensure “basic rights” 83-year-old Father Stan Swamy, a state human rights activist, currently lodged as an undertrial in Mumbai’s Taloja jail. In a letter to state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, it regretted, the jail authorities only provided with a sipper to the human rights activist, suffering from Parkinson’s “on November 29 after widespread condemnation from all quarters.”
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02/12/2020
The Hindu / by Jay Manoj Sanklecha
Denying a prisoner with disabilities his recognised rights is a legal wrong and a display of a lack of compassion.
… If Father Swamy’s allegations are true … apart from demonstrating the insensitivity of legal procedure, outline another fundamental issue — that of the rights of prisoners with disabilities. While incarceration itself is not easy, it is significantly more difficult for persons with disabilities.
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Dec 1: Mahasabha has written to Maharashtra CM @OfficeofUT with the appeal to ensure all amenities and dignity to Stan Swamy.
01/12/2020
Sabrang India / by Sabrangindia
The international organisation expressed concern over the denial of a straw for the Parkinson’s Disease affected Jharkhand activist.
Front Line Defenders, an organisation that works globally to seek protections for activists and human rights defenders, has demanded that Fr. Stan be moved to a private hospital equipped to provide necessary medical treatment. They have further demanded that all charges against him be dropped.
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Parliamentarians and trade unionists establish solidarity committee for arrested human rights activists, lawyers, intellectuals and cultural workers in India
Press Release Nov 30, 2020
Swiss parliamentarians and trade unionists have formed a solidarity committee for political prisoners in India. With this they protest against the criminalization of human rights activists and government critics in India and demand their release. They also call on the Indian government to ensure that they are released, that irregularities in the proceedings against the arrested persons are investigated and that rights of the prisoners are fully guaranteed. The committee was initiated by the Solidarity organization SOLIFONDS, which has been in contact with the well-known arrested lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj for years. …