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Stan Swamy’s death will always be stain on India’s human rights record, says UN working group

Stan Swamy’s death will always be stain on India’s human rights record, says UN working group

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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Bombay HC seeks reply of NIA, Maharashtra govt on plea filed by Father Stan Swamy’s next of kin

Bombay HC seeks reply of NIA, Maharashtra govt on plea filed by Father Stan Swamy’s next of kin

India Today / by Vidya

The Bombay High Court has issued notices to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and the Maharashtra government, seeking their reply on a petition filed by Father Frazer Mascarenhas. Mascarenhas is the next of kin of late Father Stan Swamy who died while in judicial custody last year.
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The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn

The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn

article 14 / by Shamik Bag

By using security laws, deploying surveillance technology, and leveraging potent national interest narratives, Narendra Modi’s Hindu-first government has targeted critics and eroded the rule of law in India—often in violation of the Constitution, using legal loopholes and grey areas. Through the lens of the notorious Bhima Koregaon case, we investigate these tactics in-depth, and report how citizens are fighting to preserve the world’s largest democracy.
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Modi government’s actions against the Christian minority reveal a deep malaise within our society

Modi government’s actions against the Christian minority reveal a deep malaise within our society

Scroll.in / by Peter Ronald deSouza, The India Forum

Making Christmas Good Governance Day, harassing the Missionaries of Charity and Stan Swamy’s death in custody all go against the idea of decency.
The spate of attacks on churches in some states of India, even during the Christmas season of 2021, is not as disturbing to me as five other actions taken by the current political dispensation…The first is the incarceration and subsequent death of Stan Swamy, while still under custody as an undertrial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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India retains ‘partially free’ status for second year in Freedom House’s 2022 report

India retains ‘partially free’ status for second year in Freedom House’s 2022 report

India retains ‘partially free’ status for second year in Freedom House’s 2022 report

04/03/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The report from the US-based NGO attributed BJP government’s ‘discriminatory policies’ and persecution of Muslims for India’s standing in the report.
India was called a “partially free” country for the second year in a row in the 2022 report by the United States non-governmental organisation, Freedom House. India’s was 66th on the “Freedom of the World” rankings – a notch higher from last year’s 67.
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For the second consecutive year, India drops on freedom score

01/03/2022

The Hindu / by Parvathi Benu

The main pointers for the lower rankings include – politicians and journalists surveillance, activist Stan Swamy’s death, and the Lakshmipur Kheri incidents. 
India, for the second consecutive year, continues to not completely free country, according to the findings in the Freedom of the World report.
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Read full report: Freeedom in The World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule

How Modi has Depressed Indian Democracy

How Modi has Depressed Indian Democracy

Intpolicydigest.org / by Manas Nag

In July of last year, Stan Swamy, a prominent tribal rights activist, passed away at a hospital in Mumbai. The 84-year-old became India’s oldest political prisoner and remained in custody for eight months while his bail plea on medical grounds was repeatedly rejected. Riddled with Parkinson’s disease, Swamy’s health deteriorated to the point where he could not feed himself. He was eventually moved to a hospital in May where he contracted COVID-19. Swamy was charged and arrested in 2020 under a draconian anti-terror law called the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) – an accusation he categorically denied.
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Book review: Stan Swamy’s voice for the voiceless

Book review: Stan Swamy’s voice for the voiceless

Book review: A voice for the voiceless

28/01/2022

The Telegraph / by Mahtab Alam

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages
Stan Swamy was no silent spectator, his book makes it clear who he was.
Ever since the tragic death of the human rights activist, Father Stan Swamy, much has been written about him, including a few books. This is not surprising, given his contributions to human rights, especially the rights of indigenous people. However, what distinguishes this book is that it is a first-person account even though it is not an autobiography. Divided into 16 short chapters, including a Prologue and an Epilogue, it takes us on a journey where we are not just introduced to Stan’s personality and work but also get glimpses of the time period it covered.
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Download full book (pdf file)


Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi
Language: English

Paperback: 45 pages
Download full book (pdf file)

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

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

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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PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

19/01/2022

Law Street Journal / by Komal Kinger

Pegasus is a type of spyware created by the Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group that can be installed secretly on mobile phones (and other divices) running most versions of iOS and Android.
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Elgar Parishad Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting

10/01/2022

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

On January 3, the committee issued a public notice urging people to contact them in case they have reasons to believe that their phones were compromised using the malware.
Several human rights defenders and academics implicated in the Elgar Parishad case and their lawyers have sent their representation to the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee alleging that their phones were infected by the vicious Pegasus malware.
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Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping

08/01/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

On January 3, the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee (TC) to investigate the snooping allegations using Pegasus spyware had issued a public notice urging citizens to contact it if they felt that their mobile device had been infected…
The Leaflet learns that at least four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, and their counsel, Nihalsing B. Rathod, have written to the committee separately alleging that their mobile devices had been infected with the Pegasus malware.
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Also read:
Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)