Amnesty India | SabrangIndia

Amnesty being accused of sparking caste-tensions in Hathras?

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 09:49:50 +0000

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s public relations machinery appears to have gone into a fiction writing overdrive, floating conspiracy theories that are even more convoluted than the plotlines of Indian day-time soap operas.

A section of the media, that is perceived to have pledged allegiance to the regime, is now reporting that Amnesty International could be investigated for their alleged involvement in sparking caste-tensions in Hathras! While one such media outlet quoted unnamed sources in the Enforcement Directorate as saying Amnesty received funds from Islamic nations for creating caste-based unrest to defame the Adityanath regime in UP, another reported that the human rights organisation was allegedly hand-in-glove with Muslim political groups like the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) who are perceived to be Islamic hardliners. The second media outlet quoted unknown sources as saying that anti-CAA protesters had created the (now defunct) website justiceforhathras.com that was used to spread fake news, hate speech, edited videos and pictures to incite hate and violence. This website is allegedly linked to Amnesty, PFI and SDPI, though it is not clear how.

What is significant though is the timing of these stories. Just yesterday, the UP Police filed multiple FIRs across the state in the Hathras case alleging an “international conspiracy” to defame the Adityanath government. Charges include sedition, promoting religious hate, inciting caste divides, religious discrimination, doctoring electronic evidence, a conspiracy against the state and defamation. There are also charges related to non-compliance with Covid-19 social distancing protocols.

‘Upper-caste’ groups are already busy giving the situation their own spin. They have already held major meetings to change the narrative and claim that the accused are innocent. One such meeting was held a stone’s throw from the victim’s house, in what appears to be an intimidation tactic. Meanwhile, Delhi Police were the first to register cases against peaceful protestors demanding justice for the Hathras gang rape victim, a few days ago. The protestors had gathered at Jantar Mantar, and according to police they violated Section 144 CrPC, charged them under section 188 of IPC, 3 Epidemic Act and 51(b) Disaster Management Act.

Amnesty recently shut down its India operations after the Ministry of Home Affairs froze their bank accounts for allegedly violating provisions of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA). This latest set of allegations appears to feed right into the narrative of ‘foreign funds being used for anti-national activities’ that has long been peddled by a vindictive regime against human rights organisations that expose its excesses.

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NHRC issues notice to MHA over Amnesty ‘witch-hunt’

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 06:06:41 +0000

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in connection with the winding up of Amnesty International’s operations in India after taking suo motu cognizance of the matter.

The NHRC stated in a press release, “According to media reports that the complete freezing of its India bank accounts the Amnesty International Organization in India has reportedly halted all the work in which it has been engaged in the country. In a statement the organization has stated that it has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. It is alleged that this is the latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Govt. of India over unfounded and motivated allegations.”

It further enumerates instances of Amnesty’s human rights work that have placed the organisation in the regime’s crosshairs, saying, “On October 22, 2019, Amnesty International testified at the US Congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia, with specific focus on Jammu & Kashmir after the Indian Parliament on August 5 pushed through constitutional changes that divested Jammu & Kashmir of its special status and reorganized it into two Union Territories. On August 28, the rights groups released an investigative brief on the complicity of the Delhi Police in the month of February, 2020. The Amnesty International had claimed that 53 people had died in the riot while Delhi Police rebutted the claim saying that the report was lopsided, biased and malicious. The Amnesty International has reportedly accused the government of suppressing the speech and demanded the release of activists Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, Sudha Bhardwaj, Surendra Gadling and others who were arrested in connection with the January, 2018 caste clashes in Bhima-Koregaon near Pune in Maharashtra.”

It then takes the bull by its horns by raising concerns about MHA’s statement in response to Amnesty’s allegations, saying, “The Union Home Ministry has reportedly mentioned in their statement that the stand taken by Amnesty International is unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth. The organization has been accused of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violations, and “interference in domestic political debates” despite being funded by foreign donations. The rights group has reportedly denied the financial violations charges and has stated that they have been in full compliance with all laws.”

It then bats for Amnesty saying, “The Amnesty International is a reputed non-governmental organisation raising its voice globally whenever there is an incident of violation of human rights of the people. The allegations levelled by the organisation are serious in nature and have been strongly answered by the government agency. Any kind of difference of opinion may be a subject of investigation and decision by the competent court. The Commission finds it necessary to go through the matter, analyse the facts and reach a conclusion in the interest of human rights friendly environment in the country.”

NHRC has given the MHA six weeks to respond. The entire NHRC press release may be read here.

Meanwhile, human rights defender Dr. Kafeel Khan has also written to Amnesty International saying, “I believe Amnesty international is more than an organisation. It is a movement which will continue even if the structure doesn’t exist. It is made of the most passionate, hardworking and dedicated people, who will defend human rights wherever they go.” He goes on to thank Amnesty for their support when he was incarcerated by a vindictive regime, saying, “You raised my plight and injustice done to me when Uttar Pradesh government illegally slapped National Security Act on me and urged our Indian government to immediately release human rights defenders who have been arrested for peacefully protesting against changes in the nation’s citizenship laws and an upcoming national register for citizenship.”

Dr. Khan’s complete letter may be read here:

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BREAKING: Amnesty halts India operations

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 04:52:34 +0000

After years of being hounded by a vindictive regime, International Human Rights organisation Amnesty International is putting a stop to all operations in India. Operations came to a grinding halt after the Indian government froze the organisation’s bank accounts.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Amnesty International India said, “The complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt. The organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work.”

Amnesty has been in the regime’s crosshairs for unearthing and reporting on their excesses repeatedly. Recently it had come out with a damning report on the February 2020 Delhi violence that revealed how minorities were specifically targeted and how in many cases, police inaction permitted the violence to exacerbate. They had also demanded that an independent enquiry be conducted to ascertain the role of the Delhi Police in the violence. The report was released in late August and the bank accounts were frozen in early September.

“The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.

The regime is accusing Amnesty of money laundering and soliciting foreign funds illegally, thereby violating provisions of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA). However, the group has rubbished these claims saying, “Amnesty International India stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India’s work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The fact that the Government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the government’s grave inactions and excesses.”

The regime has been targeting Amnesty International India for several years, mainly because the group which is a part of a Nobel Prize winning movement, does not shy away from exposing ugly ground realities about the state of human rights in the country. “Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Enforcement Directorate and Government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India. It reeks of fear and repression, ignores the human cost to this crackdown particularly during a pandemic and violates people’s basic rights to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, and association guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and international human rights law. Instead, as a global power and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, India must fearlessly welcome calls for accountability and justice,” said Avinash Kumar.

The regime began its witch-hunt against Amnesty’s India operations in 2016 when it was slapped with sedition charges. Then, in October 2018 when Enforcement Directorate officials raided the organisation’s offices and its director’s home. The group has released a timeline of how it has been systematically targeted, as a part of its statement.

The complete statement may be viewed here:

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Prohibit Pellets in Shot Guns Immediately: Amnesty International, India

Fri, 15 Sep 2017 12:43:44 +0000

Danish Rajab Jhat (24), marketing executive from Srinagar, had to get his left eye removed due to pellets related injuries on 17 July 2016.

“I had 92 pellets Hit my Face,
Who Says Pellets are Not Lethal?
Ask Us
Pellets Killed Our Dreams and Hopes
They Bruised our Souls
They Made our Lives Hell”

Danish Rajab, 24

Amnesty International India has called for a ‘complete ban’ on the use of pellet guns in Kashmir in their latest report titled “Losing Sight in Kashmir: The Impact of Pellet-Firing Shotguns” which was released on Wednesday. The report depicts the plight of 88 victims of pellet guns in Kashmir whose eyesight was damaged in one or both eyes by metal pellets fired from pump-action shotguns used by the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) between the year 2014 and 2017.

The report says pellet-firing shotguns, which have been responsible for blinding, killing and traumatizing hundreds of people in Kashmir, “must be immediately banned.” The pump-action shotguns, as per the report, have been used by forces in Jammu and Kashmir since at least 2010. The report says the use of shotguns in Kashmir has “blinded hundreds and killed at least 14 people since July 2016.”

“School going boys and girls have lost vision in one or both eyes, and have difficulty reading, playing with their friends, or watching cartoons,” the report says, adding that college students have had to give up their dreams of pursuing higher education. “Young men and primary breadwinners of families say that they cannot earn a living anymore, that they are now a liability for their families.”

This report comes just as India’s lacklastre, if not hostile response to the international community on various human rights recommendations has just become public. The ambivalence of the Indian government on the use of pellet guns by security forces and the paramilitary–that have taken away the eyesight of young children in Kashmir is shocking. Similarly the government of India remains non-committal on the crucial issue of surveillance even when the Indian Supreme Court (on August 24, 2017) gave a resounding 9 member verdict on the Right to Privacy reasserting that this right, is a primordial right that is above all, pervasive in all aspects of human life.

Asif Ahmad Sheikh (9 years old) class 5 student from Anantag, lost the vision in right eye on 21st July 2016.

The report reveals that several people have not regained their eyesight despite going through repeated surgeries, and that they’re “spending considerable amounts of time on medical treatment. Some still have pellets inside their eyes, because it is medically risky to remove them.”

The report features large sized, black and white photos of pellet victims, including those of teenagers and young men in their early 20s, along with their details and brief thoughts, in quotes, which depict their pain.

The report also recommends initiation of an “independent and impartial civilian criminal investigation into all incidents where the use of pellet firing shotguns led to deaths or serious injuries to establish whether arbitrary or excessive force was used, and where sufficient evidence is found, prosecute those suspected of responsibility in civilian courts.”

Insha Mushtaq (15), class 9 student from Shopian, lost vision in both eyes on 11 July 2016.

The report further recommends full compensation, to be provided by government of India and the state government, for the victims of pellets guns in Kashmir. “Provide full reparation in line with the international standards to those who have been injured by pellet-firing shotguns, and to the families of those killed,” the report recommends at the end, adding that this must be “adequate compensation and rehabilitation, including any medical and psychological care that may be needed.”
The report also recommends the central and state government to provide “relevant training on crowd control measures and the use of force and firearms to security force personnel of the central and state governments, as laid out in the UN Basic Principles on the use of Force and Firearms by the Law Enforcement officials and UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.”
“Authorities claim the pellet shotgun is not lethal, but the injuries and deaths caused by this cruel weapon bear testimony to how dangerous, inaccurate and indiscriminate it is,” Aakar Patel, Executive Director at Amnesty International India said while releasing the report. “There is no proper way to use pellet-firing shotguns. It is irresponsible of authorities to continue the use of these shotguns despite being aware of the damage they do.”

The report also reveals some information obtained through an RTI filed by AI which shows that out of 648 people treated for injuries in government hospitals of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district in 2016, “16 people were from Jammu and Kashmir police who suffered various forms of injuries caused by pellets.” When AI wrote to the J&K police and CRPF seeking details on whether any of their personnel had been injured by pellet shotguns, no responses were received.

Traumatized and living in the dark
Zahoor Wani, Senior Campaigner at Amnesty International India and lead researcher of the report, said pellet gun victims in Kashmir are facing serious physical and mental health issues, which includes physical pain, memory loss, and hypertension. “Many of the pellet victims we met while researching for the report are young students who had to give up their studies as they couldn’t focus on their studies due to their eye injuries,” said Wani, adding that only in one case they found the victim family having filed an FIR, while the rest of the victims were unable to pursue their cases, many of them unaware of who hit them with pellet shotguns which resulted in their fatal eye injuries. Wani said during their research they also found many cases where pellet gun victims were as old as 9 and 10 year olds, including 14 cases which involved young girls who were hit by pellet guns inside or close to their homes.

Shabroza Mir (19), class 10 student from Pulwama, lost vision in her left eye on 31 October 2016.

Shabroza Mir, a 19-year-old student and one of the pellet gun victims who featured in the report, talked about her condition while briefly addressing the audience at the event. She said she was preparing for her class 10th exams when she was hit by pellets in her left eye outside her home in Pulwama district on October 31 last year. She said the pellet injury has psychologically affected her. She is unable to read and focus on her studies. “When I look down to read something even now,” she said. “It pains me and I’ve to stop reading.”

Manzoor Ahmad Dar, a 22-year-old baker from Pulwama. who also addressed the audience after the release of the report, said he’d to close his shop and stop working following his doctor’s advice as his right eye suffered partial loss of sight after pellets were fired at him in October last year. “My father died long ago after which I was supporting my family,” he said. “But after I was hit by pellets, I had to close my shop and I’m unable to earn and support my family now,” he said. “I’m doomed.”

Farooq Ahmad Malla, a 27-year-old box maker from north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, lost vision in both his eyes after he was hit by pellets in March last year. “The pellets have turned everything black – my ambitions, my dreams, my whole life,” his quote beneath his black and white photo reads in one of the pages of the report. “It is painful to hear that more and more people are being pushed into this dark world by these pellets.”