NEW DELHI: Amnesty International India On Tuesday it said the complete freezing of its bank accounts by the Government of India, which the agency called the latest in the relentless witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unsubstantiated and motivated allegations. , you have brought all your work to a crushing stop.
“… We learned of the accounts freeze on September 10. The organization has been forced to lay off its staff in India and halt its entire campaign and ongoing investigative work. This is the latest in the relentless witch hunt of human rights organizations by the Indian government over unsubstantiated and motivated accusations, ”read a statement issued by Amnesty.
Amnesty International India’s continued crackdown over the past two years and the total freezing of bank accounts, he said, “was not accidental.”
“The constant harassment by government agencies, including the Directorate of Law Enforcement (ED), is the result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in government, and more recently for the accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the serious human rights violations in the Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir riots, ”said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.
Claiming that the movement has done nothing more than speak out against injustice, Kumar said the latest attack is akin to freezing dissent.
Amnesty further stated that it fully complies with all applicable Indian and international laws. For human rights work in India, it operates through a different fundraising model at the national level.
“Over four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India’s work in the past eight years and around 1 lakh Indians have made financial contributions. These contributions obviously cannot be related to the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act of 2010, ”the statement added.
The fact that the government is describing this legal fundraising model as money laundering, the NGO said, was evidence that the overly broad legal framework is maliciously activated when activists and human rights groups challenge gross inactions and excesses. of the government.
He added that the attacks against Amnesty and other outspoken human rights organizations, activists and defenders are just an extension of the various repressive policies and the government’s sustained attack on those who speak the truth to power.
“Treating human rights organizations as criminal enterprises and dissident individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Directorate of Enforcement and the Government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle critical voices in India.” Kumar said.
He added that the measure reeks of fear and repression, ignores the human cost of this repression, particularly during a pandemic, and violates people’s basic rights to freedom of expression and expression, assembly and association guaranteed by the Constitution of India and international human rights law.
“Instead, as a world power and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, India must fearlessly welcome calls for accountability and justice,” said Kumar.
The NGO listed what it called the chronology of the attacks and harassment by the government:
First, on October 25, 2018, Amnesty endured a 10-hour raid by the Emergency Department. “Most of the information and documents that were demanded during the search were already available in the public domain or on file with the relevant government authorities. The residence of a director was also raided, ”he said.
Then, in early 2019, the Income Tax Department began sending investigation letters to more than 30 small regular donors. “Apparently, the department did not find any wrongdoing but the process adversely affected Amnesty fundraising campaigns,” he said.
In June 2019, Amnesty was denied permission to hold the launch press conference in Srinagar to publish its third report on the Lawless Law on Misuse and Abuse of the Public Safety Law in Jammu and Kashmir. “We were forced to publish it digitally,” he added.
“… On October 22, 2019, Amnesty testified at the hearing of the United States Congress on the human rights situation in South Asia, with special attention to Jammu and Kashmir since the unilateral repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Two weeks after this (November 15), amid rumors of imminent arrests of the organization’s top officials, the Amnesty offices and the residence of one of its directors were again raided by the CBI, ”the statement added.
On April 13, 2020, Amnesty called on the Uttar Pradesh government to stop intimidating journalists through the use of repressive laws during a pandemic. On April 15, 2020, the Cybercrime Police Station, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, notified Twitter to provide information about Amnesty’s Twitter account @AIIndia that the organization uses to monitor and analyze developments in international law of human rights and Indian constitutional and criminal law related to human rights. issues.
“On the occasion of the first anniversary of the repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Amnesty published an update on the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir and on August 28, which marks the sixth anniversary of the riots that took place in North-East Delhi we published an investigative report on the complicity of Delhi police in the riots, ”he added.
“… The publication of the two publications has given new impetus to the establishment to harass and intimidate Amnesty through its investigative agencies. Now, on September 10, 2020, Amnesty learned that all of his bank accounts were completely frozen by the Emergency Department, ”he said.
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