Amnesty is under investigation for alleged irregularities in the receipt of foreign funds.
New Delhi:
Amnesty International has halted its operations in India, claiming that its accounts were frozen earlier this month as part of a government “witch hunt” for its adverse reporting and that it had to lay off its staff.
The government, however, says that the global rights watchdog has been receiving foreign funds illegally and never registered under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act.
In a press release, Amnesty said that “the complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the government of India, which learned on 10 September, stops all work that the organization is doing.” The organization said it had been forced to lay off staff in India and halt its entire ongoing campaign and investigative work.
“This is the latest in the relentless witch hunt of human rights organizations by the Indian government over unsubstantiated and motivated allegations,” Amnesty said, claiming that it had complied with all Indian and international laws.
Amnesty linked all the government’s actions to its critical reports of the government; Their recent reports raised questions about alleged rights violations during the February riots in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir after the repeal of Article 370.
“The continued crackdown by Amnesty International India over the past two years and the total freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies, including the Law Enforcement Directorate, is the result of our unequivocal calls to transparency in government, most recently to the accountability of the Delhi police and the government of India with regard to the gross human rights violations in the Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir riots. For a movement that has only raised their voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, “Avinash said. Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.
Senior government officials say Amnesty is being investigated by the Directorate of Execution for alleged irregularities in the receipt of foreign funds.
According to the Home Office, the organization “raised money in India through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) route”, which is not allowed in the case of non-profit organizations.
In 2017, the Directorate of Execution froze their accounts, after which Amnesty approached the court and obtained a pardon. But their accounts were sealed. Last year, the CBI also registered a case based on a complaint that Amnesty International UK allegedly transferred Rs 10 million to Amnesty India entities such as FDI without the approval of the ministry.
“A further 26 million rupees has been remitted to Amnesty (India) mainly from UK based entities without the approval of the Home Office. All of these proceeds have subsequently been spent on Amnesty NGO activities in India in violation of the FCRA, “the complaint states.
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