The Amnesty International Tuesday suspended operations in India after the government froze its bank accounts and said the rights group was being a victim of constant harassment and “witch-hunt” over “motivated” allegations.
The rights group, along with several other non-governmental organisations have blamed the Indian government of harassment from the BJP led Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government for speaking about gruesome human rights violations, particularly the Indian occupied Jammy and Kashmir.
In a statement the group said the complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the Government of India 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. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations,” Amnesty International India said.
The continuing crackdown on @AIIndia over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. This is not the end of Amnesty India’s commitment to human rights, we will not be silenced by the attacks of the government. pic.twitter.com/pgZprkfIfe
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 29, 2020
“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.”
The constant harassment by government agencies is a result of our unequivocal calls 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.
Amnesty International India said it 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.
The Government of India has responded with a purposefully misleading message which has no basis in law, as will be proved in time. It only serves to obscure the truth that its legal harassment of @AIIndia is a reprisal against our human rights work. https://t.co/fMDxlBPJzx
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 29, 2020
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.
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
“The attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organizations, activists and human rights defenders is only an extension of the various repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power.”
“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.
