European Parliament sub-committee urges India to release Navlakha and Teltumbde immediately
The European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressing concern about the recent arrests of activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha by the National Investigative Agency, and urged India to immediately release all political prisoners in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The activists are accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
In the letter, European Union Special Representative for Human Rights Maria Arena said that it was particularly alarming how human rights defenders cannot conduct advocacy activities, especially in favour of India’s poorest and most marginalised communities, without becoming “subject to intimidation and harassment”.
The subcommittee also questioned India’s use of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to portray legitimate peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and other government laws and policies as “terrorist activities”.
The amended UAPA allows the government to proscribe individuals as terrorists and empowers more officers of the National Investigation Agency to probe cases. A person charged under the act can be jailed for up to seven years.
It is worrying that terrorism charges are being to silence human rights activists such as Safoora Zargar, Gulfisha Fatima, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Dr Kafeel Khan; Asif Iqbal and Sharjeel Imam, who were recently arrested by the police, the committee observed. “Consequently, we strongly believe...
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