Key Points :
- Amnesty International halts operations in India after the government froze its bank account on September 10.
- Amnesty International is an International NGO that focuses on Human Rights worldwide and claims to have more than 8 million members and supporters.
- The Human Rights Organisation has accused the government and Enforcement Directorate of continuing crackdowns based on unfounded and motivated grounds.
- The Human Rights Organisation has posted a chronology of the harassment and attacks on its official website.
International Human Rights Organisation Amnesty International announced on Tuesday that it will be halting its operations in India following the complete freezing of their bank accounts by the Government of India which has forced them to lay off staff, pause campaigns and cease research work in India. Amnesty International is an NGO that works internationally to ensure Human Rights are upheld and human rights violations are acted upon by mobilising public opinion to create pressure on concerned authorities.
The human rights watchdog said this is the latest in an unabating witch-hunt against human rights organisations over “unfounded and motivated” allegations. The group has alleged constant ‘harassment’ and ‘continuing crackdown’ by the Modi government over the past two years over allegations of financial wrongdoing that it claimed were baseless. Its bank accounts were frozen on September 10, the group said, claiming the federal financial crimes investigation agency, the Enforcement Directorate, had targeted it.
“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, in a statement on Tuesday.
Amnesty, along with other human rights organisations have accused the Delhi police of collusion in the Delhi riots, a claim that the Police has denied.
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
A statement by Amnesty International reads,”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.”
There has been no official comment on the matter from the Government of India.
Opposition leader Shashi Tharoor called Amnesty’s exit a blow in a tweet.
India's stature as a liberal democracy with free institutions, including media & civil society organisations, accounted for much of its soft power in the world. Actions like this both undermine our reputation as a democracy & vitiate our soft power. https://t.co/6tNCnC37OW
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 29, 2020
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Activist Kavita Krishnan who is also the secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) said,“It’s a direct attempt by the Indian government to tell international human rights group that if you document rights violations by the Indian state we won’t let you continue to function in India.”
Amnesty International has published a chronology of harassment and attacks on its official website.
Last week, the government enacted changes in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill setting new conditions for organisations which NGOs have alleged are aimed at creating an air of mistrust.
