Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has halted its India operations due to alleged 'witch-hunt' by the government, the organisation stated on Tuesday. As a result, Amnesty International India has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work.
The organisation stated that it was forced to shut down its operations after the India government completely froze Amnesty International India’s bank accounts, which it came to know on 10 September, 2020. "This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisations by the government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," Amnesty International India said in a release on Tuesday. This is the fifth time the organisation has been forced to halt its operations by successive governments by squeezing finances.
“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 and 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.
The organisation reiterated that 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. 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," the organisation alleged.
Amnesty linked all government action to its reports critical of the government; its recent reports raised questions on alleged rights violations during the February Delhi riots and in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. In a report released last month, the group said police in the Indian capital, Delhi, committed human rights violations during deadly religious riots between Hindus and Muslims in February. Rebutting the claims, the Delhi police told The Hindu that Amnesty's report was "lopsided, biased and malicious".
Earlier in August, on the first anniversary of the revocation of Article 370 in Kashmir, Amnesty had called for the release of all detained political leaders, activists and journalists, and for the resumption of high-speed internet services in the region.
"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,” Kumar stated.
According to an NDTV report citing top government officials, Amnesty is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate over alleged irregularities in receiving foreign funds. The government has alleged that the organisation "got money into India through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) route," which is not allowed in the case of non-profits.
This is not the first time Amnesty is running into rough waters in India. In 2009, too, during the UPA government, Amnesty had suspended its India operations because of what the group said was repeated rejection of their licence to receive funds from overseas.