Amnesty international decries NIA raids on civil society groups in India

Amnesty International has condemned the series of raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the homes and premises of civil society groups and journalists in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India.

New Delhi: Days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at homes and premises of civil society groups, human rights activists, and journalists in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, Amnesty International on Saturday decried such action and appealed to the Indian government to halt such activities.

"These raids are an alarming reminder that India's government is determined to suppress all dissenting voices in Jammu and Kashmir," said Julie Verhaar, acting secretary-general of Amnesty International.

The human rights watchdog said that NIA raided the residence and offices of prominent human rights activists Khurram Parvez, the coordinator of J&K Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), three of his associates, and Parveena Ahanger, chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP).

"Both the organisations have reported extensively on human rights abuses in Kashmir, including the indefinite administrative detention and extrajudicial executions of human rights activists, torture of people in detention and the widespread impunity of the security forces in the region," said Amnesty International.

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Verhaar said that the authorities are evidently targeting civil society and media groups because of their continued work reporting and advocating for the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir despite the harsh communications blackout that was imposed by the Indian government in the region on August 5, 2019.

"In a worrying pattern, the UAPA and the foreign funding law are being repeatedly and deliberately weaponised to intimidate, harass and restrict the ability of civil society groups from operating, in clear violation of the rights of freedom of expression and association," said Verhaar.

Verhaar said that the raids came after Amnesty International India was forced to halt its work and let go of its employees in the country from October 1, 2020 after its bank accounts were frozen by the government, shortly after it released a situation update on human rights in Jammu and Kashmir.

In September 2020, APDP submitted almost 40 testimonies of victims who were subjected to arbitrary detention and torture by security forces in Kashmir, to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

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On August 5, JKCCS published its bi-annual human rights review documenting the alleged extrajudicial executions of at least 32 individuals and the impact of internet shutdowns in the region, the human rights watchdog said.

"Since 2014, several organisations have been targeted under the foreign funding law, including Greenpeace India, Lawyers Collective, Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns, Sabrang Trust, and many others. In September 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the FCRA was further amended, without any public consultation, to choke civil society in India," said Amnesty International.