Amnesty International India

Amnesty International India is a country unit of the Amnesty International network, and is part of a global movement promoting and defending human rights and dignity.

Amnesty International India
TypeNGO
Location
Key people
Avinash Kumar (Executive Director)
Websiteamnesty.org.in

History

An Amnesty International office was first set up in India in Bihar in 1966.[1] Since then, the organization has worked on cases related torture, prisoners of conscience, abusive laws, women’s rights, corporate accountability and other human rights violations.[2]

Campaigns

Amnesty International India collaborates with Railway Protection Force, Western Railways in Mumbai to ensure female passengers’ right to safety.[3] It also runs a campaign to reduce the number of under-trials in jails in India.[4] Some of Amnesty India's campaigns include seeking justice for the victims in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots[5][6][7] as well as opposing the use of the death penalty in India.[8][9] The organization opposed the executions of Ajmal Kasab, Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon.[10]

Controversies

Following an event held in Bengaluru on 13 August 2016 on human rights violations, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad filed a first information report (FIR) against Amnesty India for being anti-national.[11] Amnesty India denied that the organization or its staff had been involved in any anti-national activities.[12][13] In March 2018, Amnesty India was found to be in violation of FCRA regulations of India, for which their offices in Bengaluru were raided by the Enforcement directorate.

On 15 November, 2019 the Central Bureau of Investigation raided the offices of Amnesty International India in Bengaluru and New Delhi during an investigation into an alleged breach of foreign funding laws. In a statement issued by CBI, they said "It was alleged that the provision of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 and Indian Penal Code were contravened".[14][15]

References
  1. Desai, Akshayakumar Ramanlal (1 January 1986). "Violation of Democratic Rights in India". Popular Prakashan – via Google Books.
  2. "India: Urgent investigation needed after rape suspects 'extrajudicially executed'". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  3. "Measures by Western Railway: Platforms to play special jingles for women safety". The Indian Express. 30 June 2016.
  4. Gandhi, Divya. "'65% of prisoners in India are undertrials'". The Hindu.
  5. "Amnesty International Slams Slow Progress Probe".
  6. "Amnesty Urges Centre to Speed Up 1984 Massacre Cases".
  7. "1984 anti-Sikh riots: Calls for justice in India".
  8. "End the Death Penalty - Amnesty International India".
  9. Ghosh, Anjali (2009). India's Foreign Policy. Pearson Education India. p. 220. ISBN 9788131710258.
  10. Burke, Jason (2015-07-30). "Yakub Memon: India carries out execution over 1993 bomb attacks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  11. "Amnesty accused of sedition over Kashmir event in Bangalore". 16 August 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. "Amnesty International India's response to complaint filed by ABVP - Amnesty International India".
  13. "Amnesty row: Human rights do not stand in the way of India's ambitions". Hindustan Times. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  14. "Amnesty International offices in India raided by federal police". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  15. "CBI raids Amnesty India offices in Bengaluru and New Delhi". The Economic Times. 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
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