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