UNITED NATIONS: The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday said that it was “deeply saddened and disturbed” over the death of Indian rights human activist Stan Swamy while under imprisonment.
Liz Throssell, the spokesperson for the office, said in a statement that in the light of the events and the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian government should release persons detained without a sufficient legal basis, including those held simply for expressing dissenting views.
“We stress, once again, the call of High Commissioner (of Human Rights) on the Government of India to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association,” the statement said.
Swamy, 84, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, was moved to a private hospital from a Mumbai jail in May after he tested positive for Covid.
Arrested in October 2020 under a draconian anti-terror law, he died in the hospital on Monday.
Critics have denounced the law, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using it to mute dissent.
Swamy had repeatedly denied the charges of terrorism, saying he was being targeted for his work related to the caste and land struggles of tribespeople in Jharkhand state.
The accusations were in connection with violence that broke out in 2018 during an event commemorating a historic battle fought by Dalits (untouchables) against an upper-caste rule.
Swamy’s doctors told a court hearing his bail application that he had suffered a cardiac arrest early morning on Sunday and never regained consciousness.
“Father Stan (Swamy) had been held in pre-trial detention without bail since his arrest, charged with terrorism-related offences in relation to demonstrations that date back to 2018,” the UN human rights office statement said.
“He was a long-standing activist, particularly on the rights of indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups. While in Mumbai’s Taloja Central Jail, his health deteriorated and he reportedly contracted Covid-19. His repeated applications for bail were rejected.”
“High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet and the UN’s independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Father Stan and 15 other human rights defenders associated with the same events with the Government of India over the past three years and urged their release from pre-trial detention,” the statement said.
“The High Commissioner has also raised concerns over the use of the UAPA in relation to human rights defenders, a law Father Stan was challenging before Indian courts days before he died.
“In light of the continued, severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more urgent that States, including India, release every person detained without a sufficient legal basis, including those detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views. This would be in line with the Indian judiciary’s calls to de-congest the prisons.”

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