In a statement the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) said the UAPA and other draconian laws must be immediately repealed to end the arbitrary, wrongful and unnecessary incarceration of all peace and justice-loving Human Rights Defenders, political activists, journalists, academicians, artists and others.
NEW DELHI – Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has condemned the “complicit role of the state in Father Stan Swamy’s” death.
“We are deeply pained and outraged to learn about the death of Father Stan Swamy under judicial custody,” ACPR said in a statement.
APCR said that Father Stanislaus Lourduswamy was a priest and human rights defender who dedicated and sacrificed his life in seeking rights and justice for the marginalised. The NIA arrested Swamy for alleged links to Maoist forces in the Bhima Koregaon violence case and booked him under the draconian UAPA law. The 84-year-old was kept in jail for more than nine months and denied bail sought on medical grounds.
Stan Swamy had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease before being jailed and contracted Covid-19 while in prison but the NIA since October repeatedly opposed his bail request in court through its inhuman arguments of no “conclusive proof” of his medical ailments.
APCR General Secretary, Malik Motasim Khan said, “Stan lives in our struggles and memories and we pay our homage to this brave human rights defender who not only devoted his whole life for the cause of the poor and downtrodden but also sparked the flames of struggle in the hearts of many.”
He further said, “The custodial death of Father Stan Swamy is a perfect example which depicts how the process becomes punishment whenever the principles of natural justice and human rights are undermined in the hands of authoritarian governments.”
APCR said that, “the UAPA and other draconian laws must be immediately repealed to end the arbitrary, wrongful and unnecessary incarceration of all peace and justice-loving Human Rights Defenders, political activists, journalists, academicians, artists and others. The overcrowded prisons should be decongested and our prison system should be compassionate and humane enough which meets the basic human rights standards. Our punitive criminal justice system calls for urgent reforms to make it more accountable, sensitive and responsive which is competent enough to safeguard the rights and civil liberties of the people of India from power.”
“We extend our deepest condolences to Father Stan Swamy and his family and loved ones. His contributions and values will always be remembered and will work as fuel to ignite our fight for rights and justice,” APCR said.