Amnesty pleads for ending solitary confinement of Mumbai terror suspect, govt says "no"

Ansari

In a statement which is likely to turn controversial in India, one of the world’s top-most human rights organizations, Amnesty International, has pitched for ending the solitary confinement of Zabiuddin Ansari, suspected of planning and coordinating the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. His health is said to be deteriorating after he decided to be on a wet hunger strike on August 5, which continues till date.
In support its argument, Amnesty has cited the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which states that solitary confinement for over 15 consecutive days amounts to prolonged confinement and should be prohibited.
“The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has said that prolonged solitary confinement can cause severe mental pain or suffering, and can amount to torture or other ill-treatment”, Amnesty said, adding, “India’s Supreme Court has ruled that solitary confinement can violate the right to life and personal liberty recognized by the Constitution.”
Ansari was arrested in June 2012, and is facing trial on charges of planning and coordinating the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 164 people and wounded over 300. "Since August 5, he has been on a wet hunger strike (taking liquids but not food) protesting against his indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement at the Mumbai Central Prison", said Amnesty.
Ansari has been variously described as an Indian national and an Islamic fundamentalist/terrorist, belonging to Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). His name was reportedly listed in the "50 most wanted criminals sheltered in Pakistan" released by India on 21 May 2011.
One who served as the handler of the 10 LeT terrorists during 2008 Mumbai attacks, Ansari Ais also an accused in several cases such as the Ahmedabad railway station blast case of February 19, 2006 and the Aurangabad arms haul case of May 2006.He was deported from Saudi Arabia on June 25, 2012.
Amnesty quotes Ansari’s lawyers as saying his health is “deteriorating” and that he is “extremely weak and cannot walk without support.” They confirmed, Ansari has been asking jail authorities to remove him from isolation.
Brushing aside Ansari’s plea, the Maharashtra government has that the solitary confinement is necessary to “ensure” Ansari’s safety. Ansari has been in the Mumbai Central Prison ever since he was captured, and has been held in solitary confinement in pretrial detention for over two years and eight months.
In August 2013, Ansari petitioned the Bombay High Court in order to end his solitary confinement, Amnesty said, adding, the court rejected his plea, stating that the prison management was authorized to take any steps they thought necessary in the interest of the safety and security of prisoners.
On September 4, Ansari petitioned the Supreme Court, where he stated that he is being detained in a cell without windows, illuminated only by a high-voltage electric bulb that is never switched off, making the cell seem like a “furnace”.
Amnesty wants people to immediately write in English or any other language, urging the authorities that Ansari’s solitary confinement should end, and ensure he is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
The organization also wants the state government “to ensure that he receives any medical attention he may require and has access to an independent doctor of his choice.”
Amnesty wants signatories to send their appeals to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis before November 9, 2015, either in writing to the Mantralaya, or through email to chiefminister@maharashtra.gov.in, with copies to BM Bhosle, Mumbai Central Prison (Arthur Road Jail); and to diplomatic representatives accredited to different countries.

Comments

Gujarat No 1 here too? Cops justify torture: 'Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis naturally prone to crimes'

A new report, "Status of Policing in India Report 2025: Police Torture and (Un)Accountability", states that Gujarat tops the list of 16 states and one Union Territory, with 63% of its police personnel "strongly endorsing" torture. Furthermore, 49% of Gujarat’s police personnel were found to have what the report calls a "high propensity" for torture, considering it "necessary and acceptable" for obtaining information across various crime categories—second only to Jharkhand (50%). In sharp contrast, Kerala has the lowest percentage of police personnel "justifying" torture (3%) and the lowest "high propensity" for violence (1%).

Will Trump govt use US religious freedom report to further pressure India into submission?

Already under pressure from the Trump administration, which has reportedly asked India—successfully, some would say—to remove high tariffs on American products, there is reason to wonder whether Washington might use the recommendations of the latest United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Annual Report to further act against the Government of India.

A traditional Marxian view? Like N-weapons, AI poses 'existential threat' to human civilization

The other day, I was talking with YS Gill , whom I have known as an incisive analyst since my youth, when he, like me, was associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI). A passionate science activist committed to creating awareness of scientific thinking, he told me about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it would lead to mass unemployment. Predicting that AI would replace human intervention in India’s call centers, he estimated that about 70 lakh people would be rendered jobless.

60 crore in Mahakumbh? It's hype with eye on UP polls: Keen BJP supporter in Amit Shah's constituency

As the Mahakumbh drew to a close, during my daily walk, I met a veteran BJP supporter—a neighbor with whom we would often share dinner in a group. An amicable person, the first thing he asked me, as he was about to take the lift to his flat, was, "How many people do you think must have participated in the holy dip?" He then stopped by to talk—which we did for a full half-hour, cutting into my walk time.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Patriot, Link: How Soviet imbroglio post-1968 influenced alternative media platforms

Adatata Narayanan, Aruna Asaf Ali Alternative media, as we know it today in the age of information and communication technology (ICT), didn't exist in the form it does today during or around the time I joined formal journalism at Link Newsweekly as a sub-editor in January 1979. However, Link, and its sister publication Patriot, a daily—both published from Delhi—were known to have provided what could be called an alternative media platform at a time when major Delhi-based dailies were controlled by media barons.

Top Hindu builder ties up with Muslim investor for a huge minority housing society in Ahmedabad

There is a flutter in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area, derogatorily referred to as the "border" because, on its eastern side, there is a sprawling minority area called Juhapura, where around five lakh Muslims live. The segregation is so stark that virtually no Muslim lives in Vejalpur, populated by around four lakh Hindus, and no Hindu lives in Juhapura.

Martyrs’ Day at Sanand: Remembering Vinod Kinariwala amidst politics of remembrance

I was urged by a close relative, considered across my family as a binding force, to attend a grand ceremony on Martyrs' Day, March 23, along with four other relatives. The event, called Veeranjali (homage to martyrs), was to be held in an open space near Sanand town, about 15 kilometers from Ahmedabad. Martyrs' Day has been observed across India since independence, as it was on this day in 1931 that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were executed.

New York-based digital company traces Modi's meteoric rise to global Hindutva ecosystem

A recent document, released by the Polis Project Inc.—a New York-based digital magazine and hybrid research and journalism organization—even as seeking to highlight the alleged rise of authoritarianism in India, has sought to trace Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meteoric rise since 2014 to the ever-expanding global Hindutva ecosystem over the last several decades.

Search This Blog