Amnesty International India was forced to halt its operations on 30 September 2020 as part of a continual crackdown on civil society in India. Help us keep protecting human rights in India.  

Since 2018, the authorities have conducted a smear campaign against Amnesty International India prompted by its reporting on human rights violations in India. The office and trustees’ residences have been raided several times. In September, when the accounts of Amnesty International India were frozen by the authorities, the Organization was forced to halt operations and let go off its staff members. Staff lost their jobs without their September salary and severance pay.

Amnesty International India appears to have been targeted because of its work on a range of issues including the government’s crackdown on Human Rights Defenders; human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and the latest reports implicating Delhi Police during last year’s Delhi Riots.

Amnesty International India has been working the death penalty, extrajudicial executions, critique of repressive laws curtailing human rights work, and oppression of minorities, women and other vulnerable groups, as well as delivering human rights education in India. This is a huge setback to the protection of human rights in the country. The Indian government must immediately unfreeze the bank account of Amnesty International India to allow it to carry out its human rights work freely and without reprisals.

Take action and protect human rights work in India.

We call on the Indian government:

• Stop the crackdown on civil society, and immediately release all human rights defenders who were arrested for their dissenting voices. 
• Immediately unfreeze the bank accounts of Amnesty India and let the organization continue its human rights work.