At UN Human Rights Review, PEN International Questions Crackdown on Dissent in India

New Delhi: PEN International, a global writers’ association, on Wednesday raised concerns about India’s response to questions around freedom of expression at the review of India’s human rights record by the United Nations Human Rights Committee held this week.

PEN International had submitted a report to the rights committee as part of its periodic review of India under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). 

The report highlighted the crackdown on dissent in India citing a growing number of writers, journalists, academics and other critics of the government being subjected to legal harassment in the form of arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions without trial. 

The writers’ body expressed concern over “how the country’s legal system has been increasingly weaponised to suppress peaceful expression, particularly when it relates to criticism of the government of India or its policies,” in the context of the right to freedom of expression (Article 19 of the ICCPR). 

In its statement, the association said that many of the issues highlighted by PEN International were brought up by committee members but the Indian delegation “failed to to substantively engage with many of the concerns raised regarding undue restrictions on the right to freedom of expression.”

The writers’ body mentioned the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) being used as a tool to “unjustly prosecute” the government’s critics. Citing the detention of those accused in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case, the report highlighted the ill treatment of professor Hany Babu and poet Varavar Rao, and denial of bail despite medical grounds.

Using the example of the raids against independent media organisation NewsClick, the report pointed to the “ongoing efforts to clamp down on independent media and censor criticism of the government online.”

It also questioned the use of internet shutdowns, especially in areas like Jammu and Kashmir, to suppress dissenting views towards the government.

PEN International’s full report can be found here.