UN human rights agency says it is ‘disturbed” by the death of activist Father Stan Swamy after lengthy detention in prison.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday that it was “saddened and disturbed by the death of 84-year-old human rights defender Father Stan Swamy, after prolonged pre-trial detention.”
Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, passed away on Monday in Mumbai. He had been in custody since October 2020 on charges related to violence that erupted at a 2018 event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle.” However, evidence shows that he was not in Pune at the event, nor was he connected to the violence, yet was arrested and kept in prison for a lengthy period, suffered from Parkisons, contracted COVID in prison and eventually died still awaiting justice. New investigations found out that malware was planted into his laptop to frame him.
#India: We are saddened & disturbed by the death of 84-year-old human rights defender Father #StanSwamy, after prolonged pre-trial detention. With COVID-19, it is even more urgent that States release every person detained without sufficient legal basis.
? https://t.co/WkoxxTiNCb pic.twitter.com/6MUEUcgxMp— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) July 6, 2021
The UN said, “#India: We are saddened & disturbed by the death of 84-year-old human rights defender Father #StanSwamy, after prolonged pre-trial detention. With COVID-19, it is even more urgent that States release every person detained without sufficient legal basis.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says it is deeply saddened&disturbed by the death of 84-year-old Fr #StanSwamy. Calls on the government to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly&association. pic.twitter.com/bJvkEek6Ny
— The Leaflet (@TheLeaflet_in) July 6, 2021
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says it is deeply saddened&disturbed by the death of 84-year-old Fr #StanSwamy. Calls on the government to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly&association.
The news from #India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender & Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing HRDs is inexcusable. He explains his work here: https://t.co/kKPhM6IaHu pic.twitter.com/YoEpst0ol2
— Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs (@MaryLawlorhrds) July 5, 2021
Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs
@MaryLawlorhrds
The news from #India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender & Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing HRDs is inexcusable. He explains his work here:
India: I am very saddened to hear that Fr #StanSwamy has passed away. A defender of indigenous peoples’ rights. He was held in detention for the past 9 months. The EU had been raising his case repeatedly with authorities. https://t.co/DNpNa1r8cq
— Eamon Gilmore (@EamonGilmore) July 5, 2021
India: I am very saddened to hear that Fr #StanSwamy has passed away. A defender of indigenous peoples’ rights. He was held in detention for the past 9 months. The EU had been raising his case repeatedly with authorities.
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Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs
· Jul 4
Horrible news to learn that Indian HRD Fr. Stan Swamy is in very serious condition&was put on a ventilator last night. He’s spent 9 months in jail on unfounded charges.I’m deeply saddened&expect that every possible specialist treatment will be provided to him
Father Stan Swamy was the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India. Stan Lourduswamy, popularly known as Stan Swamy, (26 April 1937 – 5 July 2021) was an Indian Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Jesuit order, and a tribal rights activist for five decades. He had worked exceedingly in Jharkhand for the benefits of the Adivasis, serving the community, a lover of nature, and a gentle person. He questioned the government on many of the youths’ unlawful arrests and asked many other awkward questions to those in authority in a fight for the rights of the underprivileged.
He was a Parkinson’s patient and suffered from other age-related morbidities. He fell multiple times while in prison, could barely see and suffered hearing loss in both ears, and had undergone surgeries and later he contracted COVID while in prison. Due to his Parkinson’s disease, he needed a straw in prison which was a long-drawn-out battle, and even had to consistently request the court for warm clothes in winter in prison. The prison authorities too did not help him there.
While he was seen as an icon fighting for the rights of Jharkhand’s tribal populations, he was stamped by the government as a terrorist. The malware planted into his laptop was evident in investigation and while awaiting bail, he tragically died in a hospital of COVID. The nation today is rising and asking for justice including the Opposition leaders because everyone knows what was done to Stan Swamy was not justice but as some leaders call it, “a state political, judicial murder.”