The Hindu : Amnesty denied visa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 23, 2002

Front Page

Front Page

Amnesty denied visa

By Anjali Mody

NEW DELHI July 22. An Amnesty International team has been denied visas to India because it wanted to go to Gujarat to investigate the massacres and other human rights violations and to monitor the progress made in bringing their perpetrators to justice.

In a statement issued today, Amnesty International said, "This refusal damages the image of both the Indian and Gujarat Governments before their citizens and the international community. A Government which fully accepts its responsibilities in protecting its citizens and upholds their constitutional rights to life and equality does not shy away from international scrutiny.''

Amnesty said that the Indian Government's refusal to grant it access to the State would "only reinforce the concern that the Government of Gujarat and the State police might have been accomplices in preparing the ground for the violence and in allowing it to occur and could be attempting now to cover up involvement of their officials.''

This is not the first time that the Union Government has prevented the international human rights organisation from coming to the country to study rights violations. Amnesty teams apply for research visas; these applications are processed not by the visa section in London but by the Home Ministry. The Ministry appears to have a growing list of States and subjects that it considers too "sensitive" for study by a human rights organisation like Amnesty. In the past, Amnesty has been refused visas because it wanted to study the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern States.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Opposition demands President's rule in Gujarat

Elections not a priority now, says Cong.

Musharraf to skip Indian skies

Drought looms large over northwest

Amnesty denied visa

Rly. issue for Cabinet

Files for bankruptcy

U.S. eases travel curbs

Cauvery case

Blast in CRPF camp