The United States, European Union and United Kingdom have shown their deep concern over the illegal freezing of bank accounts of Amnesty International in India last month.

The US State Department, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom Foreign Office issued statements expressing concern over the government’s decision to freeze the Amnesty’s funds that forced the international human rights agency to close its office and suspend human rights work in India.

The European Union 9EU) had been the first which publicly expressed their reservations over the Indian actions. EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy Nabila Massrali said that “Not prejudging the outcome of any investigation or judicial proceedings, the European Union highly values the work of Amnesty International worldwide and hopes that the matter will be resolved allowing Amnesty to continue its activities in India without interruption,”.

She added that the EU was committed to the protection and empowerment of civic actors, including human rights defenders, and to the promotion of space for civil society.

The UK’s Minister for South Asia Tariq Ahmed met Indian government representatives in New Delhi after Amnesty International India’s accounts were frozen, to emphasize the importance of organizations like this being able to continue their important work,” said a British High Commission spokesperson, adding that “the UK is seeking further information on recent decisions affecting Amnesty and believes the freedom of civil society organizations to operate underpins any functioning democracy”.

The US State Department also issued a statement saying the moves on Amnesty International had been noted “at the highest levels” of the US government as well as by members of the US Congress, adding that the US is “concerned about obstacles to the work of civil society, whether in India or anywhere else in the world”.

After a rising chorus of international concern over the closure of operations by Amnesty International in India, the Ministry of External Affairs said the group had broken the law by circumventing rules around foreign donations.

However, a senior Director of Amnesty International wrote in the UK leading newspaper “The Guardian” the Amnesty International has repeatedly denied the charge claiming its actions were “entirely legitimate”. “This decision was not motivated by any question of law as the Indian authorities now claim. It is not about Amnesty India’s sources of funding, which are entirely legitimate and involve no law-breaking.

This is punishment for standing up for humanity’s core values in the world’s largest democracy.

Julie Verhaar, Acting Secretary General of Amnesty International in her reaction said this is an egregious and shameful act by the Indian Government, which forces us to cease the crucial human rights work of Amnesty International India for now. However, this does not mark the end of our firm commitment to, and engagement in, the struggle for human rights in India. We will be working resolutely to determine how Amnesty International can continue to play our part within the human rights movement in India for years to come.

Rebutting the claims of Amnesty International, the Delhi police said that Amnesty’s report was “lopsided, biased and malicious”.

It was not the first time Indian hurdled the work of Amnesty International, according to a BBC report In August 2016, a case of sedition was filed against Amnesty India over allegations that anti-India slogans were raised at one of its events. Three years later, the court ordered the charges to be dropped.

In October 2018, the group’s offices in the southern city of Bangalore were raided by the Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes. Its accounts were frozen then too, but Amnesty says it was able to access them after seeking a court’s intervention. In early 2019, the group says dozens of its small donors were sent letters by the country’s income tax department. And later in the same year, Amnesty’s offices were raided again, this time by the Central Bureau of Investigation, based on a case registered by India’s home affairs ministry.

According to analysts the reason of present frustration of Indian Government was a report of the Amnesty International on the occasion of first anniversary of the revocation of Indian-administered Kashmir’s special status, Amnesty had called for the release of all detained political leaders, activists and journalists, and for the resumption of high-speed internet services in the region.

India was also annoyed  the watchdog testified before the US Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on human rights in South Asia, in 2019,  where Amnesty International highlighted its findings on arbitrary detentions, and the use of excessive force and torture in Kashmir.

Human Rights activists across the globe are of the opinion that the Indian Government did not want to answer the questions raised by Amnesty International, whether it’s in terms of their investigations into the Delhi riots, or the silencing of voices in Jammu and Kashmir.

The writer is a Islamabad based journalist, analyst security & diplomatic affairs

Twitter: @arifqoreshi