Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, has deplored the death in custody of 84-year-old priest Stan Swamy, who campaigned for the rights of tribal people in India and was detained under an anti-terrorism law and denied bail.
Swamy was arrested last year on suspicion of ties to a banned group that police accused of instigating violence in Maharashtra State in 2018.
Swamy, who had Parkinson’s disease and also contracted COVID-19 while in prison, died in a Mumbai hospital on Monday.
“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,” Lawlor wrote on Twitter.
“Jailing HRDs is inexcusable,” she added, referring to human rights defenders.
The Indian National Investigation Agency, which was pursuing the case against Swamy, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Indian ministries of home and foreign affairs also did not respond to a request for comment.
The government has previously in court hearings denied accusations of mistreatment of Swamy and said that the law must be allowed to take its course.
Supporters of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said that there could be no tolerance of violence by Maoist guerrillas, some of whom operate in remote areas where tribal people live.
Swamy was the oldest of a dozen people, most of them academics and human rights advocates, accused of violence in 2018 and imprisoned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which allows for prolonged detention for questioning.
Opponents of the law say that it is used to unfairly hound people critical of the government.
EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore wrote on Twitter that he was saddened by the death of the defender of the rights of indigenous people.
“The EU had been raising his case repeatedly with authorities,” Gilmore wrote.
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