On September 25th, during the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Right Livelihood Foundation delivered a statement denouncing the recent arrests of 11 Muslim students and three university professors in India, some under the anti-terrorist law, in relation to the Delhi riots, opposing the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Registry of Citizens. We urged India to promptly mandate an independent investigation on the riots and ensure accountability of the real instigators of the violence.
Read the statement below:
Thank you, Madam President,
The Right Livelihood Foundation wishes to draw your attention to the recent case of 11 Muslim students and three University professors in India, who have been arrested and detained for protesting the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act and the identification by the Indian government of over 500,000 Muslims, declared foreigners and at risk of imminent incarceration.
The CAA, coupled with the Indian nationwide citizenship verification process, puts millions of Muslims at risk of Statelessness. Their only crime? Having entered India out of extreme poverty decades ago. Their alleged countries of origin do not acknowledge their citizenships and they are for all intents and purposes Indian.
Madam President,
The recent arrests are in sharp contrast with the lack of accountability towards the real instigators of the riots, including three leaders of the central government and two members of the legislative assembly. They repeatedly called upon party members and police officers to shoot at protesters, causing over 500 injured, the destruction of 600 properties, and the death of 53 persons, two-thirds of which were Muslims.
We therefore call upon the Council to address the declining human rights situation in the country, urge India to mandate an independent investigation of the Delhi riots and ensure accountability. Lastly, we call on the Indian authorities to promptly accept a visit from the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues and to ratify the 1954 and 1961 Conventions relating to the Status and Reduction of Statelessness.
Thank you.
