The family members of activist Stan Swamy have termed his death an “institutional murder” even as the United Nations said it is deeply disturbed by his death in pre-trial detention of the 84-year-old Indian rights activist and Jesuit priest, who was detained for nine months without trial under anti-terror laws, died on Monday ahead of a bail hearing.
Swamy was denied bail despite suffering from Parkinson’s disease and other ailments. He was admitted to hospital in May with coronavirus and suffered a cardiac arrest over the weekend.
The family members and friends of the other accused arrested in the Elgar Parishad case said on Tuesday that they held the “negligent jails, indifferent courts and malicious investigating agencies” responsible for the Stan Swamy death.
In a statement, they said it was “unconscionable” that someone as old as Swamy who was suffering poor health was put in jail amid a pandemic.
They also said that they feared for the lives of their family members and colleagues in jails who were facing “similar injustices” in jails.
Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Ranchi in October 2020 under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the Elgar Parishad case and lodged at the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.
“We, the friends and family members of those accused in the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case, are deeply pained and shaken to the core by the loss of Father Stan Swamy. This is not a natural death but the institutional murder of a gentle soul committed by an inhuman state,” the statement said.
“Having spent his life amongst the ‘’Adivasis’’ in Jharkhand, fighting for their right to resources and lands, Father Stan did not deserve to die in this manner, far from his beloved Jharkhand, falsely imprisoned by a vindictive state,” it said.
“Even his Covid disease was not diagnosed in jail and could only be detected after he was moved to the hospital on orders of the (Bombay) High Court,” it added.
“While we grieve at the passing away of Father Stan Swamy, we unequivocally hold the negligent jails, the indifferent courts and the malicious investigating agencies firmly responsible for his unfortunate death. We fear for the health and lives of our family members and colleagues, who are facing similar injustices in the same jails, under the same unaccountable system,” it added.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said on Tuesday it was deeply disturbed by Father Stan Swamy’s death in detention.
“We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the death of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy,” Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.
“High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet and the UN’s independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Father Stan and 15 other human rights defenders associated with the same events with the government of India over the past three years, and urged their release from pre-trial detention,” said Throssell.
“The high commissioner has also raised concerns over the use of the UAPA in relation to human rights defenders -- a law Father Stan was challenging before Indian courts days before he died.”
Throssell said that given the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries -- India included -- should release everyone detained without a sufficient legal basis, including those held simply for expressing dissenting views.
“We stress, once again, the high commissioner’s call on the government of India to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association,” the spokeswoman said.
