The arrests of Anand Teltumbde & Gautam Navlakha on Dr BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary underlines disregard of constitutional values & international calls for release of human rights defenders, not their detention, especially at a time of COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, CHRI had urged state governments to “protect the life of prisoners” & called for their “temporary release" on health grounds. The Supreme Court’s order to arrest two human rights defenders disregarded that appeal.

Read: https://bit.ly/2Vy1Omv 

Eminent figures Romila Thapar, Maja Daruwala, Prabhat Patnaik, Devaki Jain and Satish Deshpande were "shocked that (in 'the so-called Bhima-Koregaon case') the prosecution has not been held accountable to the spirit of the law.”

#AnandTeltumbde #GautamNavlakha

Thapar & others said "courts have condoned the continued imprisonment of those who have dared to defend the rights of voiceless & marginalised people" & appealed for restoration of "public confidence in our Constitution & the civil liberties that it guarantees to all citizens."

CHRI draws @MEAIndia attention to the call by @UNHumanRights on April 3 to "release every person detained without sufficient legal basis, including political prisoners & those detained for critical, dissenting views."

#HumanRights #India #Pandemic #Coronavirus #PrisonersPeopleToo #PublicHealth #BhimaKoregaon #BRAmbedkar #Justice