LONDON: Amnesty International, the London based human rights organization, has added its voice to the growing number of Indian Civil Liberties groups calling for a review of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, TADA, Amnesty said, had been used to arbitrarily detain, torture and ill-treat thousands.  

In a report issued recently; Amnesty said the Act fell “far short of international human rights standards.” It also accused India of reneging on its February, 1994 assurance, when New Delhi said with regard to TADA that “scrupulous attention has been taken to protect the rights of the individual murder the process of law.” Amnesty also questioned the government’s assertion that TADA was a temporary legislation.

“TADA shows signs of becoming in effect a permanent piece for legislation,” Amnesty said, “Although proclaimed as temporary, the Act has now been in force for nine years. The recent testament from India’s Home Minister shows that the government has no intention of repealing the Act. Nor does the government, apparently, wish to establish an independent mechanism to review whether the continued application of the Act in many parts of India can possible be justified “to cope with the menace of terrorism.”

Amnesty said that many members of UN Human Right Committee examining India’s observance of the right granted under the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), found that TADA and other special laws in India infect established a continuing state of emergency. Certain rights guaranteed in the covenant, especially the right to liberty and security of the person where suspended under special legislation.

As with civil liberties groups in India, including the National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty expressed concern at the “gross abuse” of TADA in Gujarat. Though the ‘state did not suffer from terrorism, Amnesty said, it had the highest number of TADA case more than 19,000, according to the NHRC. “Amnesty International has reported on abuse of the Act in the state for many years: it knows of students who have been arrested under the Act for protesting against a rise in milk prices, of workers opposing the contract labor system.

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 2, 1994