Articles by Ravi Nair

(The following are extracts from an open letter sent to the Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh, protesting against the decision to freeze Greenpeace India’s accounts.)

The Supreme Court judgment in the Akshardham temple attack case has acquitted six innocent men who were tortured and then made to suffer imprisonment. The Supreme Court has come down hard on the investigating agencies of Gujarat and the way in which the lower judiciary has functioned in this case. The apex court must take this forward and revisit the existing prosecutions under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and examine the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which incorporates many of the pota provisions.

Despite signing the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment in 1997, India is ratifying it only now with parliamentary consideration of the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010. However, the bill fails to comply with the basic requirements of the UN Convention. In fact, it shows up the government's reluctance to give effect to the Convention and resolutely address the endemic problem of torture. The bill needs serious reworking if a new law has to have any effect on the widespread use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment routinely meted out to suspects and detainees by law enforcement officials.