The Indian government froze all bank accounts of Amnesty International India, citing allegations of money laundering and violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). This led to the suspension of Amnesty International India's operations and staff layoffs.
Amnesty International India denies all allegations, claiming the actions are intended to silence dissent. They highlight multiple raids on their offices by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2018 and 2019 based on unsubstantiated claims. The organization emphasizes its full compliance with Indian and international laws and notes that its funding is primarily from domestic sources, rendering the FCRA inapplicable.
Amnesty International India suggests the government's actions are a reprisal for their outspoken criticism of the government's handling of human rights issues, specifically mentioning the Delhi riots and the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. They view the crackdown as part of a broader pattern of repression against human rights activists and organizations who challenge the government.
Amnesty states over four million Indians have supported their work, with approximately 100,000 making financial contributions. They argue that this domestic funding model is incompatible with money laundering allegations.
The Government of India has freezed all the bank accounts of Amnesty International India on the allegations of money laundering and suspected violations of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Consequently, the human rights organization has been forced to suspend its operations and let go of its staff in India.
However, the organization has completely denied all the allegations and has termed the move as a tactic to silent dissent.
"The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent," said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.
The organization claims that its premises have been raided by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI respectively, twice in two years, based on "unsubstantiated" allegations.
"On 25 October 2018, Amnesty International India endured a 10-hour-long raid as a group of officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a financial investigation agency under the Ministry of Finance, entered its premises and locked the gates behind them. Most of the information and documents that were demanded during the search were already available in the public domain or filed with the relevant government authorities. The residence of a Director was also raided.
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On 22 October 2019, Amnesty International testified at the US Congressional hearing on the situation of human rights in South Asia with specific focus on Jammu and Kashmir since the unilateral abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
On 15 November 2019, two weeks after the testimony and amid rumours of impending arrests of the organizations top officials, the offices of Amnesty International India and the residence of one of its directors were raided again by the CBI. The raids were conducted on the basis of a First Information Report filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs over unsubstantiated allegations of suspected violations of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act," the organization claims.
Amnesty International India claims that it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. It has claimed that all its funds are raised domestically and there is no scope for application of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
"More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India's work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The fact that the Government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the government's grave inactions and excesses," it said.
It added,
"The attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organizations, activists and human rights defenders is only an extension of the various repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power."
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