Stan Swamy Passes Away After Contracting COVID-19 in Jail, Lawyer Demands Judicial Inquiry https://thewire.in/rights/stan-swamy-death-covid-19-judicial-inquiry 

Swamy had been cured of COVID-19 a few weeks ago but his lawyer said that the infection had left a lasting impact on his vitals. Desai insisted that the delay in the treatment led to Swamy’s death. As per the procedure laid down under Section 176 (1A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a judicial magistrate’s inquiry has to be carried out in case of a custodial death. Additional solicitor general Anil Singh told the court that the state is not “foreclosing the mandated inquires”.

Even when Swamy was struggling in jail, both the NIA and the state prison officials had opposed his shifting to a private hospital. Swamy’s lawyer had moved an urgent interim bail and the NIA court had rejected his bail petition on grounds including his health and the current COVID-19 situation.

Mihir Desai, moved another application before the high court, this time challenging the constitutionality of UAPA. Desai has challenged the constitutionality of section 43D (5) of UAPA, which imposes strict conditions for grant of bail. The bail application claims that the UAPA section violates Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian constitution. The case is scheduled for hearing again on July 6.

Healthy democracies must respect role of human rights activists: US on Stan Swamy’s death 

The Office of International Religious Freedom under the US State Department has called call on all governments to respect the vital role of human rights activists in healthy democracies,”  https://theprint.in/india/healthy-democracies-must-respect-role-of-human-rights-activists-us-on-stan-swamys-death/692104/ 

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/fr-stan-swamy-was-jailed-on-false-charges-says-top-un-official/article35156145.ece Jailing Human Rights Defenders is inexcusable,” says Mary Lawlor, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

Eamon Gilmore, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, said, “I am very saddened to hear that Fr. Stan Swamy has passed away. A defender of indigenous peoples’ rights, he was held in detention for the past 9 months. The EU had been raising his case repeatedly with the authorities”.

India and the EU have been engaged in a dialogue to defend human rights. Officials from both sides met for the 9th India-EU Human Rights Dialogue on April 12, 2021. “As the world's two largest democracies, India and the EU reiterated their commitment to human rights. In this context, they emphasised the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights,” a Joint Statement issued following the meeting had declared.

Kashmiri man released after 11 years of wrongful imprisonment https://muslimmirror.com/eng/kashmiri-man-released-after-11-years-of-wrongful-imprisonment/  “No evidence was found that he was in touch with terrorist elements through electronic gadgets,” the judge said.  Bashir’s family had staged dozens of protests when he was picked up by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, vouching for his innocence. The family said that even the Jammu and Kashmir Police had informed Gujarat Police about the innocence of Bashir and yet he was not released, reported the local news agency KNT.