New Delhi: A resolution calling for an “independent investigation” into the death of tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy was introduced in the US Congress on Wednesday.
The draft resolution was moved by the US Representative from California, Juan Vargas, on the first anniversary of Father Swamy’s death while in judicial custody for the Elgar Parishad case.
The announcement was made by Vargas at a webinar to mark Father Swamy’s death and also the status of minorities in India.
“I am appalled by the abuse Father Stan faced while in custody. No one who fights for human rights should face such violence and neglect,” said the Democrat Congressman, per a press release on the webinar.
At the age of 84, Stan Swamy passed away on July 5, 2021, in Mumbai’s Holy Family Hospital, where he had been shifted out of prison after testing positive for covid-19. Swamy’s lawyer had told the Bombay High Court that his client was denied medical care for over ten days before he was finally moved to the hospital.
Swamy was arrested in October 2020 for his alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case. He had moved courts multiple times seeking access to proper healthcare, as he frequently fell ill. He had even moved the court to get a sipper as he was denied one, despite suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease. He was one of 16 people arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, which has been slammed by critics as targeting dissenting voices.
The draft resolution “encourages India to pursue an independent investigation into the arrest, incarceration, and death of Father Stan, a prominent human rights activist who died while in custody on July 5, 2021”.
It further stated that the passage of the resolution would make it “clear to the Indian Government and all governments around the world that the mistreatment and incarceration of individuals advocating for human rights cannot persist”.
The text also expressed concern at the “misuse of anti-terror laws to target human rights defenders and political opponents”. The Wire
