Amnesty International halts India operations after ED freezes all its bank accounts

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International announced that it has work in India has been halted after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze several of the organisation’s bank accounts on allegations of money laundering and suspected violations of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Amnesty further claimed that it has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all ongoing campaign and research work.

However, the organization has completely denied all the allegations and has termed the move as a tactic to silent dissent.

Amnesty International in its website issued a statement stating that, “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.”

In October 2018, the ED conducted investigations into charges that the organization had attempted to bypass the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and alleged violations of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 by floating a commercial entity, Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd.

Also in November 2019, its offices in Bengaluru were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with accusations that the non-profit organization had received foreign funds in violation of the law.