By Martin Banks - 13th July 2011
India says it is a great democracy but this law greatly undermines such claims
Chris Davies
ALDE deputy Chris Davies has appealed to the EU to challenge the "draconian" public safety act and its "misuse" in Kashmir.
Addressing a news conference in parliament on Tuesday, the Briton said the law had been used to illegally detain journalists, political activists, NGO representatives and a range of other people since its introduction.
An Amnesty International report said that the number of detainees under the law over the past 20 years ranged from 8000 to 20,000.
Davies said the law "violates" India's international human rights obligations, saying, "It can be compared to the detention of terrorist suspects in Northern Ireland in the 1970s."
He said, "India says it is a great democracy, but this law greatly undermines such claims. Many of those detained under this law may have committed no criminal act at all."
Davies said, "This is a draconian law and it is important that the EU does not withdraw from debate about it for fear of upsetting India.
"The issue needs to be put on the political agenda."
The Amnesty report condemned the Indian authorities, saying the law had been used to detain "thousands" of people without trial.
It says there are numerous individual cases of human rights violations and that the public safety act allows the occupation authorities to detain a person for two years without producing them before a court of law.
"Arbitrary use of the act has evoked widespread criticism from the human rights organisations," it says.
Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan in its entirety, but has been divided since 1948 and has been the cause of two wars between the countries.
