UN Human Rights Commissioner worries on ongoing use of UAPA in India

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The Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights, United Nations has called the situation in India ‘worrying’, while expressing its concern over the ongoing use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) throughout India.

Referring to the state of Jammu & Kashmir, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has remarked that the state has the highest number of cases registered under UAPA across the Country.

Also, she shed her concern over the cases of journalists who are under detention for exercising their right to the freedom of expression.

“Indian authorities restrictions on public assembly, and frequent temporary communication blackouts, continue in Jammu and Kashmir, while hundreds of people remain in detention for exercising their right to the freedom of expression, and journalists face ever-growing pressure.”

She has also observed that displacement due to environmental disasters is a particularly serious phenomenon in Asia.

“…the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has reported that in 2019, China, Bangladesh, India and the Philippines witnessed more disaster displacement than all other countries combined – amounting to 70 per cent of the global total.”