India on Wednesday strongly hit out at UN rapporteur Ben Saul over a counter-terrorism report and called for high standards of impartiality after the document described underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as the leader of the “India-based” D-Company criminal gang with terrorist ties.
India also criticised the bias in the report, arguing that human rights principles should not be used to shield those responsible for terrorism. “It seems to have become fashionable for sponsors of terror to use human rights and the framework of counterterrorism to justify their misdeeds. The human rights framework cannot be the refuge of the perpetrators of terror and those who propagate radicalisation and extremism. Barkha Tamrakar, deputy secretary in the ministry of external affairs, delivered India’s statement at the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee.
Terrorism can never be justified,” he said. On Tuesday, India said that human rights should not be used to exert political pressure or to single out countries after more than 20 UN human rights experts in Geneva raised concerns over what they described as a “repeatedly heavy-handed police response” to youth-led protests in the national capital. “India engages with international human rights mechanisms, but such engagement must be based on dialogue, consultation, cooperation, with non-selectivity and transparency as guiding principles,” she said. The response came after criticism from UN experts over the Indian police’s “heavy-handed” handling of youth-led protests in Delhi and other areas over the past three months. Last week, India rejected as “hearsay” a report by a UN human rights expert that referred to a “satirical political movement” formed by young people in the country and alleged that its members had faced retaliation. New Delhi urged the expert to “verify” the claims before “vilifying issues based on unverified allegations.”
They called on the authorities to protect peaceful demonstrations and ensure justice for alleged human rights violations during these and earlier protests.
