UN rights panel slams detention of Safoora Zargar

Taking note of the detention of Jamia Millia Islamia University student Safoora Zargar, who was pregnant when Delhi police arrested her in April 2020 over the Citizenship law protests and the Delhi riots, the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council’s (HRC’s) Working Group against Arbitrary Detentions (WGAD) has adopted an opinion critical of the government’s workings, and referred the case to three Special Rapporteurs for action. In the opinion, based on a complaint from a “source” who was not identified by the human rights body, Ms. Zargar had suffered a “deprivation of liberty” contravening “universally recognized human rights, in particular the right to freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly” and several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also called the government to ensure a “a full and independent investigation” of the case and measures against those responsible for the “violation of her rights” including Ms. Zargar’s allegedly irregular detention despite her pregnancy, where she said she was made to sign blank sheets of paper, the conditions of her incarceration, alleged discrimination, and curbing her right to protest.