Geneva, August 22, 2023 (PPI-OT): A United Nations expert has said that persistent detention of human rights defender and former Delhi University professor, GN Saibaba, by the Narendra Modi-led Indian government is an inhumane and senseless act. Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in a statement issued in Geneva said, GN Saibaba is a long-standing defender of the rights of minorities in India, including the Dalit and Adivasi people. “His continued detention is shameful. It bears all the hallmarks of a State seeking to silence a critical voice,” she said.
Saibaba, a former English professor at Delhi University, has suffered from a spinal disorder and polio since the age of five and uses a wheelchair. He was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for multiple charges under the draconian law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The UN human rights experts have repeatedly raised grave concerns about his prosecution, and his detention was declared arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2021. Apart from two short periods of bail, Saibaba has been held in Nagpur Central Jail since his initial arrest and detention.
Mary Lawlor said Saibaba’s condition in prison is a matter of serious concern. “Saibaba has been detained in a high security ‘anda barracks’ in conditions incompatible with his status as a wheelchair user. His 8×10 feet cell has no window and one wall made of iron bars, exposing him to extreme weather, especially in the scorching summer heat,” she said.
The Special Rapporteur said, “States have an obligation to uphold the right to health of prisoners and detainees and ensure their dignity as human beings. Prison authorities must ensure that prisoners with disabilities are not discriminated against, including by ensuring accessibility and providing reasonable accommodation.”
“As Saibaba’s health has severely deteriorated in detention, he should be released,” she demanded. Mary Lawlor’s statement is also endorsed by Gerard Quinn, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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