NEW DELHI: Calling the arrest last year of Jamia Milia University student Safoora Zargar arbitrary, a UN panel has recommended that India ensure for Zargar an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), which works under the UN Human Rights Council, requested India to take steps necessary to remedy Zargar’s situation without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms, including those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The WGAD had another run-in with India last month when it sought the immediate release of UK national and chopper scam accused Christian Michel saying he had been arbitrarily detained. The government had responded by saying that the UN panel’s conclusions were based on limited information, biased allegations and an inaccurate understanding of India’s criminal justice system. India has sought to highlight that the Working Group is not a judicial body, and therefore, its opinions are not legally binding on the member-states.
Zargar was arrested last year by the Delhi Police under anti-terror law, UAPA, in a communal violence case in Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. She was released later as the government didn’t oppose her bail plea, apparently on humanitarian grounds.