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Amnesty India cries foul, dubs ED raids as 'government’s assault on civil society'

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Bengaluru, Oct 26: Amnesty India, which is under the Enforcement Directorate's scanner over suspected violation of FCRA and FDI, dubbed the raids on its offices as the government's assault on civil society in the country. It said raids shows "a disturbing pattern of government silencing organisations that question power."

Amnesty India cries foul, dubs ED raids as government’s assault on civil society

Human rights watchdog, Amnesty International was raided by the Enforcement under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Two locations of Amnesty International were raided at Bengaluru, Karnataka and ED sources said that they suspected violations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and Foreign Direct Investment guidelines.

Also Read | Raids on Amnesty International: Rs 36 crore foreign funding under ED's scanner

"Focus of ED's questioning was the relationship between two entities-Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd and Amnesty International India Foundation. Most of the documents asked for during search were available in public domain or were already filed with relevant authorities," AMI quoted an Amnesty India statement as saying.

"Amnesty India's bank accounts have been frozen by the Enforcement Directorate, effectively stopping our work. Amnesty India is thus the latest target of the government's assault on civil society in the country," it said.

The human rights watchdog alleged that the government is instilling fear among civil society organisations by conducting such raids.

"...We reiterate, our structure is compliant with Indian laws," Amnesty India said in a tweet.

"ED raid on Amnesty India shows a disturbing pattern of the government silencing organisations that question power and it is clear that the government wants to instill fear among Civil Society Organisations," it said.

Amnesty India, in a series of tweets, said over five ED officials had raided its office and had ordered employees not to leave, shut their laptop computers and searched their desks.

"Employees were not allowed to use their phones to call friends and families," it said. The watchdog also said the 10-hour raid conducted at its office ended midnight and the staff had fully cooperated with officials.

Also Read | Bengaluru: Enforcement Directorate raids Amnesty International headquarters

The ED, in a statement, had said, "After Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) was denied the permission/registration under FCRA by the MHA (ministry of home affairs) they resorted to bypass the FCRA by floating commercial entity in the name of Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL).

"This entity has received foreign funds through commercial route to the extent of Rs 36 crore till date," it had said.

Of the total amount of Rs 36 crore, it said, Rs 10 crore was received as long-term loans.

"This amount was immediately placed in FDs (fixed deposits) and another Indian entity Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) had established an overdraft facility for Rs 14.25 crore keeping the said Rs 10 crore FD as collateral which means the receipt of FDI by trust only. The remaining Rs 26 crore was received in two other bank accounts of AIIPL as consultancy services. The inwards remittances received by the AIIPL from overseas is in violation of FDI guidelines," it had said.

In this background, searches were conducted at Bengaluru office of the NGO and further probe is in progress, it had said.

The agency, sometime back, had frozen over a dozen bank accounts of environmental NGO Greenpeace and its linked entity after it conducted searches at their premises in Bengaluru on charges of alleged forex violations after taking cognisance of the FCRA action against it.

OneIndia News with Pti inputs

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