March 16-31, 2023 Issue of The Unrest Magazine

THE UNREST

People in Belarus demanding the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and other Viasna human rights activists Photo: Viasna

Attacks on Media Freedom

Human Rights Violations

Threats to Media Freedom in Europe Report on Internet Shutdowns in India

Autocracy in India

Human Rights Crisis in Myanmar: Report Despotic Belarus Regime Jails Ales Bialiatski Global Conflicts

India Is Not a Democracy Under PM Modi Lawlessness in Modi Regime: 2023 Report

Adani Fraud Case

NATO to Welcome Finland and Sweden Stories of Politics and Unrest in the World Grand Corruption

SC Committee Formed to Probe Adani Case Opposition Leaders: Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai

Court Extends Custody of Manish Sisodia Crime, Corruption, and Impunity in India

Despotic Belarus Regime Jails Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ales

Bialiatski

Although the UN human rights agencies and world leaders have failed completely to protect the peaceful protesters in Belarus, they keep releasing perfunctory bureaucratic statements which have no effect on autocratic President Lukashenko.

As human rights abuses are increasing continuously in Belarus, a court in Belarus ordered on March 3 the imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize winner and rights activist Ales Bialiatski for 10 years.

People in Belarus demanding the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and other Viasna human rights activists. Photo: Viasna

It is alleged that Bialiatski, 60, financed protests and other crimes - the allegations which are believed to be frivolous and politically motivated. Bialiatski and three co-defendants were charged with supporting protests and smuggling money.

Bialiatski and his companions are not alone who are being harassed in Belarus. Hundreds of Belarusians have been arrested and jailed because they peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in response to a fraudulent election in August 2020 that allowed President Alexander Lukashenko to retain power.

When the intensity of protests increased, Lukashenko’s regime shut down dozens of independent organizations and media outlets. Bialiatski is a co-founder of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” which is a non-governmental organization formed in 1996 during mass protest actions of the democratic opposition in Belarus.

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In 2022, according to Viasna, arrests, torture, and criminal proceedings on political grounds against Belarusian activists continued. It reports that by the end of 2022, there were 1,446 political prisoners in Belarus while 889 people were recognized as political prisoners.

Viasna asserts that the draconian action against Bialiatski and his colleagues has been taken because they were helping the persecuted Belarusians. It also demanded their acquittal and release.

Bialiatski won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his work on human rights and restoration of democracy in Belarus. He was arrested in July 2021 on tax evasion charges.

Although the UN human rights agencies and world leaders have failed completely to protect the peaceful protesters in Belarus, they keep releasing perfunctory bureaucratic statements which have no effect on autocratic President Lukashenko.

In February, for example, the Council of Europe (COE) Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić, announced a 15-point action plan to support civil society and

democracy representatives working towards a future free and democratic Belarus. However, this plan would be as ineffective as the other casual steps taken in the past.

India Is Not a Democracy Under PM Narendra Modi: Global Report

The electoral autocracy is a status given to those nations where some kind of fair or foul elections take place but the regimes in these nations deprive people of their fundamental rights.

A new global report has asserted that India under the rule of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi continues to be an electoral autocracy and has lost its status of a democracy. The electoral autocracy is a status given to those nations where some kind of fair or foul elections take place but the regimes in these nations deprive people of their fundamental rights.

The autocrats in these nations win elections by hook or by crook and then usurp all the institutions such as judiciary, parliament, election offices, law-enforcement agencies, and media outfits illegally. It is being observed that the dictators - mostly with criminal records - in electoral autocracies squander national resources to unnecessarily import products and services from advanced nations and promote oligarchy. As this is a kind of bribe to the world leaders, they turn a blind eye to the corruption and human rights abuses committed by the dictators in electoral autocracies.

The report was released on March 2, 2023 by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, which is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In India, according to the report, the ruling right-wing, Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with PM Modi at the helm continues to suppress religious freedom and attacks all institutions required for the survival of a democracy. According to V-Dem data, 72% of the world’s population – 5.7 billion

people – now live in electoral or closed autocracies. That is an increase from 46% ten years ago.

A plurality – 44% of the world’s population, or 3.5 billion people – reside in electoral autocracies, which include populous countries such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, The Philippines, and Türkiye.

In the most populous region, Asia and the Pacific, almost nine out of ten individuals – or 89% – reside in autocracies and are denied some or all democratic rights and freedoms. This includes closed autocracies such as China and electoral autocracies like India.

According to the V-Dem report, autocratization often goes beyond democratic weakening and breakdown to deepen even further after countries like El Salvador, Hungary, or India turn into electoral autocracies. Other autocracies that are autocratizing further include Burkina Faso, Philippines, and Russia. Again, more than twice as many – nine countries – have declined substantially: Afghanistan,

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (file photo). Photo: PIB

Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, The Philippines, and Thailand. The process of autocratization seems to have slowed down considerably or even stalled in Hungary, India, Serbia, Thailand, and Türkiye but after turning into autocracies. All five remain autocracies.

The V-Dem report further says that political polarization is also escalating the most in autocratizing countries. Those countries witnessing the most dramatic increases include top autocratizers such as Afghanistan, Brazil, India, and Myanmar.

V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond the simple presence of elections. It distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian, and collects data to measure these principles.

Note: The Indian government of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi arrogantly rejects all the truthful global reports that reveal the failure or the autocracy of the Modi regime. Without offering any logical reasoning, the Modi government randomly claims that it is a global conspiracy to discredit Modi and his government.

Perpetual Human Rights Crisis in Myanmar: UN Report

The report documents a litany of human rights abuses from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023.

Myanmar’s military has created a perpetual human rights crisis through the continuous use of violence, including the killing, arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance of anti-coup opponents, a report published by the UN Human Rights Office said on March 3.

“Two years after the military launched a coup, the generals have embarked on a scorched earth policy in an attempt to stamp out opposition,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said.

“Tragically, regional and global efforts for peace and restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears. The military, emboldened by continuous and absolute impunity, has consistently shown disregard for international obligations and principles. Urgent, concrete action is needed to end this festering catastrophe,” he added.

The report echoed calls by the Security Council and ASEAN for, among other things, an immediate halt to the violence, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, accountability, and unhindered humanitarian access. The report documents a litany of human rights abuses from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023, accompanied by a sharp rise in violence especially in the north-western and south-eastern parts of Myanmar.

It cites credible sources as having verified the deaths of at least 2,940, and 17,572 arrests by the military and its affiliates since the coup. Nearly 80 per cent of the country’s 330 townships have been impacted by armed clashes. The military employs its so-called four-cuts approach - including through indiscriminate

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk Photo: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

airstrikes and artillery shelling, razing villages to displace civilian populations, and denial of humanitarian access - to cut off non-State organized armed groups and other anti-military armed elements from access to food, finances, intelligence and recruits.

Among the numerous incidents of airstrikes, on 16 September - in Let Yet Kone village, Tabayin Township, Sagaing - four helicopters opened fire on a school killing at least six children and injuring nine others. After some 60 soldiers deployed from helicopters to the ground, they reportedly raided the village, executing a school technician and five villagers before arresting wounded children and teachers.

In another incident, on 20 October, an airstrike against a newly opened hospital in Man Yu Gyi village, Banmauk Township, Sagaing, killed one woman and injured five others. A source reported that the hospital had been inaugurated a day earlier and victims were all volunteers at the facility.

One of the most frequently used tactics by the military is the systematic and widespread burning of villages and dwellings. Consistent with their modus operandi documented over decades, including in Kachin in 2011 and Rakhine in 2017, UN reports indicated that nearly 39,000 houses nationwide have been burnt or destroyed in military operations since February 2022, representing a more than 1,000-fold increase compared to 2021.

Sagaing was the most affected region, accounting for over 25,500 homes. In an incident on 1 May 2022 in Ah Shey See, Kale Township, Sagaing, satellite images suggest the burning of almost the entire village with 621 structures destroyed. Satellite imagery coupled with interview reports suggest that between 16 and 28 September in Taze Township, Sagaing, the military destroyed 458 houses and damaged another 319 across eight villages during a series of raids and attacks. The military’s mismanagement of the economy has provoked an economic crisis for

much of the population, resulting in the doubling of poverty rates compared to March 2020.

Nearly half of the population now lives in poverty, and rural populations are reported to be at risk of starvation as the military imposes further restrictions on access to areas affected by violence and conflict. Compounding the situation, main supply routes and waterways across the country have been blocked, preventing humanitarian actors from reaching 17.6 million people in need.

“The military has also adopted rules, including martial law, intended to target anti-coup opposition and severely restrict the civic space that had significantly contributed to Myanmar’s democratic transition,” Türk said.

Supreme Court Committee Formed to Give Safe Passage to Adani Group

While Adani is accused of a serious financial crime, the Supreme Court is trying to brush the case under the carpet with the formation of a toothless committee.

The Supreme Court of India on March 2 formed a perfunctory committee which is expected to exonerate the embattled Adani Group from all the alleged financial frauds reported by credible global agencies and media organizations. The Supreme Court has also casually asked the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete its ongoing investigation into the irregularities of the Adani Group in two months and file a status report.

Such deceptive measures by the court are aimed to give a clean chit to Adani.

Oligarch Gautam Adani, who is a close partner of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi, has welcomed the court decision. In a tweet on March 2, Adani said, “The Adani Group welcomes the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It will bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth will prevail.” In the past when Modi or his associates were accused in such cases, the Supreme Court took questionable decisions to

favor Modi or formed committees which could not dare to point the finger at Modi or his friends.

It has happened in cases such as the Rafale corruption case, Gujarat massacre case, Pegasus spyware case, draconian demonetization decision, farmers’ protests, PM-CARES Fund of PM Modi, and many others.

While Adani is accused of a serious financial crime, the Supreme Court is trying to brush the case under the carpet with the formation of a toothless committee which cannot file any report that can get Adani prosecuted and convicted.

SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION

In all probability, the findings of the report will not be made public and Adani will be acquitted of all the charges. Subsequently, Adani, Modi, and Modi’s colleagues will silence the opposition voices by saying that the Supreme Court has found that Adani is honest and no fraud has happened in this case. A recent investigative report of Hindenburg Research accused Adani of commiting one of the biggest

Hindenburg Research on Adani: Corporate Fraud Case. Photo: RMN News Service

corporate frauds in the world. In the report released on January 24, Hindenburg said that the Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.

When the opposition leaders questioned Modi in the parliament on the Modi government’s complicity in the Adani fraud, Modi did not even touch the Adani issue. Rather, he delivered a long rhetoric to praise himself and baselessly accuse the opposition party Congress of corruption.

In fact, it is a clear case of grand corruption and money laundering for which Adani or his associates should have been taken into custody for proper investigation. The Hindenburg report states that Adani’s frauds included the formation of offshore shell entities to generate artificial turnover and money laundering.

But the SEBI and other law-enforcement agencies turned a blind eye to this alleged fraud and never tried to reveal the information publicly about these shell entities and the money laundered through them because Adani is a close friend of Modi.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which sets global standards on beneficial ownership transparency, had agreed in March 2022 for tougher global beneficial ownership rules to stop criminals from hiding their illicit activities and dirty money behind secret corporate structures.

But the Indian agencies have deliberately ignored the FATF rules on beneficial ownership and did not publicly release the real beneficial ownership registers of Adani Group entities. It is possible that the dirty money is being used to support the terrorist financing activities that FATF is supposed to monitor.

Such reports are already coming. A March 2, 2023 report reveals that an entity related to the Adani Group financially supported a company that violated sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on trade with North Korea.

According to the report, the sanctioned company was owned by sons of Chang

Chung-Ling, an Adani Group associate who appeared in the Hindenburg report for his directorship of Adani entities.

Now, the committee formed by the Supreme Court and the law-enforcement agencies should investigate all such allegations and live-stream their interaction with the accused involved in this case. The investigating agencies should also reveal if the corruption money made in the Rafale deal or the PM-CARES Fund has been invested in the Adani Group, as these cases have never been probed thoroughly.

Since the Supreme Court committee or the other law-enforcement agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are not expected to act honestly, the Adani case should be prosecuted in international forums outside India.

The U.S., for example, can treat this case of significant corruption under Section 7031(c) of the annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act or the Global Magnitsky sanctions program. Similarly, the UK can prosecute it under the UK Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regime.

Finally, the Modi-Adani case of grand corruption should be handled by the International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) proposed by Integrity Initiatives International.

India Is the Biggest Offender for Internet Shutdowns: Global Report

In addition to shutdowns, Indian authorities have honed their playbook by increasing censorship, blocking websites, and issuing takedown orders to social media platforms.

India, which was responsible for 84 Internet shutdowns in 2022, remains the country with the highest number of recorded shutdowns in the world — for the fifth consecutive year. This is among the findings of a new global report that records Internet shutdowns in different parts of the world. The report says that the Indian

authorities disrupted internet access at least 49 times in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) due to political instability and violence, including a string of 16 back-to-back orders for three-day-long curfew style shutdowns in January and February 2022.

Internet Shutdowns Photo: Access Now

Launched on February 28, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s new report, Weapons of control, shields of impunity: Internet shutdowns in 2022, reveals and unpacks the global resurgence of internet shutdowns over the span of one catastrophic year for human rights.

Since Access Now started documenting shutdowns in 2016, India has accounted for approximately 58% of all shutdowns documented in its Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP) database. It says the responsibility of Indian states for the majority of shutdowns globally is impossible to ignore and a deep problem on its own. In 2021, according to the report, around 80% of all shutdowns in India were in J&K, compared to 58% in 2022. Authorities in regions across the country are

increasingly resorting to this repressive measure, inflicting shutdowns on more people in more places.

Setting aside J&K, authorities in West Bengal (7) and Rajasthan (12) imposed more shutdowns than authorities in other regions in India, responding to protests, communal violence, and exams with disruptions that impacted the daily lives of millions of people for hundreds of hours in 2022.

Although Access Now counted fewer than 100 shutdowns in India for the first time since 2017, it says it is not convinced Indian authorities have embarked on the path toward positive, sustained change with regard to digital rights.

Legal challenges against shutdowns, fewer mass protests in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the sustained and increasing crackdown on dissent may have increased administrative friction or reduced the incentives for authorities to impose shutdowns. At the same time, the government’s persistent failure to publicly release shutdown orders in violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment, and the technical challenges in monitoring, tracking, and recording shutdowns in particular in communities where shutdowns are an emerging issue likely mean we have not yet recorded all disruptions, the report says.

In addition, according to the report, the proposed Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, which would empower central and state governments with unrestricted powers to impose shutdowns when “necessary and expedient,” signals the government’s intention to continue down this troublesome path, violating fundamental rights of expression and assembly and providing opportunities to cover up human rights abuses. In addition to shutdowns, according to the report, Indian authorities have honed their playbook by increasing censorship, blocking websites, and issuing takedown orders to social media platforms. Access Now is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 with a mission to defend and extend the digital civil rights of people around the world.

Short Stories of Politics and Unrest in the World

The man nominated as China's next premier by President Xi Jinping has been formally elected by parliament. Li Qiang is the former Communist Party leader of China's biggest city, Shanghai. The 63-year-old received almost every vote from more than 2,900 delegates at the National People's Congress. A close ally of President Xi, he is considered a pragmatist and will be tasked with reviving the country's struggling economy. Read More

Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore ties and reopen diplomatic missions after a years-long rift that has fuelled tensions in the Gulf and deepened conflicts from Yemen to Syria. The agreement was reached on March 10 during talks in Beijing between top security officials from the two rival Middle East powers. The two leading Shia and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East have been at odds for years and have backed opposite sides in proxy wars from Yemen to Syria. Read More

The fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is beginning to spread around the world. Startup founders in California’s Bay Area are panicking about access to money and paying employees. Fears of contagion have reached Canada, India and China. In the UK, SVB’s unit is set to be declared insolvent, has already ceased trading and is no longer taking new customers. Read More

France's Senate voted on March 11 night to approve President Emmanuel Macron's controversial plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Senators passed the reforms by 195 votes to 112 while major protests continued in cities like Paris, Nice, Lyon and Toulouse. Read More

Alexei Navalny’s top aide Leonid Volkov resigned from the board of the jailed Kremlin critic’s Anti-Corruption Foundation on March 9, as the political fallout over a letter in defense of oligarch Mikhail Fridman continued to rock Russia's fragmented political opposition. Read More

Half a million Israelis took to the streets in the tenth consecutive week of protests against plans by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s judicial system, organizers claimed. Israel has a population of just over 9 million, so if organizers’ estimates are correct, about 5% of Israelis came out to voice their opposition to the proposed reforms. Read More

Threats to Media Freedom in Europe Increase: 2023 Report

Released under the title “War in Europe and the fight for the right to report”, the report examines the main threats to media freedom in Europe.

In 2022, since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, at least 12 journalists and media workers were killed and 21 injured while performing their professional duties. The war occurred in a context of continued degradation of press freedom across Europe, with a significant increase in the number of journalists in detention, according to the 2023 annual report of the partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists.

Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe (COE), Marija Pejčinović Burić Photo: COE

Released under the title “War in Europe and the fight for the right to report”, the report examines the main threats to media freedom in Europe and addresses recommendations to the Council of Europe, the European Union and their member states on actions needed to improve the situation. During 2022, the platform published 289 alerts on serious threats or attacks to media freedom across 37

states, with journalists being murdered, imprisoned, attacked, legally harassed and subjected to smear campaigns. This number includes alerts concerning Russia, since the partner organisations decided to continue monitoring the state of media freedom and attacks against journalists after its expulsion from the Council of Europe in March 2022.

Welcoming the publication of the report, Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić said: “We have seen a disturbing increase in attacks and threats against journalists in recent years. Many journalists have shown courage and others paid with their lives for the right to report following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“The fact that many of these attacks go unpunished threatens the very foundation of our societies. I call on member states to take this issue seriously and fully respect and protect the rights of journalists, ensure their safety, protect their sources and prevent censorship and other forms of interference in their work.”

The platform’s report examines in detail the crackdown on independent journalism in Russia and occupied territories in Ukraine and contains a special chapter on Belarus.

Apart from the journalists who died on active duty during the war, the platform recorded one journalist killed in the exercise of his functions - Güngör Arslan in Türkiye - compared to four in 2021. There were fewer alerts concerning threats and attacks at street protests as Covid-19 demonstrations receded.

The partner organisations conclude that arbitrary arrest and detention of journalists have become commonplace in Europe. As of 31 December 2022, 127 journalists and media workers were in detention, including 95 on whom alerts were active on the platform (representing a 60% increase compared to 31 December 2021) and 32 journalists and media workers in Belarus, on whom alerts had not yet been published. During 2022, the platform recorded 74 alerts concerning attacks on the physical integrity of journalists (26% of all alerts), 41 alerts on the detention and

imprisonment of journalists (14%), 94 alerts on cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists (32%), and another 80 alerts on various other acts having chilling effects on media freedom (28%).

Other issues examined in the report are the introduction of legislation restricting journalists’ work, surveillance of journalists’ communications, fake news and disinformation, the abuse of the judiciary to punish or intimidate journalists, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS), pressure on public service media and cases of media capture.

The report reflects the persistent lack of progress to resolve 35 cases of impunity of attacks against journalists still active on the platform, 26 concerning murder cases.

The Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists was set up by the Council of Europe in 2015, in cooperation with prominent international NGOs active in the field of the freedom of expression and associations of journalists, to provide information which may serve as a basis for dialogue with member states about possible protective or remedial action.

The 15 partners are the European Federation of Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, the Association of European Journalists, Article 19, Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, the International Press Institute, the International News Safety Institute, Rory Peck Trust, the European Broadcasting Union, PEN International, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Free Press Unlimited and the Justice for Journalists Foundation. Download

You can click here to download and read the previous issues of The Unrest news magazine.

Rampant Lawlessness and Corruption in Modi Regime: 2023 World Freedom Report

Large-scale political corruption scandals have repeatedly exposed bribery and other malfeasance, but a great deal of corruption is thought to go unreported and unpunished.

While India is a multiparty democracy, the government led by prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting the Muslim population.

This is among the findings of the 2023 edition of Freedom in the World report released on March 9 by Freedom House. The report says that the constitution guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but harassment of journalists, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other government critics has increased significantly under Modi. According to the report, the BJP of PM Modi has increasingly used government institutions to target political

The prime minister of India Narendra Modi at the Community Reception in Berlin, Germany on May 02, 2022. Photo: PIB (file photo)

opponents. Muslims, scheduled castes (Dalits), and scheduled tribes (Adivasis) remain economically and socially marginalized.

The judiciary is formally independent of the political branches of government. Judges, particularly in the Supreme Court, have traditionally displayed autonomy and activism in response to public-interest litigation.

LAWLESS POLICE AND JUDICIARY

However, according to the report, lower levels of the judiciary suffer from corruption, and the courts have shown signs of increasing politicization. The government has also made judicial appointments that observers consider political in nature.

Several key Supreme Court rulings in recent years have been favorable to the BJP, including the 2019 decision allowing the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a historic mosque. In 2022, the report says, courts continued to issue rulings favoring the BJP, including in highly controversial cases.

The report says due process rights are not consistently upheld. Citizens face substantial obstacles in the pursuit of justice, including demands for bribes and difficulty getting the police to file a First Information Report (FIR), which is necessary to trigger an investigation of an alleged crime.

According to the report, corruption within the police force remains a problem. The justice system is severely backlogged and understaffed, leading to lengthy pretrial detention for suspects, many of whom remain in jail longer than the duration of any sentence they might receive if convicted.

A number of security laws allow detention without charge or based on vaguely defined offenses. The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been used extensively in recent years to hold individuals for long periods without trial or specific evidence of guilt.

In August 2022, 11 men convicted of crimes against a Muslim family during communal violence in Gujarat in 2002—including gang rape and murder—were released from prison in what was widely regarded as Modi government’s bid to secure the support of hard-line Hindu voters ahead of the December 2022 state elections.

The report further says that torture, abuse, and rape by law enforcement and security officials have been reported. A bill intended to prevent torture remains pending. Abuses by prison staff against people in custody, particularly those belonging to marginalized groups, are common. In July 2022, according to the report, the Home Affairs Ministry reported that 4,484 people died in judicial or police custody in 2020 and 2021.

There are legal restrictions on freedom of assembly, including a provision of the criminal procedure code that empowers authorities to restrict public gatherings and impose curfews whenever “immediate prevention or speedy remedy” is required. State and central governments across India often suspend mobile and internet service to curb protests.

While peaceful demonstrations regularly take place, the national government and some state governments in India are known to employ assembly bans, internet disruptions, and force to quell protests, while protesters have faced harsh treatment and have been denied access to legal counsel.

POLITICAL CORRUPTION

Large-scale political corruption scandals have repeatedly exposed bribery and other malfeasance, but a great deal of corruption is thought to go unreported and unpunished, and the authorities have been accused of selective, partisan enforcement, the Freedom House report reveals. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act of 2013 created independent national and state bodies tasked with receiving

complaints of corruption against public servants or politicians, investigating such claims, and pursuing convictions through the courts.

However, according to the report, these agencies have been slow to begin operations. Only 7 of the country’s 29 state-level Lokayuktas had publicly accessible annual reports as of October 2022. Few complaints were submitted through these bodies. According to the report, the public generally has some access to information about government activity, but the legal framework meant to ensure transparency has been eroded in recent years. The 2014 Whistleblowers Protection Act was regarded as limited in scope, and subsequent amendments have drawn criticism for further undermining it.

The report says that millions of requests are made annually under the 2005 Right to Information (RTI) Act, and responses have been used to improve transparency and expose corrupt activities. However, most RTI applicants do not receive the information sought, including those seeking information about core government policies, and noncompliant officials generally go unpunished.

According to the report, dozens of right-to-information (RTI) users and activists in India have been murdered since the RTI Act’s introduction, and hundreds have been assaulted or harassed. In 2019, Parliament adopted amendments to the RTI Act that placed the salaries and tenures of the central and state-level information commissioners under the control of the central government, potentially exposing the commissioners to political pressure. National and state-level information commissions are hampered by staff vacancies.

ATTACKS ON MEDIA FREEDOM

The report says that the private media are somewhat vigorous and diverse, and investigations and scrutiny of politicians do occur. However, attacks on press freedom have escalated dramatically under the Modi government, and reporting has become significantly less ambitious in recent years, the report adds.

Authorities have used security, defamation, sedition, and hate speech laws, as well as contempt-of-court charges, to quiet critical voices in the media. Hindu nationalist campaigns aimed at discouraging forms of expression deemed “antinational” have exacerbated self-censorship.

Online disinformation from inauthentic sources is ubiquitous ahead of elections. Separately, revelations of close relationships between politicians, business executives, and lobbyists, on one hand, and leading media personalities and owners of media outlets, on the other, have dented public confidence in the press, the report says.

In addition to criminal charges, journalists risk harassment, death threats, and physical violence in the course of their work. Such attacks are rarely punished, and some have taken place with the complicity or active participation of police, the report says.

Freedom House is an American organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world.

Note: The Indian government of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi arrogantly rejects all the truthful global reports that reveal the failure or the autocracy of the Modi regime. Without offering any logical reasoning, the Modi government randomly claims that it is a global conspiracy to discredit Modi and his government.

Appeal for Donations

As I have launched a comprehensive research project to compile an exclusive report on corruption in India, you are requested to support this project financially with your donations.

You can click here to know more about this project and details for donations. Thank You. Rakesh Raman

Crime, Corruption, and Impunity in India

Politicians, bureaucrats, police, and judges have formed a criminal gang in India. The following cases depict how they collude with criminals and commit crimes and corruption with impunity while the ordinary citizens are suffering. Click the following links for details.

Cabinet Secretariat Case

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Case

Prime Minister Office (PMO) Case Delhi Lokayukta Case

DoPT Case CBI Case

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Case Supreme Court Case

Delhi Govt Case Delhi Petitions Committee / CVC Case

NHRC Case School Education Case

Environmental Crime Case Lokpal Removal Case

Judicial Corruption Case RCS Corruption Case

AAP Corruption Case Widehouse Scandal

NHRC Case at UN HRC IAS Group Corruption Case

CPGRAMS Cases PGMS Cases

IAS Corruption Record UNCAC Petition

Delhi Police Case DoPT Processes

RCS RTI Violations DDA Corruption Case

Petitions and Representations by Rakesh Raman. Up to January 2023

Delhi Court Extends Custody of AAP Politician Manish Sisodia

Sisodia and his accomplice Satyendar Jain should be incarcerated in a harsh detention camp or a concentration camp outside Delhi so that they do not enjoy the luxurious treatment in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

A Delhi court on March 10 granted the custody till March 17 of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the liquor scam in Delhi.

Separately, the court will hear Sisodia’s bail plea in the same liquor scam case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 21.

Earlier, on March 4, the court had extended the custody for two days of Manish Sisodia who belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal.

Sisodia was arrested on February 26 by the CBI for his interrogation in a massive liquor scam case in Delhi. In a statement released on February 26, CBI said that Sisodia was arrested because he gave evasive replies and did not cooperate in the investigation despite being confronted with evidence.

Reports suggest that Sisodia was produced in a court on February 27 and the court had granted a 5-day custody to the CBI for his further interrogation so that other culprits in the criminal network could also be caught, convicted, and jailed. It is likely that soon other AAP politicians - including Kejriwal - may be jailed for various crimes

Manish Sisodia. Photo: Delhi Government

and acts of corruption that they may be committing secretly. In fact, under the Kejriwal government, Delhi has become the corruption capital of India. Similarly, AAP politicians in Punjab led by CM Bhagwant Mann may be arrested and jailed as Sisodia’s dubious Delhi liquor policy is being implemented in Punjab also. The president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sukhbir Singh Badal has urged the Punjab Governor to hold a probe into the alleged Rs. 500-crore liquor policy scam committed by the AAP Government in the state.

IMPRISONMENT OF AAP POLITICIANS

Sisodia - who is the prime accused in the liquor scandal - shamelessly went in a procession to the CBI office on February 26 with a crowd of AAP supporters who shouted slogans in his favour as if he is a champion in some competition.

In a dramatic manner, Sisodia also went to Raj Ghat - a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi - to ostensibly show that he follows the truthful path of Mahatma Gandhi and he is innocent in this case.

Instead of showing proof of his innocence, Sisodia and his accomplices in AAP are resorting to all sorts of deceptive tricks to mislead the investigating agencies which are probing the liquor scandal and other scams in which Sisodia is allegedly involved.

Surprisingly, Sisodia also said that he is not afraid of going to jail, because he knows that jails provide all types of luxurious facilities to top politicians who are imprisoned for their crime and corruption cases.

Another jailed AAP leader Satyendar Jain - who is a colleague of Sisodia - is enjoying a VIP treatment including full-body massage inside the jail cell. Jain was sent to jail last year for his alleged involvement in a serious money laundering case. Obviously, Sisodia is not scared of going to jail because jail is a kind of picnic spot for AAP leaders. There is also a possibility that in the night when other prisoners are locked

inside their cells, the corrupt politicians are released by corrupt jail officials so that they could enjoy nightlife and come back to jail after a few hours.

In fact, conventional imprisonment is not the right punishment for corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. They should rather be caged in a prison such as the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which is a U.S. military prison known for its harsh treatment of prisoners.

FALSE STATEMENTS

Earlier, in a tweet written in Hindi, Sisodia had said on February 18 that the CBI had summoned him for questioning. Without any substantiation, he added in his tweet that the law-enforcement agencies failed to find any proof of his wrongdoing and he is being stopped from providing education in schools.

Sisodia - who was an education minister in the Kejriwal government - has been trying to hide behind school education which is so bad in Delhi that the students fail to learn anything in schools that could help them in their careers. Sisodia has destroyed the careers of millions of students as he failed to provide quality education in schools.

In a related development, both Sisodia and Jain who were ministers in the Kejriwal government resigned from their positions on February 28 and Kejriwal has accepted their resignations.

Now, instead of telling the truth about the liquor scam, Sisodia is mischievously diverting the topic to school education although he is the prime accused in the liquor scandal.

As most politicians in AAP are crooks, reports suggest that in order to hoodwink the investigating agencies they are exploiting school children who are being coerced to demonstrate in favour of liquor scam accused Manish Sisodia. These innocent

children are being allegedly forced by AAP accomplices to appear in videos to demand the release of Sisodia.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) - which investigates serious financial crime cases – had revealed that 140 mobile phones were changed by over 30 persons allegedly involved in the liquor scam of Delhi.

The ED claimed in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in November last year that Sisodia and others involved in the excise / liquor scam have changed a total 140 phones with the intention to destroy digital evidence during the relevant period. The value of these phones is estimated to be Rs 1.20 crore.

Sisodia has been telling lies frequently to escape the legal dragnet. After attending a CBI hearing on October 17 last year in this case, Sisodia claimed without any evidence that CBI asked him to quit AAP and join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which will make him Delhi CM.

Among his lies, Sisodia also said that CBI has admitted that there is no case against him but he is being harassed like his colleague Satyendar Jain, who is in jail for the past many months in a money laundering case.

But in a statement released on October 17, CBI refuted all the claims of Sisodia and said that Sisodia was questioned strictly on the allegations in the FIR (first information report) and the evidence collected so far during the course of investigation. CBI added that Sisodia’s statement will be verified in due course and further action will be taken as per requirements of investigation.

LIQUOR SCAM CASE

After the August 19 raids by the CBI at Sisodia’s residence, he and his AAP accomplices are telling flagrant lies with the aim to protect him in the liquor mafia collusion case.

Sisodia – who was a deputy CM under Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal – is facing serious allegations of corruption, criminal conspiracy, and falsification of government accounts, while the CBI has filed an FIR in which Sisodia’s name is at the top of a list of 15 accused in this case.

The opposition parties - BJP and Congress - in Delhi have been running aggressive campaigns to demand the resignation of Kejriwal, as they claim that Kejriwal is the kingpin in all the scandals happening in Delhi.

In July 2022, the Lt. Governor (LG) Vinai Saxena – who is the administrative head of Delhi – had asked the CBI to probe Sisodia’s surreptitious links with the liquor mafia that led to massive corruption in the sale of liquor shop licences in the city.

An August 22 article in The New Indian Express details different aspects of the case along with the names of the accused who allegedly colluded with Sisodia to run the criminal liquor network involved in an estimated corruption of hundreds of crores of rupees.

Now, instead of answering the media questions related to Delhi liquor scam in which Sisodia is allegedly involved, the AAP members are unsuccessfully trying to divert the case to unrelated issues such as Delhi school education that Sisodia was handling.

In their media interactions on Sisodia’s liquor scam case, the AAP spokespersons had been unnecessarily flaunting a New York Times (NYT) school education article which looks like an advertorial (advertisement or paid article) arranged by AAP’s publicity department. The article without any research falsely praises Sisodia and Delhi school education. But the article never exonerated Sisodia in the liquor mafia scandal. Now, Sisodia and his accomplice Satyendar Jain should be incarcerated in a harsh detention camp or a concentration camp outside Delhi so that they do not enjoy the luxurious treatment in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

More importantly, all the money (possibly hundreds of crores of rupees) embezzled in the scandals along with heavy interest should be recovered from them and they should not be allowed to work in any public office after the prison sentence.

The AAP politicians should also be interrogated sternly in order to know the names of their accomplices in AAP or external outfits who are involved in the liquor scam or other scandals so that all of them could be similarly convicted and jailed.

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NATO Getting Ready to Welcome Finland and Sweden as Alliance Members

The representatives of Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden discussed the concrete steps that have been taken to implement the Trilateral Memorandum.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on March 9 convened representatives from the governments of Türkiye, Finland and Sweden - the parties to the Permanent Joint Mechanism established by the Trilateral Memorandum signed in Madrid on the margins of the 2022 NATO Summit. This was the third such meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism since its creation last year.

The Secretary General, who opened the meeting, said: “Finland and Sweden have taken unprecedented steps to address legitimate Turkish security concerns. It is now time for all Allies to conclude the ratification process and welcome Finland and Sweden as full members of the Alliance ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius (taking place on 11-12 July 2023)”.

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The representatives of Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden discussed the concrete steps that have been taken to implement the Trilateral Memorandum. As agreed in the Memorandum, there are no arms export restrictions between them; they have significantly enhanced counter-terrorism cooperation; and Sweden is now in the process of tightening anti-terrorism legislation, including against the PKK.

According to a NATO communique, all participants welcomed the progress that has been made. The parties agreed that the decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become NATO members was historic. They further agreed that rapid ratifications for both Finland and Sweden would be in everyone’s interest, and that their membership will strengthen the Alliance.

Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden also agreed on the long-term value of the Permanent Joint Mechanism in fighting terrorism and agreed to continue cooperation in this format and meet again before the Vilnius Summit. Courtesy: NATO

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland, and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden met in Madrid on 28 June 2022 under the auspices of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Photo: NATO

Hindenburg Report: Opposition Leaders Shout Slogans

Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai

Modi is accused of misusing his position as the PM of India to help Adani by forcing the public sector banks and corporations to invest public money in Adani Group companies.

A group of opposition leaders held a street demonstration in Delhi on March 13 to highlight the criminal nexus between prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi and beleaguered oligarch Gautam Adani who is in news for a series of alleged corporate frauds.

Congress

A recent investigative report of Hindenburg Research accused Adani of commiting one of the biggest corporate frauds in the world. In the report released on January 24, Hindenburg said that the Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades. When the opposition leaders questioned Modi in the parliament on the Modi government’s complicity in the Adani fraud, Modi did not even touch the Adani issue. Rather, he

workers protesting against PM Narendra Modi and Adani Group on February 6, 2023. Photo: Congress

delivered a long rhetoric to praise himself and baselessly accuse the opposition party Congress of corruption.

The opposition leaders shouted rhymed slogans in Hindi, मोद

क

मलाई (Modi-Adani bhai bhai, desh bech ke khai malai). The slogans mean that Modi and Adani are like brothers who are selling the country to share the looted money.

Modi is also accused of misusing his position as the PM of India to help Adani by forcing the public sector banks and corporations - such as the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India - to invest public money in Adani Group companies.

While Modi is squandering public money to build the businesses of his corporate cronies, 1.4 billion Indians are suffering in his regime under unprecedented poverty, corruption, inflation, unemployment, and religious animosity.

Global agencies have been repeatedly warning that under Modi’s autocracy India has lost its status of democracy and the country is facing extreme lawlessness, human rights violations, and corruption.

In their slogans, the opposition leaders asked Modi to stop looting SBI and LIC to help his friend Adani who is embroiled in serious financial crime cases.

Recently, a reputed billionaire philanthropist George Soros stated that Modi will be weakened by the ongoing financial fraud case of oligarch Gautam Adani, who is a close partner of Modi.

Since the Supreme Court of India often dishonestly rescues the Modi government from such crises, on March 2 the top court formed a perfunctory committee which is expected to exonerate the embattled Adani Group from all the alleged financial frauds reported by credible global agencies and media organizations. The

opposition parties are demanding an investigation into the Adani Group’s dubious business deals by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

About the Editor

The editor of The Unrest news magazine Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).

Nowadays, for the past 12 years, he has been running his own global news services on multiple news sites. He runs various environment protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects.

Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

At present, Rakesh is associated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project as a Country Expert for India to provide expert research inputs on multiple topics pertaining to democracy and governance. The V-Dem Project is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Currently, he is also working as an editor for Wikipedia, which is a free online global encyclopedia.

In order to inform the Indian citizens and the global community about the extent of corruption in India, he compiled and released in October 2022 a comprehensive report on corruption in the country. Under the title “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022),” the research report covers diverse aspects of corruption in India. He has also been publishing The Integrity Bulletin news magazine since 2018 to cover local and international corruption issues to engage with different

stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption in the world. He has also announced the new project for 2023 to compile the India Corruption Research Report 2023 (ICRR 2023). You can click here to know about the project and support it financially with your donations.

He has launched a nationwide campaign to introduce social democracy in India in order to build an egalitarian society in which all citizens could enjoy equal rights, opportunities, freedoms, and access to justice. He is running an editorial section / microsite “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” to cover the election news, events, and political campaigns.

He is also running a nationwide campaign to save school students of India from directionless education so that students could acquire modern skills that can help them in the job market. In his anti-corruption activities, he participated in a global petition led by Germany-based international organization Transparency International to call for the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption, UNGASS 2021, to direct all countries to set up central, public registers of beneficial ownership.

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Raman Media Network (RMN) Company has been working in diversified content creation, management, and distribution businesses on a global scale for the past 12 years. Among other content-based activities, the company runs 4 global news sites and produces digital magazines and research reports on different subjects. RMN Company offers various advertising and marketing options to companies, organizations, and brands in all parts of the world.

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He runs a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice

in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness. He has also formed an environment protection group called Green Group in New Delhi, which is the most polluted national capital in the world.

As Rakesh has been facing constant threats including death threats for his editorial and anti-corruption work, the Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that defends freedom of journalists has urged the Indian government to save him from threats and persecution. You can click here to download and read his full profile.

Collaboration with the Project

THE UNREST news magazine is being published by RMN Foundation, which is the humanitarian initiative of RMN News Service. It is being circulated among different UN agencies, government departments, leading global politicians, international political organizations, colleges / universities, law-enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, social activists, and others in India and abroad.

As the founder of RMN Foundation and editor of RMN News Service, I am managing this project independently without any financial or other support. RMN News Service is looking for sponsors and collaborators across the world who can help it expand the content creation activity around this editorial initiative.

Contact Rakesh Raman Founder

RMN Foundation

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