New Delhi: In a newly released briefing, Amnesty International has accused Indian authorities of exploiting recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to suppress civil society groups and activists, deliberately hindering their work.The report titled “Weaponizing Counter-Terrorism: India’s Exploitation of Terrorism Financing Assessments to Target Civil Society” sheds light on how Indian authorities have used the FATF’s recommendations to implement “draconian” laws, which are then employed to level terrorism-related charges and impede the work of non-profit organisations.“Under the guise of combatting terrorism, the Indian government has leveraged the Financial Action Task Force’s recommendations to tighten its arsenal of financial and counter-terrorism laws which are routinely misused to target and silence critics. The FATF must hold the Indian authorities accountable for the persistent weaponization of its recommendations,” said Aakar Patel, chair of the board at Amnesty International India, in a press release.“By abusing these laws, the authorities in India have failed to comply with both FATF standards and international human rights law.”FATF is an intergovernmental body with 37 member states, mandated to tackle global money laundering and terrorist financing. India has been a member of FATF since 2010.Also read: Who Loses When FCRA Licences Are Cancelled?The impact on NGOsIn India, NGOs are required to obtain a “foreign contribution licence” under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) to access foreign funds.The introduction of this Bill in 2006 coincided with India becoming an observer state of the FATF. Some amendments were introduced in 2010. These changes were intended to address India’s “non-compliant” status, but over the past decade, more than 20,600 NGOs have had their licences cancelled, with nearly 6,000 cancellations occurring since the start of 2022.Amnesty International conducted a survey revealing that 11 out of 16 NGOs working on issues related to marginalised groups, minorities, and climate change confirmed arbitrary licence cancellations. The organisations said that the authorities provided only vague reasons, including accusing them of “bringing disrepute to public institutions”, “working against public or national interest” or alluding to their human rights work. Most of the groups Amnesty International spoke with said they have had to reduce their staff by 50 to 80%, drastically affecting the scope of their work.“Almost all our programmes have been shut down … [We are] surviving just to fight the legal cases that have been filed against us,” one activist said.The 2020 and earlier amendments to the FCRA, however, do not conform with FATF’s Recommendation 8, which requires that laws and regulations target only those non-profit Organisations that a country has identified – through a careful, targeted “risk-based” analysis – as vulnerable to terrorism financing abuse, said the press release.Amnesty International’s report reveals that the Indian government did not engage with any of the NGOs it spoke with for a “risk-assessment,” despite the FATF pointing out the lack of such outreach in its 2010 and 2013 mutual evaluation reports. This oversight by Indian authorities not only disregards the FATF’s specific recommendations but also runs counter to the guidelines outlined in the FATF’s interpretative note on Recommendation 8. This note emphasises the importance of implementing specific and targeted counter-terrorism measures to minimise unintended consequences for the non-profit sector.The implementation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), and the subsequent 2012 amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), India’s primary counter-terrorism legislation, were prerequisites for India’s accession as the 34th member of the FATF.Over time, these laws underwent amendments influenced by the FATF’s recommendations based on India’s assessments in 2010 and 2013. These changes resulted in the FATF upgrading India’s rating from “non-compliant” to “largely compliant.”Nevertheless, United Nations special rapporteurs have consistently criticised the contentious and overly broad provisions within the UAPA. These provisions not only contravene international human rights laws and standards but also contradict the very guiding principles upheld by the FATF.Despite these concerns, Indian authorities have persisted in applying these laws in a discriminatory manner, particularly targeting dissenting voices, said the press release.Individuals such as Muslim student activist Umar Khalid, Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez, journalist Irfan Mehraj, and 16 others (involved in the Bhima Koregaon case) have faced detention since 2018 without trial, facing charges including ‘funding terrorism’ among others.Additionally, the PMLA was used to target Amnesty International, leading to the organisation ceasing its operations in India in September 2020.“The motivation behind these measures is purely political and designed to create an environment hostile to international organisations. The FATF must not allow these laws to be used by the Indian authorities to systematically erode the rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression in the country, particularly of civil society actors and religious minorities,” said Patel.In the statement, Amnesty International recommended that the UAPA, PMLA and FCRA should be repealed or significantly amended to bring them in line with International human rights standards.Most importantly, not-for-profit organisations, including the ones that have faced adverse actions under the three laws, must be consulted in the FATF’s upcoming assessment of India. The Indian authorities must ensure that the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly are effectively protected.
