Why in News ?

Amnesty International India the government had frozen all its bank accounts, leading to all of its work in the country coming to a halt.

Amnesty International

• It is a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights.
• Objective of the organisation is to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.
• For its campaign against torture awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize. 
• Amnesty International is financed largely by fees and donations from its worldwide membership.

Why it halt Operations ?

• The government case against Amnesty India broadly rests on two investigations, one alleging discrepancies under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and another case that was registered by the CBI alleging violations under the FCRA.
• Complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the Government of India.
• It raised funds domestically and around 1 lakh Indians had contributed financially in the past eight years.
• In 2016 also a first information report (FIR) against Amnesty India for being anti-national.

Source : The Hindu

Topic

GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Current Affairs Compilation : 30 September 2020