RTI exposes apathy of Indian embassies towards the plight of Indian prisoners abroad

Economy Lead: Bangalore: Friday, 17 April 2015.

A number of RTIs filed by an activist in Bangalore expose the plight of several hundreds of Indian prisoners abroad waiting for the mercy of Indian embassy officials for their release.

Shockingly, the RTI reveals that Indian embassies in most countries do not have the basic information about the prisoners – including their name, passport number or the reasons for their sentence, etc.

For example, an RTI filed by Mahesh Vijayan, the Bangalore-based activist who campaigns for the release of illegally held foreign prisoners, reveals that countries like Italy are not willing to share the basic information about the prisoners to Indian embassies in respective countries.

Responding to the questions in the RTI, Indian Embassy officials in Italy said as of July 2014, there are 66 Indian nationals facing different charges in that country. However, the officials were unable to provide any other details about the prisoners as they are “not available.”

Says Vijayan, “The fact that Indian Embassy is unable to share any information about the 66 prisoners in Italy is really shocking. We should not forget how Italian officials responded to the case of two Navy officers who were detained by the Kerala Government on charges of killing two fishermen.”

Continues Vijayan, who works for Right of Return, a social media group that works for the rights of Indians abroad, “The plight of prisoners in other countries is not different. A large number of Indian prisoners are detained in jails illegally. Some of them are held without trials while others are destined to continue their stay in jail even after completing sentence. These are serious cases of human rights violation.”

Earlier, the activist received similar responses from Indian embassies in Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait in which the authorities could not share the basic details of Indian prisoners there as the information is “not available” to them.

However, Indian embassy officials in Myanmar provided all details regarding the prisoners there including their names, place of origin, nature of offence, present status, expected date of release, date admitted, etc.

As per the information shared by the Indian Embassy in Myanmar, there are five Indians in Myanmar jails, who have already completed sentence. Right of Return now plans to pressurize the Government of India for their release.

This story is part of EconomyLead’s campaign “Help Indians Abroad” that aims to address the issues faced by illegally held Indians abroad. Through this campaign, EconomyLead aims to support the efforts of people, groups and organizations that work for the release of those trapped in foreign jails on false cases or harassed by foreign employers and help them bring these people back to their home countries.