Must Read: Indian scholar's release from detention shows importance of international human rights work


In this week's ABA Abroad Column, Dr. Waris Husain (senior staff attorney for the American Bar Association Center For Human Rights) recants a recent case highlighting CHR's ability to take immediate action to assist a justice defender in particular danger. The column is titled, "Indian scholar's release from detention shows importance of international human rights work."

Dr. Husain tells the story of Safoora Zargar, an Indian scholar who participated in protests in India, was arrested while pregnant, kept in a COVID-19 positive crowded jail facility for months and repeatedly denied bail.

"The challenge, however, was to understand what the ABA Center for Human Rights could do for a justice defender whose case was already being covered by high-profile media outlets, including the BBC as well as human rights organizations including Amnesty International (India). Rather than duplicating efforts, it was ultimately decided that CHR would provide a unique legal angle to the analysis of Zargar’s pretrial imprisonment. Working alongside a member of the ABA’s International Law Section, CHR was able to analyze the charges against Zargar while evaluating several legal theories that could be used to grant her pretrial bail.

Within a month of receiving the request, CHR released a preliminary fair trial report that was covered by several international and Indian newspapers and news websites. It went viral on social media with thousands of posts sharing the report and calling on the government to release Zargar. Ten days after the report was released, Zargar reapplied for bail despite her three prior rejected bail applications by Delhi’s High Court. 

While many anticipated another rejection by the court, the decision of the court was unexpected: Zargar was released on bail and sent home with instructions not to engage in further protests until the resolution of her case."


Demonstrators against the Citizenship Amendment Act gathered in February on the steps of Grand Mosque Jama Masjid in Delhi, India. Photo by Juan Alberto Casado / Shutterstock.com

More about the Author

Dr. Waris Husain is a senior staff attorney for the American Bar Association Center For Human Rights for the South/Southeast Asia region. Previously, he was the South Asia policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He has served as a comparative constitutional law lecturer for the United States Embassy of Nepal. Husain also served as a legal affairs writer for Dawn Newsgroup and Express Tribune in Pakistan. He received his SJD from the Washington College of Law at American University specializing in constitutional and comparative law in 2017. Husain received his JD from the Howard University School of Law in 2011, and received his LLM at Washington College of Law at American University, specializing in international human rights and international business in 2013.

ABA Abroad is a column highlighting the work of the ABA’s Center for Global Programs, which comprises the Rule of Law Initiative, Center for Human Rights and the ABA’s presence at the United Nations.

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