Calling for the “immediate release” of activist Teesta Setalvad, the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the U.N. (WGHR) said that a number of U.N. human rights representatives had urged India to ensure the safety of human rights defenders.

The Universal Periodic Review of the member countries of the United Nations is a tradition of the global body. All member countries have to undergo this process that exposes it to questions and observations from other member countries. The collective reminded that India had “obligations under the international human rights instruments that it has ratified” and that the Human Rights Council will review its obligations as per the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.

“WGHR calls for the immediate release of its member Teesta Setalvad. It also calls for the release of R.B. Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt. The systematic targeting of human rights defenders by the Indian state must stop,” said the WGHR.

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