Amaravati fight reaches ICJ as NRI alleges rights abuse

VIJAYAWADA: The fight for Amaravati has now reached the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands, with a Telugu NRI advocate based in the USA knocking at the world court over alleged human rights violation in the capital region of Andhra Pradesh.
The advocate, Kaveti Srinivas Rao, who runs a chain of law firms in the USA and other parts of the world, has made India a party to the case alleging that the Government of India (GOI) is silent on the “violation of human rights” in Amaravati.

Farmers, who gave up their land for the AP capital city, have been on the streets for the last three months protesting AP government’s decision to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam.
Srinivas is also moving the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, seeking justice for the farmers of Amaravati. He named the Prime Minister, Andhra Pradesh chief minister and the Director-General of Police (DGP), AP, as the respondents. He alleged in his petition that there was gross violation of rights of farmers in Amaravati.
The case is before the International Criminal Court, part of the ICJ. While disputes between nations is dealt by the world court, private persons can knock at the doors of the International Criminal Court.
Srinivas said the petition was moved in the international court as the GOI had “failed” to take action on the human rights violations and police “repression” on the farmers protesting against the proposed shifting of capital from Amaravati.
Dileep Thalluri, a representative of Kaveti Law Firm in India, said though the National Women Commission sent a team to Amaravati, no action was initiated on the violation of women’s rights.
Dileep said Srinivas had appeared before the office of prosecutor in International Criminal Court and presented his arguments. Though the petition has been acknowledged by the office of the prosecutor, it is yet to be admitted.