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Kirity Roy

Kirity Roy

HRD, Secretary

Nothing can justify torture under any circumstances.

Kirity Roy is an Indian civil rights activist working in West Bengal. As secretary of a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Serampore, Hoogly, near Kolkata, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), he has been documenting alleged state atrocities, particularly in Indo-Bangladesh bordering districts of West Bengal. In 2003, Kirity was elected to the board of Amnesty International India.

Kirity Roy is known for fighting against alleged state atrocities, where victims —often among India's poorest citizens— report extrajudicial killings, custodial death, rape, mysterious disappearances, and police torture. Kirity documented 118 cases in 2006, 469 in 2007, 210 in 2008.

Human rights defenders in India face a diverse range of attacks and harassment for their wor defending the rights of others, including killings, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, smear campaigns, and judicial harassment. People defending the rights of marginalised communities are targeted by state and non-state actors alike.