H.Res. 561 — Honoring the life and legacy of Father Stan, a prominent human rights activist who died while in custody of the Indian State on July 5, 2021, and encouraging India to pursue an independent investigation into his arrest, incarceration, and death.

This section encourages India to pursue an independent investigation into the arrest, incarceration, and death of Father Stan, a human rights activist who died in custody on July 5, 2021; states that mistreatment and incarceration of human rights advocates cannot persist; supports monitoring of and assistance to Adivasi, Dalit, and minority communities in India as well as indigenous communities worldwide; expresses concern over the misuse of antiterror laws to target human rights defenders and political opponents, applauds India’s top court ruling suspending a colonial-era sedition law, and urges Parliament to make the suspension permanent; and affirms that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.