PM's daughter honoured for pioneering work in human rights law

NEW YORK: Prominent legal activist Amrit Singh has been honoured for her groundbreaking work in the field of human rights law, along with a number of other noted Indian-Americans including US Congressman Ami Bera and USAID chief Rajiv Raj Shah.


Singh, 43, the youngest daughter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a senior legal officer for National Security and Counterterrorism at the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative.

She received the India Abroad Publisher's Special Award for Excellence 2012, at the event organised by 'India Abroad' on Friday to honour Indian-American achievers in a wide range of professions.

Singh's report 'Globalising Torture: CIA Secret Torture and Extraordinary Rendition', published by the Open Society Justice Initiative, received widespread attention in the international media for its close look at the global torture network, after its release in February.

The report authored by Singh says 54 countries including Pakistan, assisted the US in its war against al-Qaeda by hosting CIA prisons on their territories and detaining, interrogating and "torturing" terror suspects.

The report details the involvement of the nations in the American campaign against al-Qaeda and identifies 136 people who had been held or transferred by the CIA, describing when and where they were held.

Congressman Bera, only the third Indian-American to be elected to the US Congress, was honoured as the India Abroad Person of the Year for Political Achievement 2012, at the event attended among others by Sri Srinivasan who recently made history by becoming the first US Circuit Court judge of South Asian descent.

Srinivasan praised Indian-Americans for having blossomed over the years as a community contributing to American success in various fields.

"I ran as an Indian American -- as a son of parents who immigrated here from India -- and its the values that our parents raised us with, the values of a strong sense of family values of working hard, values of making sure you have built a solid foundation of education, values of sacrificing for the next generation to make sure your children are better off than you," Bera said while receiving his award.

USAID administrator Shah, the highest-ranking Indian-American in the Obama administration, was honoured as the India Abroad Person of the Year for Public Service 2012.

Shah, who made a mark by turning USAID on its head, garnered acclaim dealing with the massive earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and has breathed new life into the aid agency.

"I am just thrilled to see the huge progress that this community has made with leaders in politics, in media, in community service, in so many other walks of life," Shah said.