A HUMAN rights advocate is campaigning for jailed Bournemouth backpacker Daisy Angus.

Kay Danes, of Foreign Prisoner Support Services, is calling for those detaining her in India to ensure basic human rights are upheld.

On the organisation's website it is claimed that Daisy has "suffered from malaria, has very little to eat and faces all manner of physical abuse".

It cites the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights article five - "No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

It also sites article 10 - "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him/her."

In adds: "The only way to guarantee that these two basic human rights are upheld is to get Daisy back to the UK."

The Foreign Prisoner Support Services is an advocacy group which was established in 1995 and works co-operatively with governments, organisations judicial and legal authorities, individuals and prisoners.

Its main aim is to provide an advisory service to families with loved ones detained aboard and raising awareness of their plight.

The group is calling for people to write to Daisy's MP Tobias Ellwood and the Indian High Commission in London.

Mrs Danes said: "We generally lobby governments and the embassy to provide support and continuous awareness of the plight of people like Daisy, who still have the right to be treated humanely."

Daisy, 25, was arrested at Bombay Airport on November 21, 2002, after customs officials discovered 10 kilos of cannabis in a secret compartment of a suitcase she was carrying.

Her trial began in April 2004 and is still ongoing.

Daisy's parents of Belle Vue Road, Southbourne, have made many trips to India to see their daughter.

The former Littledown Leisure Centre fitness instructor was on a round-the-world trip when she was arrested.

To read Daisy's case file click here

First published: August 10, 2005