India: End State Support for Vigilantes - Human Rights Watch
Prosecute Rights Violators and Protect Internally Displaced Communities
“The Chhattisgarh government denies supporting Salwa Judum, but dozens of eyewitnesses have described police participating in violent Salwa Judum raids on villages – killing, looting, and burning their hamlets. ” - Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch
(Raipur, July 15, 2008) – The Indian central and Chhattisgarh state governments should hold accountable government security forces and state-backed vigilantes responsible for attacking, killing, and forcibly displacing tens of thousands of people in armed operations against Maoist rebels since mid-2005 in southern Chhattisgarh, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
Human Rights Watch called for an end to all government support for unlawful activities by the Salwa Judum vigilantes, and urged affected state governments to take immediate measures to protect the tens of thousands of persons displaced. Human Rights Watch also called on Maoist rebels known as Naxalites to end attacks on civilians and other abuses.
The 182-page report, “‘Being Neutral Is Our Biggest Crime’: Government, Vigilante, and Naxalite Abuses in India’s Chhattisgarh State,” documents human rights abuses against civilians, particularly indigenous tribal communities, caught in a deadly tug-of-war between government security forces and the vigilante Salwa Judum and Naxalites.
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Letter to NHRC from International organizations
The Honorable Rajendra Babu, Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi – 110 001
Subject: Salwa Judum Inquiry Commission
Dear Justice Babu,
We are a diverse group of organizations who had written to you earlier, on May 13, 2008, observing one year of the unjust detention of Dr. Binayak Sen. In that letter, we had highlighted the harassment of various human rights activists in India under draconian laws such as Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and also stated our opposition to Salwa Judum, the militia movement armed by the Chhattisgarh Government, that has resulted in massive human rights violations in the Southern districts of Chhattisgarh, created an atmosphere of violence and distrust, and led to the displacement of thousands of tribals.
We have since learned that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been directed by the Honorable Supreme Court, in its order dated April 15, 2008, to conduct an inquiry into allegations of atrocities committed by Salwa Judum. This is certainly an encouraging sign and we hope that an independent and impartial report from the NHRC will compel the Central Government and the State Government of Chhattisgarh to act quickly to deter the widespread violation of human rights in the region.
We take this occasion to highlight the work of other independent organizations investigating Salwa Judum. Although these organizations are independent of each other, there is a remarkable consensus in their evaluation of Salwa Judum. Their reports are a searing indictment of this vigilante army started and nurtured by the state to wage war against its own people. For instance, according to the April 2006 document ‘Where the State Makes War on its Own People’ by PUCL
On the basis of the fact-finding, three facts stood out strongly, all of which ran counter to the government’s assertions: First, it is clear that the Salwa Judum is not a spontaneous people’s movement, but a state-organized anti-insurgency campaign. Second, it is misleading to describe the situation as simply one where ordinary villagers are caught between the Maoists and the military. The Maoists have widespread support and as long as people continued to live in villages, it was difficult for the government to isolate the Maoists…Third, the entire operation, instead of being a ‘peace mission’ as it is claimed, has escalated violence on all sides. However, only the murders by Maoists are recognized, and the Salwa Judum and paramilitary operate with complete impunity.
The report ‘War in the heart of India’ by Independent Citizens’ Initiative finds that:
The Salwa Judum has been responsible for a huge amount of violence in the district, which includes killing civilians, burning and looting their houses, and raping women. Rather than stopping Maoist violence, it has actually led to an increase in retaliatory killings by Naxalites.
And yet again, in a report entitled ‘Death, Displacement, and Deprivation: The war in Dantewada’, the Human Rights Forum observes:
That the Salwa Judum is not a popular upsurge against the Maoists but an instrument of the establishment is the one fact about which there has never been any doubt. Not only civil rights organisations and the leftist publications but the mainstream Press too has said so, in report after report. And there is also little doubt that it is an abominable instrument of suppressive politics.
‘The Adivasis of Chhattisgarh: Victims of the Naxalite Movement and Salwa Judum Campaign‘, a March 2006 report from the Asian Center for Human Rights (ACHR), spares neither the Naxalite movement nor Salwa Judum from its critical eye. The ACHR report notes that:
Salwa Judum is far from a “peace campaign” with some of its cadres being given full military trainings as Special Police Officers. It has become a state sponsored violent counter-insurgency programme.
The same report also calls upon the Indian Judiciary to look into the framing of laws such as the CSPSA which contravene several fundamental requirements for fairness. Finding the CSPSA vague and arbitrary in many instances, the ACHR report reminds us that:
International jurisprudence uniformly emphasises the importance of the cardinal principle of criminal justice system - nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege138 - i.e. criminal conduct must be defined in law before an offense can be committed, and with sufficient precision so as to prevent arbitrary enforcement (P.68).”
Many other reports make the point that Salwa Judum is not a ’spontaneous’ and ’self-initiated’ reaction to ‘Maoist oppression,’ but rather a state-organized anti-insurgency campaign that has increased violence on all sides and has resulted in the displacement of thousands of tribals.
We also take this occasion to highlight the concerns of Manish Kunjam, the national president of All India Adivasi Association, and one of the petitioners of the Salwa Judum PIL submitted before the Supreme Court of India. In his letter dated May 22, 2008, addressed to the Inquiry Commission at NHRC, he expressed certain concerns regarding the investigation. In particular he noted that:
- some of the translators used by the NHRC have close connections to Salwa Judum, and hence, it is likely, that the NHRC commission was not been apprised of the real facts.
- the presence of Salwa Judum leaders and Special Police Officers when the NHRC Commission was conducting its inquiry might have led to suppression of facts by villagers who feel intimidated by them (Salwa Judum leaders and SPOs).
- soon after the NHRC team left the village of Chintalnar, the Salwa Judum leaders issued death threats to people who had testified against Salwa Judum.
Recent news reports in the Hindustan Times and the Times of India corroborate Mr Kunjam’s fears that the NHRC investigation may have been conducted in an environment that was saturated with fear and intimidation, hence fatally compromising it. According to the HT report:
The 2000-odd inhabitants of Chintalnar village in Dantewada district have allegedly been threatened by the civil militia, Salwa Judum, after they spoke candidly to a visiting National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team about their struggle to live.
The TOI report quotes activists alleging that the NHRC investigation “panel is flouting all procedures and relying more on Salwa Judum activists and special police officers … and the composition of the investigation team does not have anyone from the NGOs who are associated with the NHRC.”
We request you to take these concerns into consideration while preparing your report, and echoing Mr. Kunjam’s recommendations in his letter, we request you to rely only on the translation services of people who are completely independent, or members of well-known and competent NGOs, to interview the concerned villagers. These interviews must be conducted without Special Police Officers and Salwa Judum leaders being present, and security must be provided to villagers who testify in front of you. We further request that your inquiries be conducted outside of these camps so that people can freely speak their minds without fear of Salwa Judum.
We write this is as concerned individuals from around the globe, many of us citizens of India, who wish to see the highest standards of democratic principles apply to protect all individuals, especially those whose basic human, civil and economic rights are regularly violated. We hope that as the body with the express charge of monitoring and countering human rights violations around the country, the NHRC will not fail the people of India and their well-wishers.
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India: Serious concerns over fair trial : Amnesty International Australia
Amnesty International Australia
Published on 27/06/2008
Delay in the trial process of jailed and award-winning human rights defender Dr. Binayak Sen followed by arrest of T.G. Ajay, also a human rights defender who attended his trial heightens serious doubts about Dr. Sen getting a fair trial at a Raipur district court in India, Amnesty International said on 25 June 2008.
Detained since 14 May 2007 Dr. Sen is facing numerous charges including under the Chhattisgarh State Public Security Act, 2005 (CSPSA), which criminalises “unlawful activities” and being a member of banned “terrorist organizations”. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Dr. Sen is a pioneer in providing accessible health care for adivasis (indigenous communities) and mine workers in remote villages of Chhattisgarh. He is recipient of several awards in recognition of his work for more than two decades. As vice-president of India’s leading human rights organisation, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Dr. Sen had highlighted unlawful killings and other human rights abuses in the armed confrontations in Chhattisgarh between the security forces and the Salwa Judum, a private militia widely held to be supported by the state authorities, on the one hand, and armed guerrillas of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the other.
Amnesty International called for Dr. Sen’s release soon after his arrest unless he was charged with a recognisably criminal offence - India: Chattisgarh government detains human rights defender, refuses to arrest police officials suspected of involvement in unlawful killings of adivasis. There are sufficient reasons to believe that the charges against him appear to be politically motivated. There has been no investigation so far into the allegations of unlawful killings of adivasis by Salwa Judum and the state police in Santoshpur which he had highlighted prior to his arrest. The authorities held him for seven months without proper filing of charges; in the meantime, he was denied bail; and was kept in solitary confinement for three weeks in March-April 2008; many of the charges against him stem from laws that contravene international standards. His trial, which commenced on 30 April, is now adjourned to 1 July.
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A PLEA TO TAKE UP THE CASE OF FILM-MAKER AJAY T G, HELD ON FALSE CHARGES IN CHHATTISGARH
This is an appeal to you to actively campaign for the freedom for film-maker Ajay T.G, who was recently arrested in Bhilai under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act (like Dr. Binayak Sen) on charges on sedition!
Ajay, who would be about 35, hails originally from Kerala. Coming from a very ordinary family, he has been involved in CPI politics and is still an office-bearer of the local youth federation. He learned film-making at “Jan Darshan” an effort of journalist Lalit Surjan (of Deshbandhu fame) to train local youth in the audio-visual media.
As a research assistant of the well known sociologist Jonathan Parry of the London School of Economics, Ajay made several films on the interface of caste and class among the permanent workmen of the Bhilai Steel Plant, which were widely appreciated
As a member of PUCL, he had the courage to accompany several fact-finding teams including into fake encounters, and capture on film the statements of victims. (Presumably it is this activity of Ajay’s that is being dubbed “sedition”?) Read more
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Dr Binayak Sen as I know him: Dr Sandeep Pandey
Dr Sandeep Pandey
I first met Binayak, wife Ilina and their two daughters Aparajita and Pranhita at the conclusion of Pokaran to Sarnath ‘Global Peace March’ on 6th August, 1999 at the Central Tibetan Institute of Higher Learning in Sarnath, near Varanasi . Sarnath is the place where Gautam Buddha delivered sermon to his first five disciples after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. The peace march was symbolically between the place of destruction - Pokaran, to the place of peace - Sarnath. It began exactly a year after on the day when India tested the nuclear weapons in 1998 and concluded on the Hiroshima Day. The objective of the peace march was total global nuclear disarmament. Ilina had also brought with her drawings made by some children on the theme of nuclear disarmament. While the march was in progress for 88 days and 1500 kms, the Sen family was busy organizing activities in Raipur and their work area in its support. We also later got a chance to work together for the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), a national level platform of organizations and individuals committed towards nuclear disarmament.
Dr. Binayak Sen is currently in Raipur jail. He has been targeted under the draconian Chattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2004, to silence the voices of humanity and justice. He is charged with sedition and conspiracy to wage war against the state, among other things. His trail has begun after a year in jail and his bail has been refused even by the Supreme Court. The six prosecution witnesses, out of a total of 89, who have been presented in court so far have failed to stand the cross examination. There doesn’t seem to be an iota of evidence against him. Yet, he is being illegally detained so that nobody dare question the experiment of Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh which legitimizes extra-constitutional violence and pits adivasis against adivasis. Binayak, who is the Chattisgarh General Secretary of nationally the most well known human rights organization, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, which was founded by none other than Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, exposed the killing of three teachers and one student, all innocent, in Gopapalli, Dist. Dantewada on 4th November, 2004, which was being projected as an encounter by the police. In November 2005 Binayak organized an all India team of human rights activists to visit Dantewada and study the systematic decimation, rape, loot, arson of ordinary adivasis and their properties by the police and Special Police Officers in the name of Salwa Judum. Binayak also objected to the brutal oppression by police of adivasis who were opposing the take over of their lands in Bastar for setting up a Tata-Essar industry. How could the Chattisgarh government tolerate Binayak who was out to expose what they claim as their successful experiment of countering the Naxalites through a ’self motivated people’s movement,’ the Salwa Judum?
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From freebinayaksen.org- Updates from Google News
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- Reports From Indian Media
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