Call to resist Silent Emergency!.. Global protests for Binayak Sen’s Release

PRESS RELEASE
14th May 2008

Hundreds of activists in India and across the world today called for the unconditional release of jailed pediatrician Dr Binayak Sen, dubbing his incarceration a gross miscarriage of justice and a shame to Indian democracy.

On the first anniversary of the arrest of the renowned health and human rights activist they also demanded the scrapping of the Chhattisgarh State Special Security Act, a draconian legislation under which Dr Sen was detained. The protestors quoted the recent statement signed by 22 Nobel Laureates that says the internal security law does not ‘comport with international human rights standards’.

Candlelight vigils, fasts, public meetings and rallies in support of Dr Sen’s release were held in cities like New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, New Delhi, Raipur, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Pune. Apart from rights activists large number medical professionals all over the world took part in the protests.

In New Delhi in a memo to the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, the Committee for the Release of Dr Binayak Sen said that the trumped up charges of ‘treason’, and ‘abetting unlawful activities’ foisted on Dr Sen have so far not been backed up with any evidence. The judicial process initiated against him is only meant to harass him personally and intimidate all those working for human rights in Chattisgarh.

The memo said that the arrest of Chhattisgarh PUCL executive member and independent filmmaker Ajay TG on 5 May 2008 on similar flimsy and vague charges exposed the desperation of the Chhattisgarh government following its inability to substantiate charges against Dr Sen.

The Committee for the Release of Dr Binayak Sen has made the following demands to the Chhattisgarh government:

  • Drop all charges against Dr Binayak Sen, release him unconditionally and pay compensation for the harassment and loss of liberty he has suffered due to his detention;
  • Drop all charges against Ajay TG, who is being victimised by your government for being an active member of PUCL and supporting the release of Dr Sen;
  • Scrap the Chattisgarh State Public Security Act that violates the basic principles of the Indian Constitution as well as internationally accepted norms of justice and rule of law;
  • Stop encouraging all-out civil war in Chattisgarh in the name of ‘Salwa Judum’, which even the Supreme Court has indicated is unconstitutional and amounting to abetment of murder by the state.
  • Ensure a just and honest governance that improves the lives of millions of desperately poor people in Chattisgarh

Activists supporting Dr Sen have vowed to continue their peaceful agitation for his release and also raise the issue of other political prisoners around India who have been detained under various undemocratic laws. They have called upon the people of India to resist the imposition of a silent Emergency on the country in the name of ‘national security’ and containing terrorism.

For further information contact:

  • Sreerekha Ph: 9868120339
  • Satya Sivararaman Ph: 9818514952
  • Kavita Srivastava Ph: 09351562965

Visit: www.binayaksen.net and www.freebinayaksen.org and www.pudr.org for more details

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May 14, 2008 | Filed Under Global day of protest, Press Release, Protests | Leave a Comment 

Protest Pictures from Vigil in London

Protest Pictures from Vigil in front of Indian High Commission, London

Click on the images for enlarged view

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May 14, 2008 | Filed Under Global day of protest, Protests | Leave a Comment 

International campaign gains momentum: The Hindu

Hasan Suroor
The Hindu

LONDON: The international campaign in support of Binayak Sen, human rights activist languishing in Chhattisgarh for allegedly helping the banned Maoist rebel movement in the State, gained momentum on Tuesday with a protest outside the Indian High Commission here by a group of rights activists and doctors on the first anniversary of his incarceration.

Letter to Pratibha

Protesters, among whom were several former colleagues of Dr. Sen, raised slogans demanding his release to enable him to travel to the U.S. to receive the prestigious Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in Washington on May 29. Read more

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May 14, 2008 | Filed Under Global day of protest, Press Reports, Protests | Leave a Comment 

INTERNATIONAL COALITION DEMANDS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF JAILED HUMAN RIGHTS CRUSADER IN INDIA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2008
Contact: somu@aidindia.org, mail@friendsofsouthasia.org, 408-480-5805

‘FREE BINAYAK SEN!: ‘Solidarity Actions Planned in 10 North American and 3 European Cities

WHEN: Tuesday, May 13th/ Wednesday, May 14th
WHERE: In cities across the US, Canada and Europe

WHAT: A broad coalition of 37 organizations from US, UK and Canada have come together to demand immediate release of the jailed human rights activist, Dr. Binayak Sen, who was recently awarded the prestigious Jonathan Mann Award by the Global Health Council, Washington DC. The coalition consists of human rights groups such as Amnesty USA (which has declared Dr. Sen a Prisoner of Conscience), health rights groups such as the People’s Health Movement, antiwar groups such as the ANSWER Coalition and the Boston Mobilization, student groups from Harvard and Berkeley, local peace and justice groups from a number of cities, as well as a large number of diasporic groups based in US, UK and Canada. (A complete listing of groups is available below).

May 13/14th , 2008, which mark one year of Dr. Sen’s undemocratic imprisonment, are being observed as Global Days of Action to highlight his situation. In an unprecedented show of solidarity, coordinated actions are planned in 13 cities outside India. These include Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston in the US; Toronto and Vancouver in Canada; and London, Paris and Stockholm in Europe. More details about local actions are given below.

Dr Binayak Sen is a renowned pediatrician, public health specialist and the national Vice-President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). Dr. Sen is an activist with a lifelong commitment to the issues of community health and human rights, who was arrested on false charges of sedition last year, joining dozens of other human rights activists in Indian jails, charged under repressive “Black Laws.” Dr. Sen earned the ire of the government for opposing Salwa Judum, a private militia movement armed by the Government to combat ‘Maoist insurgency’. Salwa Judum has led to a spiraling increase in violence, which has displaced over 100,000 indigenous people over the last 3 years.

The challenges faced by human rights activists working in Chhattisgarh were thrown into prominence again last week, with the arrest of another activist with PUCL, Chhattisgarh, Ajay TG, under the same draconian law that was used to detain Dr. Sen and which grants unlimited power to the government to apprehend people on the merest suspicion of guilt. In addition to the release of Dr. Sen, the coalition is also asking for the repealing of these repressive laws, as well as the disbanding of Salwa Judum.

Over 4000 signatures from individuals around the world have also been collected on petitions asking for the release of Dr. Sen. Internationally acclaimed intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, George Galloway, Mahashweta Devi have all joined in urging the Indian government to free Binayak Sen and stop the harassment of human rights activists.

###
For more information, visit  www.aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen or www.binayaksen.net

Endorsing Organizations:

· Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, MIT
· Amnesty International, USA
· A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism -San Francisco
· Association for India’s Development
· Association of South Asian Political Activists (ASAPA), Berkeley
· Asian Law Alliance
· Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal
· Boston Mobilization
· Birmingham Anti-SEZ Campaign, UK
· Campaign against Forced Displacement, UK
· Campaign to Stop Funding Hate: CSFH
· CMC Vellore Alumni Association - UK Branch
· DEEP - Defenders of the Environment and Ecology of Panjab, UK
· Friends of South Asia: FOSA
· Gadar Heritage Foundation, Fremont (http://gadar.homestead.com/)
· Hillingdon Asian Women’s Communication Service, UK
· Indian Workers Association (GB)
· India Relief and Education Fund, Fremont
· International Accountability Project
· International League of People’s Struggles, UK
· International South Asia Forum: INSAF, NYC
· Massachusetts Global Action
· Matahari: Eye of the Day
· Our Developing World
· Peace and Human Rights Trust: UK
· Peninsula Peace & Justice Center
· Peoples Health Movement, USA
· Sanhati
· San Jose Peace & Justice Center (www.sanjosepeace.org)
· SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), Vancouver, Canada
· South Asian Alliance, UK:
· South Asians Stepping in Solidarity, Harvard: SASS
· South Asia Solidarity Group, UK
· Students for Bhopal
· The 1857 Committee
· Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF)
· Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom - San Jose

Details for Actions:

Baltimore/JHU: Talk on Dr. Binayak Sen followed by signature campaign. May 13th, 2008 (1:30 to 2:30 pm) School of Public Health [Contact Email : Manjunath - mshankar at jhsph.edu or 952-201-8679]
Boston: Vigil @ Harvard Square on May 13, 2008 (7pm) [Contact Email: freebsen at gmail.com]
Houston/Dallas: Stay Tuned.
London: Vigil in front of Indian High Commission on May 13, 2008 from 1-3pm. [Contact Email: sasg at southasiasolidarity.org]
New York: Protest in front of Indian Consulate on May 13, 2008 (12:30pm). [Contact Emails: Ashwini: akr7 at columbia.edu or Murli: mnatrajan at yahoo.com]
Paris: Meet with the Indian Consulate staff to voice concerns and deliver petitions on May 13, 2008. [Contact Email: Sapna - sapnamg at gmail.com]
Philadelphia: Candle light vigil @ 40th and Locust street field on May 13, 2008 (7:30). [Contact Email: AID.Philadelphia at gmail.com]
Pittsburgh: Candlelight Vigil @ Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Avenue on May 13, 2008 (7:30pm) [Contact Email: maryganguli at yahoo.com or sparun at gmail.com]
San Francisco: Protest in front of the Consulate General of India, 540, Arguello Blvd. San Francisco, CA 94118 at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008. [Contact Email: mail at friendsofsouthasia.org]
Stockholm: Meet with the Indian Consulate staff to voice concerns and deliver petitions on May 13, 2008. [Contact Email: Pradyumna - pradyumna.singh at gmail.com]
Vancouver: Protest action at the Indian Consulate on May 14th, 2008. [Contact Email: Hari Sharma of SANSAD - sansad at sansad.org]
Washington DC: Protest in front of Indian Embassy, 2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 on May 13, 2008 (4pm). [Contact: Somu @ 703-728-8987 or Somu at aidindia.org]

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May 12, 2008 | Filed Under Global day of protest, Press Release, Protests | 2 Comments 

London: VIGIL FOR THE RELEASE OF DR BINAYAK SEN

1.00pm -3.00pm, Tuesday 13 May 2008
Indian High Commission, The Aldwych, London WC1
(nearest tube: Holborn)

Free Dr. Binayak Sen Global day of Action

Dr Binayak Sen is a renowned paediatrician and human rights activist who has been working with the poorest people in Chhattisgarh state in central India for the last 25 years. On 14 May 2007, Dr Sen was arrested on trumped-up charges and has been imprisoned without trial ever since.

As a doctor, Binayak Sen is widely respected for his unshakeable commitment to providing health care to poor adivasi or ‘tribal’ communities. He was instrumental in setting up the cooperative Shaheed hospital for mine workers in Dalli Rajhara, and has campaigned tirelessly against violations of the human rights of the poor. On 21 April this year, he was awarded the prestigious Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in recognition of his work as a public health activist and defender of human rights.

The BJP government of Chhattisgarh claims that Binayak Sen has aided banned Maoist groups who are active in the region. The ‘evidence’ they present for this is that he had met a senior Maoist leader many times in the preceding year. But all these meetings in fact took place when Binayak Sen, as the Vice-President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, visited the 70 year old leader in Raipur Central Jail to provide medical and legal assistance, with the permission of the jail authorities and under their close supervision! Binayak Sen’s real ‘crime’ is to stand by the poor and dispossessed and to speak out about the violence they are facing in Chhattisgarh.

He was arrested after helping to expose involvement by the police in the unlawful killing of 12 adivasi people. He had been a vocal opponent of the Salwa Judum, a state-sponsored militia which has massacred local people and forced thousands to flee from their homes. Behind the violence and repression is the government’s aim of displacing the poor from their land in order to hand over huge tracts of mineral-rich Chhattisgarh to transnational steel, aluminium and mining companies. Over 30 ‘Memoranda of Understanding’ (MOUs) had already been signed with these companies.

May 14 will mark one year since Dr Binayak Sen’s arrest. The Acts under which he was arrested make it possible for the government to keep him in prison for an unspecified period, without any evidence. On December 10 – Human Rights Day – Binayak Sen’s application for bail was rejected by the Supreme Court. The Indian government and the Chhattisgarh state government are determined to silence Dr Sen. We must not allow them to succeed.

Supported by:
South Asia Solidarity Group,
CMC Vellore Alumni Association – UK Branch
Dr Wendy Savage MBBCh FRCOG MSc (Public Health) Hon DSc, Campaigner on Public Health
South Asian Alliance
Peace and Human Rights Trust
The 1857 Committee
Indian Workers Association (GB)
Birmingham Anti-SEZ Campaign
International League of People’s Struggles
Campaign against Forced Displacement
DEEP - Defenders of the Environment and Ecology of Panjab
Hillingdon Asian Women’s Communication Service

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May 3, 2008 | Filed Under Global day of protest, Protests | Leave a Comment 

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