One Year Since I Met Up With the Accident

Today, 30th June 2010, marks the first anniversary of the first accident that I met up with in my life. It was on this same day one year back that an audacious dog’s mischief brought me down with my bike on a rainy night, while returning from work, causing my right hand to get injured.

One year since, I find myself quite healthy and my right hand working the same way as it was before the accident (well, almost). I thank God for this and also use this occasion to thank all of those wonderful people who helped me during those days of painful existence. Special thanks is due to my doctor and my physiotherapist. On this occasion I republish my article The Peculiar Living – Life of a Temporarily Handicapped Man, which was written immediately after getting back to normalcy after the accident. Please click on the title of the article in the above sentence or click on the below mentioned link to find the article.

http://candidminds.blogspot.com/2009/09/peculiar-living-life-of-temporarily.html

26 June - United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Torture is one of the most appalling human rights abuses and it takes a terrible toll on the victims and their families. Torturers commonly use various inhuman methods like electric shocks, burns, suffocation in water, rape, sleep deprivation, blows to the sole of the feet and beating to breakdown an individual’s will power and personality. The psychological and emotional scars that such physical torture leaves behind are equally devastating for the victims and survivors of torture. Many survivors of torture suffer from recurring nightmares and flashbacks and they often withdraw from their families, schools and work and have a feel of loss of trust.

Every year United Nations observes 26 June as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to pay respects to those who have endured the unimaginable horrors of torture. It was on the same day in the year 1987 that the UN Convention against Torture came into force that aims at preventing torture in all its manifestations and to promote and encourage respect for human rights.

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Yet some governments have covertly authorised torture as was evident from what we have seen happening in the US prisons of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. It is not only the United States but there are many other governments that use torture to stifle dissent and to obtain evidences in criminal proceedings. It must be noted that the UN Convention against Torture explicitly notes that neither higher orders nor exceptional circumstances can justify torture.

Three decades back there were no treatment centres or services to treat victims of torture. But now situation has changed and there is a whole body of knowledge in the treatment of the victims of torture and many treatment centres around the world. Over 100 programmes for treating the victims of the torture in around 50 countries receive funding from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.

On this day we need to urge all Governments to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and to ensure that torture is a crime in their domestic laws and to meticulously pursue torturers and bring them to justice. It is the responsibility of all members of the civil society to take every possible action to defeat torture and torturers everywhere.

Courtesy: Official website of the United Nations (The image is the artwork by Octavio Roth)

Amnesty International’s Press Release that Calls on Indian Government to Raise Human Rights Issues with Burmese Military Junta

The military junta in Myanmar (formerly Burma) is perpetrating gross human rights violations against the pro-democratic people in the country. 1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the leader of the main political party of the country, has been under house arrest for a very long time. As the first elections in two decades is approaching the military junta has curtailed three freedoms of the people - of expression, association and peaceful assembly – which is essential for the people to freely participate in the political process in the country.

When such gross human rights violations are committed in our neighbourhood, India, which aspires to be a regional power, remains silent. As a responsible country and as the largest democracy in the world, it is incumbent upon India to use its influence to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar. Following is the press release of Amnesty International that calls on Government of India to raise human rights issues with the military junta in Myanmar.

India’s relations with Myanmar fail to address human rights concerns in run up to elections

Amnesty International calls on the Government of India as a regional leader, to use its influence to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar in advance of the upcoming elections.

With Myanmar’s first elections in two decades approaching, the three freedoms - of expression, association and peaceful assembly - essential for people to freely participate in the political process, are increasingly being denied. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is one of some 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar. None of them will be able to participate in this year’s elections under new election laws - laws that the Indian government has failed to condemn.

The Government of India claims to follow a ‘constructive’ approach in promoting human rights improvements in Myanmar. However, its response to the dire state of human rights in the country has been increasingly inadequate.

By disassociating itself from the recent critical resolution on Myanmar’s terrible human rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Council, while issuing the anodyne call for elections to be ‘inclusive and broad based’, the Government of India has ignored the reality on the ground the resolution looked to address.

Political repression is also occurring against a backdrop of widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Myanmar army in its campaign against ethnic minorities.

While India suspended most shipments of military hardware to Myanmar in late 2006, it is reportedly considering a resumption of its arms sales. Its opposition to a global arms embargo on Myanmar makes its reluctance to support wider sanctions, supposedly based on the harm they would do to the wider population, disingenuous. Amnesty International calls on the Government of India to maintain its current suspension of military transfers to Myanmar.

Myanmar’s other neighbours have in some crucial instances taken a stronger stance than India. Singaporean Foreign Minister, George Yeo, in a statement after the ASEAN Summit on 9 April 2010, complained of the obstacles ASEAN faces in acting on Myanmar due to the stances of both India and China. In October 2007 during the popular protests against the Myanmar government, ASEAN - chaired then by Singapore - expressed “revulsion” at the brutal crackdown. India expressed only “concern”.

In May 2008 after the devastating Cyclone Nargis, many in the international community, including China and ASEAN, raised the Myanmar government’s failure to assist the 2.5 million survivors. India instead ‘saluted’ the people and government for their resilience and called for the aid process to be ‘apolitical’, ignoring the fact that Myanmar’s leaders had already politicised aid by blocking much-needed assistance.

India’s role in the “Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Myanmar” at the UN is a small step in the right direction but much more is needed. To participate in the group but to be silent unilaterally at best weakens India’s ability to help effect positive change in Myanmar, and at worst sends a mixed message that could be interpreted as tacit endorsement of the human rights violations taking place.

The numerous human rights violations documented by Amnesty International and many others during periods of heightened political dissent in Myanmar indicate the need to focus on upholding human rights during the upcoming election period.

As the Myanmar elections approach Amnesty International urges the Government of India to publicly call for the three freedoms - of expression, association and peaceful assembly - to be guaranteed throughout the election period. This is the time to show true human rights leadership as befits a key regional player – and not the time for silence.

(For Amnesty International)

Bhopal Gas Tragedy Verdict – A Case of Travesty of Justice

Few months back in this blog we had a blogpost titled 25 Years of Unabated Trauma and Denied Justice at Bhopal. Now that the court verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy is out, it is imperative to revisit the subject. After 26 long years the verdict has come, but it was inadequate at best, outrageous at worst. Eight people convicted were sentenced for 2 years in prison as they were held guilty under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

The sentence given to the accused is disproportionate when compared to the magnitude of their crime that killed over 15000 people. Justice has not been done to the victims of the mishap who have suffered immensely and are still suffering because of the toxic waste that still remains in the area and generations inheriting various disabilities. Predictably the civil society is outraged at the inadequate sentence given. Moreover the convicts were given bail immediately on surety of Rs. 25000 and the main accused, the then Chairman of the Union Carbide Warren Anderson is still at large. It is now a common knowledge that the government of India secured a safe passage for Mr. Anderson to leave the country and from then onwards he has been declared an absconder by the Indian judiciary. It is a pity that Indian Government has never made sincere efforts in extraditing Anderson from the United States, where he is a living a quiet, retired life.

Bhopal gas tragedy is a result of gross corporate negligence in the part of Union Carbide Company. They stored dangerous materials in bulk without adequate security, they had no systems in place to warn local community about gas leaks and they had no emergency plans if some disasters occurred. This at a time when they had all safety measures and emergency plans in place at the factory site in the United States. The old imperialist attitude of considering lives of people in weaker countries to be of less value was very much evident in the actions of the Union Carbide Company.

Government of India is also accused of being appallingly negligent in the way they coalesced with Union Carbide in contravening rules and regulations. The government gave permission to start the factory at a densely populated area even when they knew that it handled poisonous gases and did nothing to make sure that safety measures are followed by the Company. Even after the tragedy struck, the Indian government did little in providing comfort to the victims of the tragedy. The compensation that was promised to the victims hasn’t been given till now. There have been no efforts in fixing the accountability of the disaster to Union Carbide and to make them pay for the destruction caused. Adequate measures to address the long term impacts of the gas leak, including cleaning up the site, remediation of the factory, regular supply of safe water and economic rehabilitation, haven’t been done till now.

The ministerial panel on the Bhopal tragedy has recommended that the government set aside Rs. 1500 crores as relief package to the victims of the tragedy. However this will be paid from the Indian taxpayers’ money and not from Dow Chemicals, who at present owns Union Carbide. Systematic failure of the Indian administration to hold Union Carbide accountable for the disaster is again on view here. In a mad chase for bringing more and more foreign companies to India, it seems the government is giving little consideration to the safety of the common man and to his basic human rights.

The US government and the Obama administration have some answering to do on their double standards on dealing with environmental disasters. While Obama speaks about keeping his “boot on the throat” of BP for the oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico, he remains silent on Warren Anderson, who is the prime accused of the Bhopal tragedy. When it is understandable for the US administration to shield one of their citizens, what is a matter of disgrace is the inability and palpable indifference of various Indian governments to pursue Anderson.

The inadequate judicial verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy shows that there is a lot of discrepancy in our judicial system when it comes to giving justice to the victims of industrial disasters. It is up to the jurists, the Law Ministry and the Indian judicial system as a whole to make amends in the existing law so as to bring more accountability in the system and to make sure that justice is done to the victims of industrial disasters by giving adequate punishment to the culprits. Human rights organisations and the civil society have to campaign strongly for bringing justice to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. Amnesty International supports this campaign for justice and you can also take part in this effort by taking action. Please click on the below mentioned link to be a part of this effort.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/call-chemical-company-address-legacy-bhopal

(For Amnesty International)

World Refugee Day - 20 June

The United Nations observes 20 June every year as World Refugee Day. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR declares that a refugee is someone who has been put on to run away from his or her country due to harassment, war, or hostility. As a result, the refugee’s revisit to his or her home country is prohibited for the reason of the terror of harassment on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political judgment and devotion in a particular social group.

World Refugee Day is observed to celebrate the courage, bravery and strength of mind of all those men, women and children who are forced to flee their homes and their mother land under the danger of persecution, discrimination and violence. They often get separated from their family members, friends, work and their community. About 40 million people have been expatriated from their home due to the fear of persecution and violence. A third of these refugees are people who have fled their homes due to civil wars and racial violence.

Refugee influx is a problem faced by almost all countries of the world. But even responsible nations see refugees as a nuisance and often see them as criminals. It needs to be understood that refugees seek refuge in another country because they have no other option left with them. Unfortunately refugees are met with closed borders, xenophobia, violence, detention and terrible living conditions in countries that they take refuge in. Sometimes they are denied a fair hearing of their asylum claims and are forced to return to their home country, where they are often met with life threatening circumstances.

The recent spate of ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan against the Uzbeks has left 30,000 people internally displaced. There are refugee crises in Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh’s border with India, to name few.

On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, Amnesty International calls on states to reiterate the rights of human beings to seek and enjoy asylum as envisaged by Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 14 of the UDHR states that

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

It is incumbent upon all states to make sure that their policies and actions are not preventing refugees from seeking asylum and human rights violations are not committed against them. Amnesty International intends to spread and to reinforce the fact that a refugee is not a criminal and is not someone else’s problem. A refugee is a person fleeing torture or persecution and has a right to seek asylum. Therefore it is the responsibility of all individuals and nation states to do everything possible to protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees.

Tomorrow, 12 June is the World Day against Child Labour

Child Labour is a malaise that deprives children of their basic human rights of adequate education, health and leisure. Statistics show that about half of these children are exposed to worst forms of child labour like hazardous working environment, slavery and other forms of forced labour, illicit activities like drug trafficking and even prostitution, as well as forced involvement in armed conflict.

In the year 2002, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the first World Day against Child Labour on 12th June in a bid to highlight the plight of these child labourers. The day has been effectively observed from the year of its launch as a catalyst for the worldwide movement against child labour. As a result of the concerted effort by ILO and other similar organisations many countries have ratified ILO’s conventions on the worst forms of child labour and on the minimum age of employment. The day is also observed by human rights organisations, schools, youth and women’s groups and the civil society as a whole to support the efforts of individual governments to improve the living conditions of child labourers and to put them back to schools. Education and sufficient leisure is important for children to become productive members of the society during their adult life.

Right to Education Act in India is a step towards abolishing child labour completely and to put children back to schools so that we can completely utilise the abilities of our younger generation in nation building. It is our moral responsibility to make all efforts possible to eliminate child labour from our nation and from the world so that we make a generation of talented people who will change the face of the world for the better.

Source: Official website of International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Spent Time with Some of God’s Children at Sandhwanam

Some emotions cannot be expressed but can only be felt. But compassion, the greatest of all human emotions, has no such infirmity as it can be readily felt and easily expressed. In fact the expression of compassion is one human quality that distinguishes between a Good Samaritan and an ordinary human being. Last Saturday was yet another day that we chose to become a tool in the hands of God and to be a part in His scheme of things. It was our chance to play the role of Good Samaritans, a role assigned to us by the Almighty, as we spent some time and had lunch at Sandhwanam with some of God’s most favourite children.

Sandhwanam was a very serene place and in the main room were placed the holy books, The Bible, The Gita and The Quran, side-by-side, proclaiming that providing comfort to the distressed is the ultimate aim of all religions. Overlooking the proceedings was the photograph of the greatest soul to have ever lived in this world, Mother Theresa, a nun canonised not by any institutions but by the hearts of distraught people and by the prayers of suffering millions.

During lunch time at Sandhwanam, we played host and served food to the children. Anyone who went there thinking that it would be a poignant occasion had a pleasant awakening as witnessing the divine innocence of children, as it often does, brought mirth and happiness to the eyes and minds of the beholders. A cute little kid with a hair-do that loosely resembled David Beckham’s 2006 World Cup hairstyle was so much against taking food by himself that he got miffed with the circumstances, wept silently, got up, went inside and discovered someone from inside who could feed him with her hands and thus found peace of mind. Another little man found it to be absolutely beyond his realm of liking to have food in the presence of large number of people and abstained from taking it even after many affectionate persuasions from many of us. Then there were two little girls sitting in the red sofa with a small kid in between them, and they assumed the role of elder sisters to this younger kid, and in a half-playful-half-affectionate mood jumped off from their respective places and swapped their positions frequently keeping their younger brother guessing about their next move, with all three finding great merriment in what they were doing. And this small boy, the subject of such overt expression of humour and affection, himself seemed to be a man of reputation for around his neck he proudly wore a green shawl as if it was an award presented to him for his enormous magnanimity. And there was one queer, young gentleman in a yellow tee-shirt who seemed to have a rather poor opinion on the dynamics of this “fast-paced” world, for he took his own time in finishing the food, unperturbed by the multitude of events unfolding around him, tutoring all of us that we shouldn’t race off to finish our food, but need to enjoy the intricacies of tasty food with meticulous precision.

Then there were some angels in the guise of ladies, who looked after the kids like mothers would. They got sad when a kid wept, got happy when another one smiled, got worried when yet another one jumped off from one step to the other, got pleased when all children finished their gratifying lunch. It appeared that their satisfied disposition was teaching us that the money we make is useless, the post and position we gain are trivial, if we fail to share our time and happiness with those who are less privileged than us, who are not as fortunate as we are, yet have the same right to be happy and content as we are.

And when we stepped out of Sandhwanam there was a slight drizzle in the air as if, for what we have done, Mother Nature was giving her approbation. Then we all got into our vehicles and moved on and then we looked back, one more time, and through the glassed windows in the upper stairs we saw them, those God’s children, giving us their precious smiles and waving their little hands at us as if, for what we have done, they were giving their approval.

(Sandhwanam is an orphanage in Kochi)