India and the world must strengthen their fight against inequality

Recently a politician from the Indian state of Haryana proclaimed that poor sex ratio in his state is “god’s wish” and politicians or governments can’t do anything about it. Now that can’t just be true, for god will never take sides, or so the theists believe, and hence any result that won’t give something close to a 1:1 ratio as far as sex ratio is concerned, can’t be considered as the “will of the god”. Sex-selection abortion, where the female foetuses are aborted when pre-natal diagnostic tests reveal the child to be a female, has been a bane India has had for many years. 

Inequality of various hues is prevalent in India, none more severe than gender inequality. Female child is considered by many families as a burden and hence they are not given adequate care and consideration. India’s patriarchal society has an inherent son-preference and daughter-neglect mindset, which gets manifested in female foeticide and other discriminatory practices against the girl child. Even if a girl escapes unhurt from foeticide, she is often denied access to healthy diet, good education or self actualisation. Rapes and other forms of sexual harassment are on a sharp rise in these patriarchal societies and girls are not even safe in their houses. 

Rise in communalism has come as a new challenge to the accessibility of basic human rights to the many millions of Indians. Though Constitution of India proclaims itself to be a secular nation, giving equal treatment to all religions by the state, some religious groups consider themselves to be more equal than others. Majoritarianism as a political agenda has come up in the Indian society, whereby some claim that they are entitled to a certain degree of primacy in the society. The minorities are often pushed to the forgotten corners of development and hence are destined to poor economic and social conditions. In India, social and economic inequality has battered the tribal population and has taken them to near extinction. Reckless deforestation, in the name of industrial development, has even destroyed their natural habitat.

Caste discrimination is still all pervasive in the social fabric of India. Discrimination based on caste status is one of the main reasons why poverty is rampant in India. Most of the Dalits live below the poverty line in India and they earn less than the minimum wages. Most of them don’t have access to education and basic sanitation. They often suffer from diseases mainly because they don’t have access to safe drinking water. 

If India wants to strengthen its fight against inequality then it must resort to inclusive development. Social and economic development must not be the prerogative of the select few. When it comes to development, social and economic, no mention must be made to the gender, religion, caste or community of people. They must only be considered as Indians and hence they must enjoy equal rights and equal protection from the state. The fruits of development must reach people of all strata; all must be entitled to the riches of economic development of the nation. When the world is besmirched with all kinds of inequality, if India wants to be considered a global leader then it must fight a stronger battle against discrimination and inequality of its own citizens.

Humanity must rise above all trivial considerations of discriminating people on the basis of different factors. May this be the day where we all take an oath to struggle and fight together for an equal world, where inequality is a thing of the past and discrimination a word in the dictionary that has no real world significance.

Our World Must Act to End Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

There often come occasions in our personal lives and in the lifetime of a nation when the silence we observe becomes a grave crime that we commit to the world and to the humanity at large. Israel’s unabashed and outrageous killing of innocents in Gaza, including God’s children, is in all senses a genocide which must be condemned in the strongest of terms. If we remain silent to this gravely atrocious act, we would be becoming partners in this crime against humanity. It is a historical irony that the Jews, who have been the victims of one of the deadliest genocide in the history of mankind, are the perpetrators of this heinous massacre in Gaza. 

It is now fairly obvious that Israel has embarked on an all out war on the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Unlike in the past, when armed attacks used to happen only for 3-4 days, it seems that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have arrived with a specific plan to exterminate the Palestinians in the Gaza strip for once and for all. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that even after demolishing the secret tunnels in Gaza Israel will not stop the attack on Gaza. Many commentators are of the opinion that Israel is attacking Gaza with an intention that there should not be any future generations of Palestinians in Gaza and that is why they are targeting places where children are kept. Such a war that blatantly target children and kill them intentionally has never been fought in the face of this planet. In any conventional wisdom Israel is committing a war crime that needs strong condemnation and strict action against those who calls for and approves such a war.

Before continuing this writer must make this clear that he is no supporter of Hamas, the terrorist organisation in Palestine. However it is true that the Palestinians in the Gaza strip trust Hamas as the only organisation that is capable of standing up to the terror of Israel. The pretext on which Israel started the present attack in Gaza was that Hamas killed three Israeli youngsters. But now they claim that those youngsters may not have been killed by Hamas but some other terror outfit unconnected to Hamas. When the reason behind the start of the attack has ceased to exist as a reason, no excuses remain for the Israelis to continue with their armed bombardment of Gaza. But Netanyahu has made it extremely clear that the IDF is not even thinking about stopping the attack on Gaza civilians. The Israelis claim that they are targeting Hamas terrorists and not ordinary citizens. But the bombardment on civilian areas of Gaza including schools and hospitals shows that Israel is targeting ordinary citizens. Israel also claims that Hamas uses children as human shields against Israeli attack. However even that claim appears to be hollow as human shields are normally used against those countries that follow international conventions during times of war and not on a country like Israel that has no qualms in violating those conventions unashamedly.

Israel also often comes up with the argument that they are only retaliating to the attacks on their civilians by Hamas terrorists and say it is their responsibility to save its citizens from the deadly attacks by Hamas. However the truth remains that in comparison to the number of Palestinians killed by Israel, the number of Israelis killed by Hamas is incredibly low. The loss of human lives in both places is quite disproportionate. Mobile defence system of Israel known as the “Iron Dome” intercepts and destroys most of the short range missiles and artillery shells fired to Israel from the Gaza strips. Hence the loss of human life is quite less in Israel even if the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza fire missiles. For many years Israel has been putting blockade on Gaza strip and the Palestinians in Gaza live in what many human rights organisations call an “open-air prison.” They are not allowed to move freely or gain employment and hence they have an unemployment rate as high as 48%. 

If this writer says that it is high time international community take effective steps to curb the genocide of Israel, it would be an understatement. Hundreds of children have been killed and many more have been maimed and wounded. The sight of bodies of dead children lying strewn in many parts of Gaza is terrible to behold. When the circumstances are so grave it is disgraceful to see the world standing helpless to stop this genocide. The United Nations appears toothless, “world police” United States is hand-in-glove with Israel, other Arab countries neglectful as they think Israel is far better than Hamas and the one time leader in non-aligned movement, India shamelessly siding with Israel and US, saying both Palestine and Israel are equal partners of the nation. In such a situation, the Palestinians remain helpless amidst dreadful Israeli bombardment.  If the attack continues like this for some more days we should get ready to see an absolute extermination of the Palestinians in Gaza and the place would become their graveyard.

During his high profile election campaign, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to speak about his intentions of making India a supreme nation in the eyes of the world. However it must be said that he has squandered a golden opportunity to make India supreme by not taking a moral high ground position in the case of Gaza attacks. Like many other of his campaign promises this one has also came out to be a hollow one. Added to this is the position taken by his main constituency, the far right Hindutva groups in India. There have been many pro-Israeli statements coming out from the Hindutva group. Their social media activists are at the forefront of producing such statement. The Hindutva army of social media activists, who were the a real force behind Modi’s election campaign, who are now jobless after Modi became PM, are utilising a good part of their time to promote and generate pro-Israeli arguments. When no right thinking person can endorse the abject cruelty committed by Israel on hapless citizens of Gaza, one wonders what is the logic behind the support given by these Hindutva groups to Israel. The only reason appears to be that the victims are Muslims. However this is a time to think beyond such divisive factors of religion and ethnicity and to stand together for the rights of humanity.

When the nations of the world have decided to be mute spectators, it is the responsibility of all right thinking individuals of all countries of the world to speak out openly against the gruesome killing of innocents by Israel and to show disgust on the moral turpitude of the nations of the world. If ever there was a time to show support to the people of Gaza, it is now. It is there fight for existence, a fight for their human rights. And this writer stands in support of Gaza and its citizens, especially the children, the embodiment of innocence.

Image Courtesy: Selena Gomez's Instagram 

Protecting Freedom of Expression in the Online Space

A Facebook status message can put you behind the bars. When you heard such news from countries in the Middle East, China and many other authoritarian states, you thought that it would never happen in India, the country we all blissfully consider the largest democracy in the world. But what happened in those countries could happen to those in India as well, as discovered by two young girls in Palghar in Mumbai, as they were arrested for dissenting against the shutdown in the city after the death of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackerey.

Arresting someone for voicing sentiments not liked by people with power is nothing but an act of fascism which has no place in a democracy. Everyone knows that not all shops and establishments remained closed on the day of cremation of Bal Thackerey not because of the respect for the leader but out of sheer fear. And the girls were only expressing their frustration on this sordid state of affairs, without naming anyone. In fact, as Justice Markandey Katju rightly pointed out, the girls were only echoing the sentiments shared by the Supreme Court on the illegality of bandhs in the country. Though the Maharashtra government suspended the police officers who arrested the girls, damage had already been done. The incident had created a sense of insecurity among the netizens in India and there was a sort of lull in the social media space in the country for some time. People thought a second time before scribbling their opinion in the virtual space. A healthy democracy can ill afford such as situation, where the citizens are afraid to speak out and express their opinions fearlessly. 

Silencing dissent has suddenly become the fad in India among many political parties. It was only recently that a man was arrested for tweeting that Karti Chidambaram, the son of Union Finance Minister P Chidambarama, was corrupt. In the month of April Kolkata police arrested Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra for posting a cartoon critical of the Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. In September this year anti corruption crusader and free speech campaigner Aseem Trivedi was arrested on charges of sedition. After the arrest of the girls in Palghar for their innocuous comment in Facebook, another man was dragged to the police station by MNS workers in Palghar, alleging that he had posted a status message that was “disrespectful’ of Raj Thackerey. 

The internet and the social media are powerful tools of political freedom, where the common man can express his opinion freely and it is better for a democracy to encourage people to express their ideas openly and fearlessly. In a democracy anyone has the right and freedom to articulate what he/she believes is right and express those ideas in way that is not inimical to the life and freedom of another person. If that freedom infringes upon the rights and freedom of another person, then existing laws can interfere. 

It has become imperative for the Indian government to review the Section 66 (A) of the IT Act 2000, the basis on which the Palghar girls were arrested. Many experts believe that the section is not in line with the Constitution of India and internationally accepted standards of freedom of speech and expression. The nebulous wordings of the section could be misinterpreted and abused by the various law enforcement agencies in the country. There is an urgent need to lay down clear and comprehensive explanations to the restriction on free speech in the IT act.

If freedom of speech and expression, which is the corner stone of democracy, is taken away from the people, we as a country will fail and the democracy that we are so proud of will meet its end sooner rather than later. 

Join Amnesty International’s Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon

(For Amnesty International)

Around the world many governments incarcerate human rights defenders by closing them behind the bars, where they are tortured and their lives put in jeopardy - their crime, they spoke against state sponsored human rights abuses.

Your words have got enormous power and can bring the spotlight on to the dark chambers where these human rights defenders are being tortured. Your letters of support and solidarity can bring in hope in these forgotten 'prisoners of conscience'. Join with me and hundreds of thousands of people around the world in marking International Human Rights Day on 10 December by taking part in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon, the world’s largest human rights event. Through our letters, post cards and more we take action to demand human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled around the world and show our solidarity to those who suffer human rights abuses as well as to those human rights defenders who are languishing in state prisons around the world.

Join Amnesty International’s Write-a-thon by going to the following link and by pledging your letters and your support. You can find all information and resources in that page.

Join Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon

December 3-11 are the key dates for writing the letters, but feel free to start earlier or later. Let us come together and save lives and protect human rights around the world.

Myanmar: Political prisoners must be freed - Amnesty International

(Amnesty International Appeal)

On the third anniversary of the violent crackdown on the “Saffron Revolution”, Amnesty International calls on the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally free all political prisoners arrested for their peaceful activism.

The Myanmar authorities continue to imprison over 2,200 political prisoners—more than double the number held before the August 2007 protests against sharp fuel and commodity price rises.

“While the international community, including Myanmar’s ASEAN neighbours, has been calling for free, fair and inclusive elections there, the plight of thousands of political prisoners has been overlooked,” said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher.

Amnesty International believes the vast majority of those held are prisoners of conscience who are being punished merely for peacefully exercising their rights to free expression, assembly and association.

The Myanmar government will hold its first elections in 20 years on 7 November 2010 against a backdrop of political repression and systematic violence. Under Electoral Laws enacted in March 2010, no political prisoner can take part in the elections or hold membership in any political party.

International attention in recent months has focused on the power-play between the military and the government’s proxy parties on the one hand; and the armed ethnic minority groups, the National League for Democracy, and a small number of new opposition parties on the other.

“The long-standing problem of political imprisonment in Myanmar remains very much at the heart of the political impasse in the country”, said Benjamin Zawacki. “These prisoners constitute a significant part of the political opposition”.

In the largest show of public discontent against the military government in Myanmar since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, tens of thousands of protesters—led by Buddhist monks—took to the streets in August and September 2007, demanding economic and political reforms.

The peaceful country-wide demonstrations were violently put down by the authorities in late September 2007. At least 31 (and possibly more than a hundred) people were killed—with many more injured and at least 74 disappeared—and thousands detained.

The brutal crackdown provoked international condemnation, including an unprecedented expression of revulsion and demands for change from the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Yet even as Myanmar prepares for its first elections in two decades, as part of what it calls a “Roadmap to Democracy”, it continues to repress political opposition.

“It beggars belief that the government can attempt to burnish its democratic credentials by holding elections, while it also holds more than 2,200 political prisoners behind bars and out of sight of the campaigns and polls”, said Benjamin Zawacki . “The international community should point out to Myanmar that these practices cannot be reconciled under any genuine Roadmap to Democracy”.

Political prisoners in Myanmar are held in deplorable conditions

Many of those who took part in the Saffron Revolution, such as labour rights campaigner Su Su Nway, monk leader and activist U Gambira, and 88 Generation Student group members Min Ko Naing, Htay Kywe, Mie Mie, Ko Mya Aye and Zaw Htet Ko Ko, are in poor health. In the past two years, at least 238 political prisoners have been moved to extremely remote prisons, restricting their access to relatives, lawyers and medical care. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment are rife. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied access to prisons in Myanmar since late 2005.

“On this third anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, Amnesty International calls on world leaders to demand that the Myanmar government free all political prisoners at once, and ensure human rights protection throughout the elections period and beyond”, said Benjamin Zawacki.

Visit the following URL and add your name to this petition calling on the Chairman of the newly-established Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to press the President of Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience.

http://amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/Myanmar-must-release-all-prisoners-of-conscience

Ask India to Help Stop the Bloodshed in Syria

(Amnesty International Appeal)

It has been over four months since the beginning of largely peaceful protests in Syria calling for political reform and for the Syrian President to step down. The Syrian authorities’ response to their people’s demands has so far been brutal.

According to Amnesty International’s research, the human rights violations committed by the Syrian security forces and army since mass protests began in mid-March include unlawful killings and torture. They appear to have been committed as part of a widespread - as well as systematic - attack on the civilian population and, in some cases, to amount to crimes against humanity.

That is why Amnesty International has called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC), to impose an arms embargo and to freeze the assets abroad of the Syrian President and his senior associates.

So far the UN Security Council has been silent on Syria – failing to take action to help protect peaceful dissent in the country.

Some members of the Council have introduced a resolution on Syria which could be a first step towards a referral to the ICC. However, voting on the resolution is currently blocked by six other members. We believe that, three of those six, Brazil, South Africa and India, could be persuaded to change their position with sufficient international pressure.

Brazil, South Africa and India aspire to become permanent members of the UN Security Council and, as such, we believe that they have an increasing responsibility to try to bring an end to the violent crackdown in Syria. Please sign this petition to help ensure that Brazil, South Africa and India do not shy away from their responsibilities. As an Indian you need to pressure your government to change its position. Sign here to let the government hear your voice.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/ask-brazil-south-africa-and-india-to-help-stop-the-bloodshed-in-syria

Take Action Now

Send an email to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, South Africa and India urging them to join other members of the UN Security Council in supporting the current draft resolution on Syria and calling on the Syrian authorities to help bring an end to the violent crackdown in the country.

Dear Ministers,

I am writing to urge you, as representatives of the governments of Brazil, South Africa and India, to support the current draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria and thereby to join other members of the Council in calling on the Syrian government to stop the use of tanks, snipers and torture to suppress peaceful dissent.

So far the UN Security Council has remained silent on the situation in Syria. This is despite reports of widespread human rights violations across the country and Amnesty International’s assessment that crimes against humanity are being committed by the Syrian security forces and army in their crackdown on dissent.

As key players in the international arena and members of the UN Security Council, Brazil, South Africa and India have the possibility and we believe the responsibility to change this.

I appeal to you and your governments to show leadership and to use your international influence to help stop the bloodshed in Syria and ensure accountability for abuses committed there.

Yours sincerely,

Brazil:

Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Minister of Foreign Affairs

ministro.estado@itamaraty.gov.br

South Africa:

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation

Email: minister@foreign.gov.za

India:

S M Krishna, Minister of External Affairs

E-mail: eam@mea.gov.in

Help protect children in Jammu and Kashmir

(Amnesty International Appeal)

When teenage boys turn 16 in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India they suddenly face a new threat. If they get arrested, they are treated as adults while according to international law only those above 18 should be.

Raheel Khursheed, who recently joined an Amnesty International Twitter campaign to demand the release of a teenager said, “The government has to decide whether the approach of talking to these young people should be humane or whether they want to go down as a government that uses legal brutality.”

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act (JKJJA) teenage boys above 16 are adults and the government routinely locks them up in adult prisons in harsh conditions. There is a real need for reform in the area of juvenile justice and this has been recognised by the J&K Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah himself.

By signing this petition you can ensure that Omar Abdullah keeps his word. We will deliver your signatures to him ahead of the monsoon session of the J&K Assembly in September.

Join Amnesty International's campaign to make the adult age 18 so that the JKJJA becomes compatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Please go to the following URL and sign in the online petition.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/node/24915

(Image Copyright: Owais Zargar)

50 Years of Amnesty International

On 28 May 2011 Amnesty International marks its 50th anniversary - 50 years of uninhibited fight against injustice and repression. It was way back in 1961 that a British lawyer Peter Benenson, enraged by a newspaper report of two Portuguese students from Coimbra being sentenced to seven years in prison for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom, started this movement for freedom and justice. From that humble beginning Amnesty International has grown into a global movement of more than 3 million supporters as well as members and activists in more than 150 countries and territories.

Though it is true that the human rights situation around the world has undergone a sea change in these 50 years, for which Amnesty International can certainly take some credit, there still exist a lot of human rights issues left to be solved. The 50th anniversary of Amnesty International comes at a time when there are a lot of changes happening in the human rights landscape as is evident from the way in which people of Middle East and North Africa are fighting against oppression and tyranny. It has become imperative that we remain committed to strengthening the global human rights movement.

Amnesty International is committed to protect freedom of expression, abolish the death penalty, defend rights of women and girls, demand international justice, stop corporate abuse and end oppression and injustice. For achieving these goals Amnesty International is in need of the help of each and every one of you. Change is possible and international solidarity on human rights is what we need to accomplish that.

50th Anniversary of Amnesty International is accompanied by a new drive – “Be one more, ask one more, act once more” – that urges everyone, including three million members of Amnesty International, to encourage at least one person to take action for human rights. On this account I implore all my readers to join with Amnesty International in its campaign against human rights violations and make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world who are reeling under oppression, discrimination and violence.

Source: Official website of Amnesty International

Dear UN Secretary-General, Tell Us What You Know about Sri Lanka

(For Amnesty International)

Dear UNSG Ban Ki-Moon,

First of all let me thank you for taking the important decision to set up a Panel of Experts to advise your office on accountability issues in Sri Lanka. When the war between the LTTE and Government forces in Sri Lanka ended there was a glimmer of hope for the Tamil people of the northern parts of the country. However such hopes were shattered when it came to the fore that war crimes and gross human rights violations were committed against the victims of the civil war by both the government forces and the LTTE.

Almost two years after the end of the conflict the true extent of the violations remains hidden and justice is being denied. The Panel of Experts must have the support of the international community to perform its work towards ensuring accountability and delivering justice to the victims. It is therefore imperative for the United Nations to make the report public. Amnesty International has called for the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation in response to the compelling evidence of human rights violation committed against the victims of the war. It is particularly important as the government obstructed independent monitoring and reporting in the latter stages of the conflict.

We urge you to fulfil your commitment to accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

Please make the UN Panel report, scheduled for handover to your office on 13 April, public without delay.

Yours Sincerely,
Aravind Ramesh

India: Jammu and Kashmir detentions used to keep people ‘out of circulation’

(For Amnesty International)

On 21 March 2011, Amnesty International will launch a new report revealing how administrative detention in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is being used to detain people for years at a time, without trial, depriving them of basic human rights otherwise provided under Indian law.

A Lawless Law: Detentions under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, documents how authorities are using the Public Safety Act to secure the long-term detention of political activists, suspected members or supporters of armed groups and a range of other individuals against whom there is insufficient evidence for a trial or conviction to ‘keep them out of circulation’.

It is the first report by Amnesty International about Jammu and Kashmir since 2000.

Middle East and North Africa: Stop Supply of Arms Used in Protest Killings

(Amnesty International Appeal)

Libya has witnessed horrific levels of violence in the last few days. Hundreds of innocent people have died, among them protesters who were peacefully demanding basic political and human rights reform.

Across the Middle East and North Africa region, people have taken to the streets in their thousands to demand change. In far too many cases, they have been met with bullets, shotguns, grenade launchers, riot guns, electro-shock batons, armoured vehicles and police trucks.

A number of states from around the world have supplied arms to these countries. Wouldn’t it help to have a treaty that would stop arms from getting into the hands of those who will use them to commit human rights violations?

You can do something to make this happen.

At the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty negotiations in March, Amnesty International will call on governments to push for a treaty that is strong enough to prevent the horrors now taking place in Libya from taking place in other countries in the future.

Help us show world governments that thousands of people like you support this. Stop arms from getting into the wrong hands.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/middle-east-and-north-africa-stop-supply-arms-used-protest-killings

Amnesty International Representative Detained in Cairo

(Published for Amnesty International)

3 February 2011

An Amnesty International representative has been detained by police in Cairo after the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre was taken over by military police this morning.

The Amnesty International member of staff was taken, along with Ahmed Seif Al Islam, Khaled Ali, a delegate from Human Rights Watch and others, to an unknown location in Cairo. Amnesty International does not know their current whereabouts.

“We call for the immediate and safe release of our colleagues and others with them who should be able to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt at this crucial time without fear of harassment or detention,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

A number of other activists are still being held in the Centre.

Release Prisoner of Conscience, Binayak Sen

(For Amnesty International)

Few legal cases in our country have caused this much of an international outrage as has the arrest and subsequent sentence given to Binayak Sen, one of India’s leading human rights activists. On 24 December 2010, Dr. Binayak Sen, a pioneering medical doctor, was sentenced to life imprisonment after an unfair trial. His fault - public criticism of the Chhattisgarh police and the government for killing local adivasis and not armed Maoists, as claimed by the Police.

Dr. Binayak Sen has lived in Chhattisgarh since 1991 and has been involved in running rural community health projects. He also set up a hospital funded and run by mineworkers and works at his rural health clinic. All was well as long as he was confined to his work among the rural folk. But Dr. Sen was a vocal critic of the Salwa Judum, the militia group supported by the Chhattisgarh government, which was involved in widespread human rights violations against the members of the local community. This has infuriated the government and it has used politically motivated charges against him to put him behind the bars. The lower courts repeatedly rejected bail to Dr. Sen until May 2009, when the Supreme Court finally ordered his release. However again in 24 December 2010 Dr. Sen was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of sedition and conspiracy against the state after an unfair trial.

One should read the story of Dr. Binayak Sen’s unfair trial and sentence together with the attack on Salman Taseer and his subsequent death in Pakistan. Both are results of growing intolerance in our society; if the former is state’s intolerance towards freedom of speech and expression, the latter is an example of religious intolerance. His imprisonment is stopping Dr. Sen from continuing with his human rights activism and with his health work in the rural area. The severe sentence of life imprisonment handed down to Binayak Sen will set a dangerous precedence in India of state authorities seeking harsh sentences against outspoken human rights defenders across the country. If that becomes the order of the day there is a greater threat of India’s democracy falling into dire straits and India becoming a failed state.

Amnesty International has reopened his case file and is campaigning for his release as it believes that Binayak Sen is a prisoner of conscience. Rights organisations, intellectuals and around 2,000 doctors from all around the world have signed petitions demanding Dr. Sen’s release. The Home Minister of India Mr. P. Chidambaram has said that he will discuss the issue with the Chhattisgarh authorities, but so far no concrete steps have been taken. It is quite imperative to send an urgent appeal to the Indian authorities to make sure that all charges against him are dropped and he is released immediately. Please use the below mentioned link to send your appeal.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=398

Human Rights Day 2010

Today, 10 December is Universal Human Rights Day. In the year 1948, on this day the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which is a milestone document in the history of human rights. This year’s human rights day is dedicated to human rights defenders, courageous men and women, who strive to protect their own rights and the rights of others; who are determined to make rights real in people’s lives.

To mark the Human Rights Day, Amnesty International, the premier international human rights organisations, has organised ‘Write a Letter Marathon’ (Writeathon) to write letters and take action online to demand that the rights of individuals are respected, protected and fulfilled. Hundred of thousands of people all over the world join in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights event to show solidarity with those suffering human rights violations and to bring in real changes in their lives.

You can also join in this event by writing letters and taking action online, through a simple process. Click on the below mentioned URL and go to the ‘Appeals for action’ section in the page. There you can see details about various human rights defenders and others who are facing human rights violations in their countries. Go to the individual cases, find the details, read the letter and then sign in your name and press the send button. If you wish you can send letters on all the cases mentioned in the page.

www.amnesty.org/en/individuals-at-risk

Let us take part in this international event and put in our humble efforts in this global movement to bring in justice to all whose rights are being violated, because human rights violation in any part of the world is a human rights violation in your life and my life.

Source: Official websites of the United Nations and Amnesty International

Urgent Action - Child Held Without Charge or Trial in India

(Amnesty International Appeal)

Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh, a child aged 14, has been detained without charge or trial by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities in India since 21 April 2010. Following meetings with the state authorities, Amnesty International believes that a burst of public campaigning at this stage could lead to his release.

Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh was arrested on 9 April 2010. He is alleged to have been part of a large mob which pelted police and security forces with stones during ongoing protests against the state in Srinagar, the capital of the northern Jammu and Kashmir state. He was released on bail after eight days in custody but was again detained without charge or trial on 21 April.

Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh’s family was not informed that he was detained but came to know of it by chance when a local resident saw him in a police vehicle, being taken to a jail in another town.

Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh was initially held at Udhampur Jail and is now held at Kot Bhalwal Jail at Jammu. Both are regular prisons without any special facilities for detaining children. Prison conditions in Jammu are harsh and the provision of health care is limited.

The police claim that Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh is 19 years old. His family members told Amnesty International that Mushtaq was born in 1996 and is therefore only 14 years old. Prison records are reported to also confirm that Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh is indeed a child.

His case was raised by Amnesty International in meetings with the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the State Human Rights Commission. Despite their assurances that they would look into the case, Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh continues to remain in detention.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English or your own language:

Demanding that the state authorities immediately end the detention without charge or trial of Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh;

Urging that if charged with a recognizable criminal offence, Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh be treated in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and held and tried in special facilities for children;

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 28 DECEMBER 2010 TO:

Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir
Omar Abdullah
Civil Secretariat
Government of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu – 180 001
Fax: +91 191 2546466
Salutation: Dear Chief Minister

And copies to:
Minister of Home Affairs
P Chidambaram
North Block, Central Secretariat
New Delhi – 110 001
Fax: + 91 11 23094221
Email: hm@nic.in

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

Additional Information

Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh is detained under the J&K Public Safety Act – a law that allows the state authorities to detain persons for up to two years without any judicial review of the allegations against them. Repeat detentions are also commonly ordered.

At least 322 people are reported to have been detained without trial under the provisions of the Public Safety Act in J&K in 2010 alone. A number of them, reportedly including some more children, have been detained on similar grounds of stone pelting and rioting during various protests against the Indian government throughout the summer of 2010.


UA: 239/10 Index: ASA 20/032/2010 Issue Date: 16 November 2010

India: Chhattisgarh authorities must immediately release Prisoner of Conscience Kartam Joga

(Amnesty International Public Statement)

AI Index: ASA20/031/2010
1 November 2010

Amnesty International has been closely following the case of Kartam Joga, an adivasi (Indigenous) political activist who has been imprisoned in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. 40-year-old Kartam Joga has been in Dantewada district jail since 14 September 2010.

Amnesty International considers Kartam Joga to be a Prisoner of Conscience and that the charges brought against him are politically motivated and a pretext to detain him on account of his political activism which has never involved the use or advocacy of violence. The organization believes that the authorities in Chhattisgarh decided to imprison and charge him in response to the Supreme Court criticism.

The organization believes that the real reason for Kartam Joga’s imprisonment is his peaceful political activities as an activist of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and an elected member of a local self-government body and his defence of human rights of adivasi communities.

In 2007 he had participated in petitioning India’s Supreme Court regarding human rights violations in Chhattisgargh and impunity for security forces and Salwa Judum, widely held to be a state-supported militia who were involved in operations against the armed Maoists in the Bastar region of the state since 2005.

The charges against him include collaborating with the Maoists in ambushing and killing 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on 6 April 2010, murdering a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Budhram Sodi in May 2010, killing the father of a special police officer attached to the CRPF in August 2010, and ambushing a truck and killing four persons on 7 December 2009.

Kartam Joga’s arrest and the bringing of these charges came after India’s Supreme Court, on 31 August 2010, criticized the Chhattisgarh government for being “wholly vague and indefinite” while replying to several questions raised by two petitions filed three years ago seeking an end to impunity and violations by the Salwa Judum and the security forces engaged in operations against the armed Maoists in Chhattisgarh since 2005. The first of the two petitions had been filed by Kartam Joga and two other CPI activists, and the second, by sociologist Nandini Sundar, historian Ramachandra Guha, and E.A.S. Sarma, a former civil servant.

The charges against him and his imprisonment are another glaring example of how the authorities in Chhattisgarh target those who have sought to consistently defend the human rights of the adivasi communities since 2005.

Two other human rights defenders in Chhattisgarh – medical doctor Dr Binayak Sen and cinematographer TG Ajay – spent two years since 2007 and three months in 2008 respectively in jail on charges of collaborating with the Maoists before they were released on bail. In May 2009, another human rights defender Himanshu Kumar, and some staff of his organization, Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, which continued to document the violations and abuses against the adivasi communities, had to flee the Bastar area after persistent harassment by the police and district authorities.

Kartam Joga underwent medical treatment and an operation for injuries he received when he was attacked by members of the Salwa Judum’s militia in 2005. Since then, he has been in the forefront of documenting and exposing human rights abuses against adivasis, including more than 500 unlawful killings and instances of sexual assault, rape and burning down of adivasi hamlets and houses and the displacement of more than 30,000 adivasis during the conflict in Chhattisgarh since 2005.

Acting on the petitions filed by Kartam Joga and others, the Supreme Court, in April 2008, directed India’s National Human Rights Commission to ascertain the veracity of the allegations; eight months later, an NHRC report confirmed some of the allegations and said there was a need for further investigation into the complaints of violence perpetrated by the Salwa Judum, the security forces and Maoists. Three months later, the Supreme Court asked the Chhattisgarh authorities to list the measures it had taken to disband the Salwa Judum militia, register and investigate complaints of violent acts during the conflict, and compensate and rehabilitate the victims.

The Supreme Court has now asked the Chhattisgarh government to file a comprehensive affidavit in response to the allegations made in the petitions. In On a specific point made by the petitioners that the Salwa Judum militiamen were acting as part of a new organization, Dandakaranya Shanti Sangharsh Samiti, the state authorities have claimed that the Salwa Judum “no longer exists” and that the investigations into its violence were hampered by difficult terrain, inaccessibility of villages, inclement weather and hostility from the Maoists. A further hearing in the case is due on 18 November.

ENDS/

Public Document

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK www.amnesty.org

Indian Government Should Ensure Torture Law Meets International Standards

(Public statement of Amnesty International)

14 October 2010

Amnesty International has urged the Indian government to help end the routine torture of those held by police and prison authorities by ensuring the new Prevention of Torture Bill in India, 2010 meets international standards before adopting it.

The Bill, which is expected to be considered by the Select Committee of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian Parliament on 17 October, will address many forms of torture routinely employed by Indian police and prison officials. The Bill was passed by the Lower house (Lok Sabha) on 6 May 2010.

"If India is serious about its aspiration to be a regional and global power, it needs to address the issue of torture and ensure that the human rights of those it arrests and detains are protected," said Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director.

Amnesty International said the Bill must be amended to bring it in line with international standards, including limiting torture to practices causing physical suffering, keeping a six-month deadline for making complaints about torture and not annulling current provisions which allow law enforcement officials and security forces virtual immunity against prosecution for perpetrating torture and recommends solutions.

Torture in state detention is endemic in India, involving a range of practices including shackling, beatings and the administration of electric shocks. Disadvantaged and maginalized groups including women, Dalits, Adivasis and suspected members of armed opposition groups are those most commonly abused.

According to official reports, 127 people died in police custody in India in 2008-09, although the figure could be higher since several states failed to report such deaths.

Torture is also reportedly widespread in prisons. The National Human Rights Commission registered 1,596 complaints of torture of prisoners in 2008-09. The number of deaths due to torture is not routinely reported.

The vast majority of cases of torture inflicted on detained people in India are unlawful and punishable under current Indian law, however prosecutions are extremely rare.

Law enforcement personnel enjoy virtual immunity from prosecution for torture and other human rights abuses, and prosecutions remain sporadic and rare.

In "disturbed areas", such as Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in effect, Armed Forces personnel enjoy additional immunity protection and there is virtually no accountability for violations.

In 1996, the Indian Supreme Court issued specific guidelines to authorities safeguarding detainee's rights in all cases of arrest or detention, however they are seldom enforced.

There is also a lack of effective systems to independently monitor the conduct of the authorities with regards to torture and other forms of mistreatment.

The Prevention of Torture Bill in India, 2010 is meant to bring India closer in line with the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. India signed the Convention in 1997 but has yet to ratify it.

"The Indian government should adopt this Bill to help address key issues, but more needs to be done to ensure India is able to meet international conventions against torture," said Madhu Malhotra.

"The Indian government further needs to ratify the UN Convention Against Torture ensuring people are no longer mistreated while they are detained."

India must address forced evictions and other human rights abuses in Delhi during Commonwealth Games

(Public statement of Amnesty International)

4 October 2010

The Commonwealth Games cannot be used as an excuse to forcibly evict seasonal vendors, street-based workers and beggars, Amnesty International said today.

Thousands of seasonal vendors and street-based workers are facing joblessness as the police prevent them from working on the streets during the Games. The majority of people who have been evicted are being placed in makeshift collective shelters with the residents complaining that these lacked water and sanitation and were not suitable for habitation.

This continues the trend of forced evictions of the poor and marginalized carried out by the local authorities in Delhi in the run up to the start of the Commonwealth Games on 3 October.

Amnesty International received information that the authorities carried out a series of forced evictions in Okhla and neighbouring areas and roads linking the city with its north-eastern parts on the banks of river Yamuna where the Games infrastructure including many stadia, flyovers and bridges were erected in the last few months.

Human rights organisations in India said 2,500 persons and 150-200 families were forcibly evicted from the suburban town of Gurgaon and central Delhi respectively during the last two weeks before the start of the Games.

Amnesty International is concerned that a high number of evictions during August and September appear to have been carried out without safeguards required under international law. In particular, there was no genuine consultation with the people who were evicted. They were not provided with adequate prior notice. The makeshift collective shelters that the authorities have provided, in several instances, do not meet requirements for adequacy of housing under international standards. Some people have not been provided with any alternative housing.

The Indian authorities have a duty to ensure that alternative housing is provided which complies with international standards. They must also provide effective remedies to all those who have been forcibly evicted.

Amnesty International therefore urges the Indian authorities to:

• ensure that evictions are carried out only as a last resort, and only in full compliance with requirements under international human rights standards;
• ensure that those who have been evicted are provided with adequate alternative housing and/or land to undertake their livelihoods as a matter of urgency;
• ensure that any alternative housing that is provided complies with requirements for adequacy of housing, under international human rights standards; and
• provide all victims of forced evictions with access to effective remedies.

Indian authorities must also address the growing number of labour rights abuses and violations of labour laws practised by various state agencies and private firms involved in construction activities, despite the efforts of a four-member committee appointed by a directive of the Delhi High Court to monitor such violations.1 These violations, documented by India’s human rights organizations, included irregular registration, denial of statutory minimum wages, equal payment of wages to women workers and statutory health benefits, poor safety standards leading to deaths of workers in accidents and occasional use of child labour.

1This committee was set up in February 2010 on a petition filed by Peoples Union of Democratic Rights (PUDR), Common Cause and Nirmaaz Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam. For a detailed list of violations, see PUDR report, Games the States Plays: A Follow–up Report on the volations of Workers’ Rights in Commonwealth Games Related Construction Sites, August 2010. The report holds the authorities responsible for failure to devise mechanisms for checking the abuses identified by the committee and taking action against the perpetrators.

Myanmar: Political prisoners must be freed

(Press statement of Amnesty International)

On the third anniversary of the violent crackdown on the “Saffron Revolution”, Amnesty International calls on the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally free all political prisoners arrested for their peaceful activism.

The Myanmar authorities continue to imprison over 2,200 political prisoners—more than double the number held before the August 2007 protests against sharp fuel and commodity price rises.

“While the international community, including Myanmar’s ASEAN neighbours, has been calling for free, fair and inclusive elections there, the plight of thousands of political prisoners has been overlooked,” said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher.

Amnesty International believes the vast majority of those held are prisoners of conscience who are being punished merely for peacefully exercising their rights to free expression, assembly and association.

The Myanmar government will hold its first elections in 20 years on 7 November 2010 against a backdrop of political repression and systematic violence. Under Electoral Laws enacted in March 2010, no political prisoner can take part in the elections or hold membership in any political party.

International attention in recent months has focused on the power-play between the military and the government’s proxy parties on the one hand; and the armed ethnic minority groups, the National League for Democracy, and a small number of new opposition parties on the other.

“The long-standing problem of political imprisonment in Myanmar remains very much at the heart of the political impasse in the country”, said Benjamin Zawacki. “These prisoners constitute a significant part of the political opposition”.

In the largest show of public discontent against the military government in Myanmar since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, tens of thousands of protesters—led by Buddhist monks—took to the streets in August and September 2007, demanding economic and political reforms.

The peaceful country-wide demonstrations were violently put down by the authorities in late September 2007. At least 31 (and possibly more than a hundred) people were killed—with many more injured and at least 74 disappeared—and thousands detained.

The brutal crackdown provoked international condemnation, including an unprecedented expression of revulsion and demands for change from the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Yet even as Myanmar prepares for its first elections in two decades, as part of what it calls a “Roadmap to Democracy”, it continues to repress political opposition.

“It beggars belief that the government can attempt to burnish its democratic credentials by holding elections, while it also holds more than 2,200 political prisoners behind bars and out of sight of the campaigns and polls”, said Benjamin Zawacki . “The international community should point out to Myanmar that these practices cannot be reconciled under any genuine Roadmap to Democracy”.

Political prisoners in Myanmar are held in deplorable conditions.

Many of those who took part in the Saffron Revolution, such as labour rights campaigner Su Su Nway, monk leader and activist U Gambira, and 88 Generation Student group members Min Ko Naing, Htay Kywe, Mie Mie, Ko Mya Aye and Zaw Htet Ko Ko, are in poor health. In the past two years, at least 238 political prisoners have been moved to extremely remote prisons, restricting their access to relatives, lawyers and medical care. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment are rife. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied access to prisons in Myanmar since late 2005.

“On this third anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, Amnesty International calls on world leaders to demand that the Myanmar government free all political prisoners at once, and ensure human rights protection throughout the elections period and beyond”, said Benjamin Zawacki.

India: Authorities should investigate torture, sexual assault and illegal detention of adivasis in Chhattisgarh

Sep 15 2010

The Indian authorities should order a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into reports of torture and ill-treatment, including rape and other sexual violence, against adivasis (indigenous people) illegally detained in Chhattisgarh, Amnesty International said today.

Adivasis from Pachangi and Aloor villages in Kanker district told Amnesty International that paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and the Chhattisgarh state police rounded up 40 adivasi men from their villages on 5 and 6 September, stripped them and beat them with sticks. Five men – Narsingh Kumra, Sukram Netam, Premsingh Potayi, Raju Ram and Bidde Potayi were reportedly raped with sticks and are still being treated at the Kanker government hospital.

These violations followed the 29 August ambush of a BSF-police patrol by members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in which three BSF personnel and two policemen were killed.

Seventeen people from the two villages were also detained– blindfolded, split into batches and taken to the BSF camp at Durgkondal in closed trucks. Amnesty International has been informed that at least two of those detained - Dhansu Khemra and Sarita Tulavi – were 16 year old girls while another four were women and girls between 16 and 20.

During their detention, security forces beat the detainees in an attempt to force them to confess that they were Maoists involved in the 29 August ambush. The interrogators gave electric shocks to at least 10 detainees and sexually assaulted two female detainees.

Villagers said that on the morning of 7 September the Kanker police released one female detainee Sunita, as she was suffering from malaria, and her father, Punnim Tulavi, a school-teacher, but then arrested two more men.

The five remaining female detainees were taken to a local court along with two of the adivasi men on 8 September, while the remaining ten male detainees were taken to court on 10 September. All of the adivasis were charged with involvement in the 29 August ambush by the banned Maoist armed group and are presently in Kanker and Jagdalpur prisons, after being denied bail.

Indian law requires that arrested persons be produced before a court within 24 hours of the arrest. In an attempt to circumvent this requirement, the police claimed the two groups of detainees were arrested only one day before their respective appearances in court.

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sexual violence, are prohibited in all circumstances, including war or other emergency under international law, and in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Geneva Conventions. India is also a signatory to the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture and the Indian Parliament is currently engaged in passing a new law against torture in accordance with the provisions of the Convention before its ratification.

Amnesty International calls upon the Indian authorities to:

• Ensure a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual assault, and the illegal detention of adivasis. Those suspected of involvement in the violations, including persons bearing command responsibility, should immediately be suspended from positions where they may repeat such offences, and brought to justice;

• Award the victims of torture and other ill-treatment full reparations. In particular, immediately ensure that all victims of torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, are provided with proper medical care, both physical and psychological, by professionals trained and sensitised to treat such victims; and

• Ensure that, if – as a measure of last resort – those under the age of 18 are kept in prison, they are held separately from adults and otherwise treated in accordance with India’s juvenile justice legislation and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a state party.

Over the last five years, Chhattisgarh has witnessed an escalation of violence between the banned Maoists who claim to be fighting on behalf of the adivasis and India’s paramilitary forces. At least 600 people have been killed and some 30,000 adivasis continue to be displaced from their homes in the state.

(For Amnesty International, publishing a content provided by them)