Conference of Asian parliamentarians and rights defenders on elimination of torture

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and DIGNITY.are jointly organizing the second Regional Conference of Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders on Elimination of Custodial Torture and Ill-treatment in Hong Kong from November 11 to 13, 2013.

The following is the Concept Paper prepared in this connection:

States across the world deny that custodial torture and ill-treatment exist within their jurisdictions. Yet, in reality, not only does such practice exist, it is often promoted within states, as a policy, whether clandestine or open, for the enforcement of state writ. Wherever the practice is endemic, it has adopted various forms: custodial torture and ill-treatment to facilitate corruption, to maintain absolute state control, or to silence political opposition being the most prevalent.

Endemic torture and ill-treatment has proven to be expensive for the state. Law enforcement agencies that engage in such practice accumulate enormous deficit in their morality, irreparable denting the very concepts of justice, equality before law, and human dignity in that land. The psychological trauma etched into individuals and communities through torture practices has proven to be contagious, affecting the entire society, in various ways, including trans-generationally. It affects the normal functioning of the criminal justice apparatus to such an extent that, in jurisdictions where custodial torture and ill-treatment exist, courts are often reduced to mere marketplaces, where even the veneer of justice, equality, and dignity erodes.
A critical assessment of the promise and fulfilment of justice in any jurisdiction, therefore, is directly related to the prevalence and acceptance of torture as a – declared or otherwise accepted – state policy. State agencies that practice custodial torture and ill-treatment are incompatible with the concepts of equality and freedom, and negate the fundamental premises of democracy.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in collaboration with DIGNITY, has therefore made the practice of custodial torture and ill-treatment a core area of their engagement on human rights in countries. With a view to counteract the widespread practice of torture, the AHRC and DIGNITY have formed an Asian Alliance against Torture and Ill-treatment (AAATI) in 2012.

In an attempt to bring policy makers and human rights defenders eager to work against custodial torture and ill-treatment to a common platform, the AHRC and DIGNITY has organised conferences in Asia. In this endeavour, the AHRC and DIGNITY brought together Asian parliamentarians in Hong Kong to discuss this critical issue.

The first conference of Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders on the elimination of custodial torture and ill-treatment organised by the AAATI was held in Hong Kong from 21 - 24 July, 2012. The report of the meeting has been published in Torture - Asian and Global Perspectives Vol. 1, No. 3 issued in August 2012, and in Ethics in Action, Vol. 7, No. 3 published in June, 2013.

The consensus arrived at the first conference is that the Asian governments must take firm action to eliminate torture and ill-treatment. Discussions at the conference revealed details about the widespread practice of torture and ill-treatment in the countries represented. The participants identified the cause for such endemic practice of torture and ill-treatment in their countries. The proceedings from this first meeting will be used for the second meeting as reference.

The focus for the second meeting will be to identify the reluctance of governments to achieve a substantial change in the nature of policing in their countries to bring these institutions at par with the policing systems of advanced democracies. The assumption is that as long as the old models of policing that prevail in Asia continue, torture and ill-treatment will remain an integral part of the form of states in the region. Therefore, the need to have fundamental reforms in policing systems in Asia, in order to achieve the publicly stated aims of all the governments, i.e. to guarantee justice and equality to all people, must be discussed. Understandably, the elimination of custodial torture and ill-treatment would be one of the key aspects for such a reform.

Often custodial torture and ill-treatment is portrayed as a problem that mainly arises due to the torturers, i.e. officers who commit torture. As a result, recommendations that are made for the elimination of custodial torture and ill-treatment are often confined to suggestions for better training and education of officers, and to recommending investigation, prosecution, and punishment of the individual officers who engage in this act.
However, from experience it is proven that mere training and education will not make significant improvement to reduce the practice of custodial torture and ill-treatment. On the other hand, investigations, prosecutions, and punishment are not carried out because the governments do not establish the mechanisms required to achieve these aims.

The above approach fails to consider the fact that the central reason for the continuance of custodial torture and ill-treatment is the encouragement and pursuit of this practice by the governments of states that consider the practice as a tool for investigation of crime and for social control. This complacence of states, or rather dogged resolve to continue the practice of custodial torture and ill-treatment, arises from the fact that an old style policing system prevailing in Asia cannot function in any other way but through the widespread practice of torture.

Therefore, any serious discussion on the elimination of torture in Asia must be linked to reforms of policing systems. Reforms must be discussed and viewed with the objective of building a justice apparatus, most importantly on law enforcement units that would not have to depend on the practice of custodial torture and ill-treatment. It is this issue that will be pursued in the proposed second conference of Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders.

The AHRC will make arrangements to prepare participants to maintain a focus on police reforms with the specific objectives mentioned, by assisting them with preparatory materials, including a questionnaire that may help them draft advance papers that will be presented and discussed in detail during the conference.
Just like the first conference, parliamentarians who have expressed interest in the elimination of custodial torture and ill-treatment in their countries and in achieving police reforms are invited for this conference. Human rights defenders who share similar interests will also be invited.

The basic approach to the conference will be that of the folk-school. Maximum effort will be expended to have a conference where the participants are encouraged to make interventions as well as seek clarification on the issue mooted. The proceedings of the conference and papers presented will be published and shared globally with the view of pursuing this discourse throughout Asia in the coming years.
AHRC

For details please contact:
Bijo Francis
Executive Director
Telephone: + 852-26986339
Email: ahrc@ahrc.asia

A pilgrim’s progress to wider ecumenism

Rev. Dr. M.A. Thomas (1913-1993), Founder of the Vigil India Movement and the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalaore, whose birth centenary falls this week  

B.R.P. Bhaskar

I am not one who can truthfully claim I have no regrets. I can readily confess to one. I regret that I did not get to know Rev. Dr. M. A. Thomas sooner than I did. The regret is all the greater since there was an opportunity to make his acquaintance two decades earlier.

In the 1970s I received an invitation from Rev. Thomas to attend a meeting at the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore, to discuss press reform. Indira Gandhi’s government was toying with the idea of a law to regulate the press and there was sharp division in the country on the issue.Rev  M. A. Thomas decided to take up the issue. I was News Editor at the UNI headquarters in New Delhi and my preoccupations did not allow me to travel to Bangalore. In 1991 I was preparing for retirement from Deccan Herald, of which I was Associate Editor. After leaving the job I wanted to engage myself in public life without being hampered by the professional journalist’s commitment to give equal consideration to all, regardless of who is right and who is wrong. I was on the look-out for a non-governmental organization with which I could associate myself and work for causes I considered right without having to be solicitous to those who were in the wrong. I happened to discuss my plan with Dr. M. Basheer Hussain, former Principal of the Government Law College, Bangalore, who was an occasional contributor to the newspaper. I told him I had two conditions: the organization must be non-political and non-communal. He suggested that I consider working with the Vigil India Movement, of which he was a member of the Board of Trustees, and arranged a meeting with Rev. M. A. Thomas, the Founder President.

Rev. Thomas told me I could come in and involve myself in any activity which falls within the broad range of human rights. “This place is open to you,” he said. “You can decide what to do.” I grabbed the offer. It was agreed that I would help with the editing work on hand, which involved production of an occasional publication named Vigil and editing of two books he planned to publish. One of the books was an English version of his life story, which had been published in Malayalam earlier.  The other was a collection of articles he had written and speeches he had delivered over several decades. The two books helped me to understand the man and his mission. That was when I realized how much I had lost by not making his acquaintance earlier.

Editing of the two books gave me an opportunity to appreciate the qualities of head and heart that set Rev. M.A. Thomas apart from others and see the story of his life as a pilgrim’s progress towards wider ecumenism. He grew up in Kerala as the feudal society was crumbling and reform movements, inspired by visionaries, were seeking to bring into being a modern society. He has recorded how, early in life, along with a few friends, he actively propagated the idea that Jesus alone was the Saviour.  He then involved himself in the activities of a group which was promoting the ideal of religious harmony.  It was this early exposure to religious teachings and the concept of oneness of mankind which, in the fullness of time, led him to found the Ecumenical Christian Centre and the Vigil India Movement, two institutions which he bequeathed to us. The ECC was born out of his commitment to the principles of Ecumenism and the VIM testifies to his faith in the ideal of Wider Ecumenism.

The popular apathy to the denial of rights during the Emergency proclaimed by the Indira Gandhi regime prompted him to found the Vigil India Movement. He provided logistical support to a small band of people who were secretly working against the Emergency. He recognized the need to educate the people about their rights as human beings and prepare them to fight to protect and preserve them. The Emergency ended when the people used the opportunity afforded by the election, which was called to give it legitimacy, properly and threw out the regime lock, stock and barrel. Animated by a desire to ensure that there would never again be an Emergency, he continued with the work of forming Vigil units in different parts of the country and encouraged them to take up cases of human rights violations in their immediate vicinity. While the country has a plethora of human rights organizations, VIM was about the only national body with networks at the grassroots level. Over the years Vigil units were engaged in a wide range of activities in varied fields such as civil rights, women’s rights, Adivasi and Dalit rights, environment rights etc.

Rev. Thomas made a heroic effort to contain the spread of communalism in the wake of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi controversy. He promoted a dialogue between Hindu and Muslim groups with a view to defusing the tense situation.  While the mission did not succeed, it deserves to be marked as the only non-governmental effort of its kind.

He was one of the first in the country to foresee the dangers inherent in the globalization process. Even as the Western countries were canvassing proposals to create a new dispensation in place of the expiring General Agreement on Trade and Tariff  he realized that it would have harmful consequences for the poor countries and for the poor people in the rich countries. Under his leadership, VIM campaigned vigorously against the iniquitous order that was on the way.

He was also one of the earliest in the country to recognize the dangers inherent in the developmental paradigm promoted by the Western countries. He pointed out that it would cause immense damage to the environment and expose vast sections of the population to deprivation. He called for sustainable development.

When a Vigil activist wrote to Rev. Thomas about the Kerala government’s Agasthyavanam Biological Park project which will result in the eviction of 55 Adivasi families from their traditional habitat in the reserved forest, he asked me to visit the area and study the issue. I found that the project will violate laws relating to forests, environment and wildlife. The issue was not merely one of protecting the Adivasi families but preventing destruction of the environment. The bureaucrat who was the prime mover behind the project had enlisted the support of all political parties by offering their local leadership the right to nominate two or three persons each for the 50 odd jobs that will be created. In the circumstances I saw little chance of our being able to get the government to scrap the project. The government could easily go ahead with the project even though the Adivasis were vowing they would die rather than move out of the forest.

Rev. Thomas told me not to worry about whether or not we will succeed. “If you are convinced that the project is bad, oppose it,” he said. “We will do what we believe is right.” He asked me to mobilize a campaign against the project. Accordingly, I organized three seminars on the subject at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. As suggested by him I invited Mrs. Lakshi N. Menon to the seminar at Thiruvananthapuram, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer to the one at Kochi and Gandhian P.P. Umer Koya to the one at Kozhikode. At his instance I also produced a special issue of Vigil with focus on protection of the environment. 

In response to the Vigil India Movement’s representation, the Centre wrote to the State government asking it to abandon the project which ran counter to the laws. The State government thought it could overcome our objections by shifting the administrative buildings of the project to a place outside the reserve forest. It decided to acquire a rubber plantation just outside the forest for the purpose. The owners of the plantation, who moved the high court against the acquisition proceedings, produced in the high court the copy of a letter the Centre had written to the State pointing out that the project violated various laws. The court passed an order staying work on the project and said the issue could be reopened if the Centre withdrew its objections. That experience convinced me of the soundness of Rev. Thomas's advice to do the right thing without worrying about the result.

During my brief association with him I could see how he maintained constant vigil and identified instances of human rights violations which demanded immediate attention. He saw the Vigil India Movement not as a body of self-appointed human rights defenders but an organization in which ordinary people came together to agitate for right causes. He developed a strategy to optimize the limited capabilities of the organization. He said the Vigil India Movement was a tent. “If there is an issue to be tackled at some place we go and pitch our tent there,” he added. “We may succeed, in which case we move to some other place where there is a battle to fight. Even if we do not succeed we may find it prudent to move on and pitch our tent somewhere else where there is a cause to take up.”

When it became clear that acceptance of foreign funds aroused suspicions about the motivations of human rights defenders Rev. M.A. Thomas announced that the Vigil India Movement would no longer accept donations from abroad.

As I look around and see human rights violations on the rise, I cannot help muttering to myself, parodying the poet’s lines: "Achan, thou shouldst be living at this hour". 

Silent Emergency: People's hearing on fabricated cases

A people’s hearing on fabricated cases will be held at the Constitution Club, New Delhi, on Friday, September 28, and Saturday, September 29.

Justice Rajinder Sachar, Dr Binayak Sen and Saba Naqvi are among the members of the jury.

The following is a communication from the organizers of the event:

The nightmare of the infamous Emergency of Mrs. Indira Gandhi was supposed to be over in 1977 when it was lifted after two years due to large scale public protest. Political parties, institutions and individuals who defended Emergency were discredited. The sigh of relief evoked a hope for a functioning democracy in India.

But today, we are entering a similar phase of authoritarian governance without any formal declaration of Emergency. This Silent Emergency has regulated, controlled and restricted all space for democratic public protests against ruling governments. Custodial deaths and encounter killings have become a routine phenomenon. Rape, murder, loot, torture and arrests in Manipur, Nagaland and other north eastern states as well as Kashmir have even crossed the excesses of the Emergency period. Many discriminatory laws have been enacted to silence the Media without a censorship. Several discriminatory laws were enacted to enhance and strengthen the power of the State over civil society and crush dissent.

Laws to facilitate corporate control and loot of the resources of people are being enacted. This has also become a major reason for violation of the human rights of Adivasis, Dalits, minorities, farmers, fisher people, workers, activists and human rights movements. The human rights defenders who take up burning issues of the people are being targeted. False cases are being fabricated against activists, people’s movements, media, theatre activists, minorities, self-determination movements, Dalits and Adivasis in a major way. Thus thousands of innocent people are languishing in Indian jails without any trial.

In the context of the Silent Emergency in our country we would like to invite you to attend the ‘PEOPLE’S HEARING ON FABRICATED CASES’ which has the following objectives:

• To defend fundamental rights, human rights and the Indian Constitution to preserve our democracy
• To popularize some of the most brazen cases of fabrication of false charges against political dissidents and members of the Muslim, Dalit and Adivasi communities
• To facilitate further legal action for freedom of these innocent people
• To generate pressure on the mainstream media to play a more socially responsible role
• To generate pressure on the institutions of Indian State for the release of undertrials.

The Programme:

The organizers expect the participation of around 50 victims, their family members or friends whose testimonies will be heard by a jury comprising of judges, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and artists. After listening to all the presentations the Jury will report their observations and conclusions with clear recommendations for various institutions of the Indian State.

Organizers: Solidarity Youth Movement – Kerala, Indian Social Action Forum – INSAF, PUCL, AISA, SIO, Right to Food Campaign, KSMTF (Kerala Swathantra Matsya Tizhilali Federation), PPSS (Anti Posco Movement), ICR, Focus on the Global South, Justice for Maudany Forum, Visual Search, Moving Republic, SAHELI, Pedestrian Pictures, National Campaign Against Fabrication of False Cases, www.fabricated.in, Jamia Teachers Solidarity Assiciation, Jamia Student Solidarity Forum, Bharathiya Muslim Mahila Antholan, National Adivasi Alliance, Kabani - The Other Direction, Human Rights Alert, Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM) – Kerala, Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity, Action for Social Equality, INSOCO - Indian Solidarity Committee for freedom democracy & human rights, Center for Harmony and Peace – Varanasi, PUDR, Socialist Front, Student of Resistance.

Human Rights situation in India: challenges and prospects

B.R.P.Bhaskar

With its incredible variety, India stands apart from the rest of the world. It has within its borders people in social and economic conditions of every kind. Consequently we have to deal with human rights violations of every kind too. Needless to say, the worst sufferers are the marginalized people and those defending their rights.

It is impossible to do justice to the topic of discussion -- Human Rights Movement and Human Rights Defenders: Challenges and Prospects -- in a short talk. I shall, therefore, confine myself mainly to the most vulnerable sections.

The Adivasis  -- officially labelled as the Scheduled Tribes – face grave threats to lives and livelihood all across the country. They generally inhabit interior forest lands or distant hills, having been forced by successive waves of migration to withdraw from the coasts and the plains. With no place left to withdraw to, they are engaged in a desperate struggle for survival.

In Odisha (Orissa), the Adivasis have been fight for seven years to prevent acquisition of their homelands by South Korean steel giant POSCO to establish what has been conceived as the world’s biggest steel complex. A year after the company signed a memorandum of understanding with India authorities Parliament enacted the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, which grants them certain rights regarding use of forest lands and resources. Some environmentalists oppose the law, saying it will come in the way of effective protection of the forests. Good or bad, the law, which came into force four years ago, does not allow the company to proceed with the project. The MoU expired last year. However, the threat to the Adivasis remains as the company and the Central and state governments have not given up the project. Severe repressive measures have been taken against them and their leaders.

Women and children have been in the forefront of the anti-POSCO agitation. Since the presence of children has often come in the way of harsh police action, the state government issued an order banning their participation in the agitation. While exploitative use of children is deplorable, can they really be kept out of a struggle to secure their future.

In the predominantly tribal state of Chhattisgarh, the Adivasis are caught between the devil and the deep sea. Extremist groups have established bases in remote villages and gained followers among the Adivasis by taking up their cause. Security forces engaged in operations against the extremists make no distinction between armed rebels and unarmed villagers. Vigilante groups, armed and funded by the authorities, are still operating in the state, despite a Supreme Court order to disband them. Human rights defenders championing the cause of the Adivasis are branded as extremists and jailed, as happened in the celebrated case of Dr Binayak Sen, whose prolonged incarceration ended only after a strong international campaign.

A more recent case to come out of this rogue state is that of Soni Sori, an Adivasi teacher, hauled up for alleged involvement with the Naxalites. A letter she wrote to the Supreme Court from the prison last month makes pathetic reading. Here are translated excerpts from the Hindi letter:

Today I am alive because of your verdict. You gave the order at the right time so that I could be medically treated again. I was very happy during my treatment at AIIMS hospital in New Delhi, but, Your Honour, I have to pay for it now. I am being harassed and tortured here. I request you to have mercy on me. Your Honour, I am suffering mentally.

1.        I am made to sit on the ground naked.

2.       I am suffering from hunger.

3.      I am frisked in an uncomfortable manner, each part of my body is touched.

4.      Labelling me traitor and Naxalite, they torture me.

Your Honour, how long will the Chhattisgarh and police administration keep on stripping me naked? I am an Indian tribal woman. I also feel shame and I am unable to save my modesty here.

It would have been better if you had given me Death Penalty.

Soni Sori is at a point where human rights violations of different kinds converge. She suffers as a villager, as an Adivasi and as a woman.

The Indian government evades the obligations cast on it by international instruments guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples by dishonestly claiming there are no indigenous people in the country although the term Adivasis itself means first inhabitants and testifies to their status an indigenous people.

The Dalits -- officially classified as the Scheduled Castes – constitute another segment of the population which is subjected to social exclusion and systematic repression. Six decades after the Constitution came into force its commitment to abolish untouchability remains unfulfilled in many parts of the country. In a state like Kerala, where overt practice of untouchability does not take place but complaints about derisive use of caste names, which is prohibited by law, are common. Among the offenders are political leaders, some of whom have cast themselves in the role of feudal chiefs. From Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to Bihar and West Bengal, under different political dispensations, Dalits continue to suffer discrimination. In Uttar Pradesh, Dalit empowerment has made much progress but social disabilities remain.

In the area of civil and political rights, there are problems that are a hangover from the colonial period. A conspicuous example is the operation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which grants impunity to security personnel called in assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order. This law, in force in the northeastern states for half a century, was extended to parts of Jammu and Kashmir two years ago. The apathy of the so-called mainstream to the problems of largely tribal population of the northeast and the predominantly Muslim population of Kashmir allows the government to use AFSPA, an extraordinary law conceived as a short-term measure, even when there is no major insurgency. Irom Sharmila, a young woman of Manipur, on an indefinite fast for 11 years demanding withdrawal of AFSPA, is kept alive through forced nasal feeding in custody at an Imphal hospital.

Terror attacks are a new form of human rights violation the country has to contend with. Reports of killing of alleged terrorists in fake encounters surface from time to time. Doubts exist about the extent to which the police forces, contaminated by communal propaganda and infiltration, can be relied upon. Some instances in which acts of violence committed by Hindutva elements were falsely attributed to Muslims have come to light. Reassertion of authority by khap (caste) panchayats in some northern states -- they have been ordering so-called honour killings and curbing the rights of women – points to return of rights violation of the feudal era. In the absence of political will to put down the attempts by feudal elements to take the law into their own hands, judicial interventions have been of little avail.

Wanton destruction of the environment in the name of development is a new area of concern. If it is not checked, it may not be possible for the present generation to bequeath to the next an inhabitable planet.

The political complexion of the government makes no difference to the human rights situation. The early promise held out by bodies such as the Human Rights Commissions, Women’s Commission, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission and the Information Commission, which came up at the national and state levels during the past two decades, has faded. The primary cause of failure lies in their composition. They are headed by retired judges or bureaucrats, many of whom look upon the new assignments as rewards for past services and are slack in using the new instruments at their disposal to advance the cause of human dignity. The members of these bodies are political nominees who put party interests above human rights.

While the Indian authorities are ready to ignore the most strident voices from within the country they are somewhat sensitive to foreign criticism. The law providing for human rights commissions was enacted under pressure from aid givers. For years, the government blocked attempts by the United Nations to look at the human rights situation in the country. It now allows visits by UN Special Rapporteurs. Although the government determines the places they can go to, civil society representatives are able to meet them and place facts before them. Margaret Sekaggya, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, was in India last year and Christoff Heynes, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution early this year.

Sekaggya said at the end of her visit that she had heard “numerous testimonies bout male and female human rights defenders and their families, who have been killed, tortured, ill-treated, disappeared, threatened, arbitrarily arrested and detained, falsely charged, under surveillance, forcibly displaced, or their offices raided and files stolen, because of their legitimate work in upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

She added, “These violations are commonly attributed to law enforcement authorities; however, they have also reportedly shown collusion and/or complaisance with abuses committed by private actors against defenders. Armed groups have also harassed human rights defenders in some instances.

“In the context of India’s economic policies, defenders engaged in denouncing development projects that threaten or destroy the land, natural resources and livelihood of their community or of other communities, have been targeted by state agents and private actors, and are particularly vulnerable.

“I am particularly concerned at the plight of human rights defenders working for the rights of marginalized people, i.e. Dalits, Adivasis (tribals), religious minorities and sexual minorities who face particular risks and ostracism because of their activities. Collectivities striving for their rights have in fact been victimized.

“Women human rights defenders, who are often at the forefront of the promotion and protection of human rights, are also at particular risk of persecution.

“Right to Information (RTI) activists, who may be ordinary citizens, have increasingly been targeted for, among others, for exposing human rights violations and poor governance, including corruption of officials….

“I am troubled by the branding and stigmatization of human rights defenders, who are labelled as ‘Naxalites (Maoists)’, ‘terrorists’, ‘militants’, ‘insurgents’, ‘anti-nationals’, ‘members of underground’. Defenders on the ground, including journalists, who report on violations by state and non-state actors in areas affected by insurgency, are targeted by both sides.”

Christoff Heynes said, “Evidence gathered confirmed the use of so-called ‘fake encounters’ in certain parts of the country. When this happens, scene of a shoot-out is created, in which people who have been targeted are projected as the aggressors who shot at the police and were then killed in self-defence.

“Moreover, in the northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir, the armed forces have wide powers to employ lethal force. This is exacerbated by the high level of impunity that the police and armed forces enjoy, due to the requirement that any prosecutions require sanction from the central government – something that is rarely granted.”

Both Sekaggya and Heynes have recommended a number of measures to improve the human rights situation. So far there is nothing to indicate that the government is ready to act upon their recommendations. A sustained campaign at national and international levels is needed to make it budge.      

Based on a paper presented at the National Seminar on “Human Rights Movement and Human Rights Defenders: Challenges and Prospects”, organized jointly by the Vigil India Movement and the Ecumenical Christian Centre, at Whitefield, Bengaluru, on August 9 and 10, 2012.

Right to Food Campaign calls for end to harassment of rights defenders

The following is a statement issued by the Right to Food Campaign, India, against the continuous harassment and attempts to criminalize the work of Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) and the targeting of Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami by the Badwani District (MP ) administration and corrupt politicians, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission:

The Right to Food Campaign condemns the continuous harassment, the filing of false cases and the issuing of show cause notice to extern (Zila Badar) Madhuri of (JADS) from the districts of Badwani and 6 nearby districts by the nexus of police, politicians and administrators. We were shocked to learn that the DM of Badwani had initiated proceedings of externment under section 8 (1) of the M.P Rajya suraksha Adhiniyamt, 1990, which have now been withdrawn after there was pressure from all over the country. We demand that the State Government of Madhya Pradesh take action against Mr Shriman Shukla, DM Badwani, who issued the show cause notices of externment to Madhuri.
Our stand is clear that such laws like the MP Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam 1990 are un-democratic and un-constitutional and need to be repealed. Especially, when proceedings of externment in the last twenty years of the implementation of the Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam in Madhya Pradesh, has been frequently used against activists, when it has not suited the local vested interests.

We believe that Madhuri, a renowned social activist, a member of Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan and also an esteemed member of the Steering Committee of the Right to Food Campaign at the national level, has been selectively targeted by the political opposition and the bureaucracy to benefit certain vested interests who are being challenged by the work of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan in Barwani. Instead of honouring them for the good work the administration is trying to bracket their work as a threat to public order and security and issuing notices of externment. Madhuri and other members of JADS.
The Right to Food Campaign also demands that the State Government set up a high powered committee to review all the cases pending investigation against Madhuri and other member of JADS and close them. As in the past courts have exonerated them in more than 5 cases due to lack of evidence. In many cases the investigation is pending by the local police for the last five to six years and these cases are just a tool in the hands of the police and administration. We are demanding this as most of the criminal cases filed by the administration and police were after peaceful protests for legitimate demands for the implementation of the Government scheme.

It is well known that JADS has worked consistently through democratic and completely transparent means, advocating and campaigning for the proper implementation of Government schemes in order to ensure the delivery of entitlements to work, food, health services, forest rights act to the locals of that area. Their work in the area of the implementation of the law and the other schemes has made a difference not just locally to the entitlements of the poor but also nationally at the level of policy and law making. Some of their work has included ensuring the implementation of:
1. The hundred days employment Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA);
2. The Supreme Court order for all the food schemes like the PDS, ICDS, Old Age Pension;
3. The law on the rights of the gram sabha, PESA and the Panchayati Raj Act following the 73rd and 74th Amendment. The Forest Rights Act;
4. Against the sale of illegal liquor;
5. Ensuring proper health care delivery and taking up those cases where the health system has denied health care;
6. The prevention of the exploitation of Adivasis and violence against them by officials, traders, including rampant corruption and non-performance in government schemes.
We demand that the State Government urgently intervene and take action against Mr Shriman Shukla, DM Barwani, who issued these externment notices to Madhuri, close all the cases against her and other members of JADS and ensure that all members of JADS including Madhuri are able to work freely as provided under the Indian Constitution and repeal the MP Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam.

The Right to Food campaign and other progressive organizations would be holding a protest outside the MP Bhawan against this unconstitutional act of the local administration.

The following are the signatories to the statement:

Kavita Srivastava, Convenor), on behalf of the Steering Committee of the Right to Food Campaign.
Annie Raja (National Federation for Indian Women), Anuradha Talwar and Gautam Modi (New Trade Union Initiative), Arun Gupta and Radha Holla (Breast Feeding Promotion Network of India), Arundhati Dhuru and Ulka Mahajan (National Alliance of People’s Movements), Asha Mishra and Vinod Raina (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti), Aruna Roy, Anjali Bharadwaj and Nikhil Dey (National Campaign for People's Right to Information), Ashok Bharti (National Conference of Dalit Organizations), Colin Gonsalves (Human Rights Law Network), G V Ramanjaneyulu (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture), Kavita Srivastava and Binayak Sen (People’s Union for Civil Liberties), Lali Dhakar, Sarawasti Singh, Shilpa Dey and Radha Raghwal (National Forum for Single Women’s Rights), Mira Shiva and Vandana Prasad (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan), Paul Divakar and Asha Kowtal (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights), Prahlad Ray and Anand Malakar (Rashtriya Viklang Manch), Subhash Bhatnagar (National Campaign Committee for Unorganized Sector workers), Jean Dreze and V.B Rawat (Former Support group to the Campaign), Ritu Priya (JNU)

Representatives of Right to Food (State campaigns):
Veena Shatrugna, M Kodandram and Rama Melkote(Andhra Pradesh), Saito Basumaatary and Sunil Kaul (Assam), Rupesh (Bihar), Gangabhai and Sameer Garg (Chhattisgarh), Pushpa, Dharmender, Ramendra, Yogesh, Vimla and Sarita (Delhi), Sejal Dand and Sumitra Thakkar (Gujarat), Abhay Kumar and Clifton (Karnataka), Balram, Gurjeet Singh and James Herenj (Jharkhand), Sachin Jain (Madhya Pradesh), Mukta Srivastava and Suresh Sawant (Maharashtra), Tarun Bharatiya (Meghalaya), Chingmak Chang (Nagaland) Bidyut Mohanty and Raj Kishore Mishra, Vidhya Das, Manas Ranjan (Orissa), Ashok Khandelwal, Bhanwar Singh and Vijay Lakshmi (Rajasthan), V Suresh (Tamil Nadu), Bindu Singh (Uttar Pradesh).