Excellency,
The
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the
World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework
of their joint
programme the Observatory for the Protection of Human
Rights
Defenders, would like to express their deepest concern
regarding the
murder of Ms. Navleen Kumar, a human rights activist involved
in the
defence of Adivasis land rights. She was stabbed 19 times
on the
terrace of her building at Nallasopora, a distant suburb
of Mumbai,
during the morning of 19 June 2002.
According
to the information received from the Asian Center for
the
Progress Of People (ACPP), Ms. Navleen Kumar, 54, was
well known for
fighting, through legal intervention, against unscrupulous
builders,
bureaucrats, politicians and criminal elements, who, over
the last 20-
25 years, have been usurping and appropriating tribal
land through
the use of fraud, threats and force, in Thane Disctrict
(Mumbai
area). Through her dedication she had managed to re-open
cases, file
affidavits and had won legal battles contributing to restore
Adivasis' land rights. The day before her death, charges
were filed
against Bhai Thakur, a gangster accused in the murder
of a builder,
on the basis of Ms. Kumar's testimony.
Ms.
Kumar had already been the subject of grave threats and
acts of
harassment by this "land mafia" due to her work
and commitment. Three
months ago, she was threatened at gunpoint at Nallasopara
railway
station. She had also been threatened while within the
premises of
the Thane district court.
On
30 June, eleven days after Ms. Kumar's death, four men
- Gajanan
Patil, Ulhas Rane, Sanjay Kadu and Haji Kuppuswami Naidu
- connected
to Bhai Thakur were arrested by officers of the crime
branch of the
Thane rural police in connection with her killing. On
8 July, a
local court remanded them to judicial custody. Until now,
the Police
have been unable to collect material or evidence to show
the
involvement of the accused in the crime.
The
Observatory points out that since Ms. Kumar's death, several
other activists have received death threats for speaking
out on the
killing and for their continued work in favour of Adivasis'
rights,
including Mr. Vivek Pandit, 45, a member of Shramjeevi
Sanghathana,
an organisation which is closely connected with restoring
their land
rights. Complaints for these death threats have been filed
with the
Director General of Police and the Chief Minister of the
Maharashtra.
Excellency,
The
Observatory urges the highest Indian authorities to :
i.
carry out a full, impartial and effective investigation
into this
murder in order to bring those responsible to trial and
apply the
penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided
by law;
ii.
guarantee, under all circumstances, the security, the
physical
and psychological integrity of all activists involved
in the defence
of Adivasis rights, and more generally in the defence
of indigenous
rights in India;
iii.
conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human
Rights
Defenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
on 9
December 1998, notably its article 1 which states that
"everyone has
the right, individually or in association with others,
to promote and
to strive for the protection and realization of human
rights and
fundamental freedoms at the national and international
levels" and
its article 12.2 which states that "the State shall
take all
necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent
authorities of everyone, individually and in association
with others,
against any violence, retaliation, de facto or de jure
adverse
discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action
as a
consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights
referred
to in the present Declaration."
We
thank you for your careful consideration in this matter.
Sincerely
yours,
Sidiki
KABA
President of the FIDH |
Eric
SOTTAS
Director of the OMCT |
