The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in India.
Brief description of the situation:
According to the information received, on April 20, 2008, the Long March for Justice for STF Victims started at Sathyamangalam in Erode District, Tamil Nadu, although it was denied police permission. First, a public meeting was held at the New Bus Stand in Sathyamangalam at 9.30. a.m. Then, a crowd of 500 persons, among whom leaders of political parties, STF victims and members of the Campaign for the Relief and Rehabilitation of STF Victims from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, began their long march.
At the outskirts of Sathyamangalam, police officers stopped the marchers and prevented them from going further. Four hundreds of the marchers, including Messrs. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of People’s Watch, Mahaboob Batcha, Managing Trustee of the Society for Community Organisation Trust (SOCO Trust), and V.P. Gunasekaran, District Secretary of the Communist Party of India, were arrested and brought under police custody at the Ramasamy Goundar Maryammal Wedding Hall in Sathyamangalam.
On the evening of April 20, 2008, at 5.45 p.m., the police released the mass protesters. Immediately after being released, the demonstrators moved to Anthiyur to participate in a public meeting, which had an audience of over 1,000 people. The Joint Committee [2] then decided to continue the Long March for Justice for STF Victims.
On the next day, media reported that a clarification had been given by the Government of Tamil Nadu regarding the issue, saying that compensation had already been given to the victims and the Government of Tamil Nadu has done its duty.
In the early morning of April 21, 2008, the local police informed the organisers of the March that they had been given instructions to arrest them if they started the March.
At 9.30 a.m., the protestors were stopped by the police who announced that they were going to arrest them. When asked for the grounds of arrest, the policemen floundered for some time and later came up with a document that was vague and went on to arrest 115 marchers, including 38 women and one child. The arrestees have been lodged in Soudeeswari Amman Wedding Hall in Anthiyur.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about these acts of harassment against peaceful demonstrators seeking justice for victims of the STF violence, and calls upon the Indian authorities to release all persons who were arrested and to authorise the continuation of the March.
The Observatory also recalls that India was elected as a member of the Human Rights Council in 2007 for three years, and has committed, in this regard, to "uphold the highest standards of promotion and protection of human rights" [3].
Action requested:
Please write to the Indian authorities and ask them to:
i. Take all necessary measures to guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of all persons arrested ;
ii. Release all persons arrested immediately and unconditionally, as their detention is arbitrary since it only aims at sanctioning their human rights activities;
iii. Put an end to any act of harassment against all human rights defenders in India;
iv. Comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", as well as Article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, 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";
v. Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by India.
Addresses:
· Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, Rastrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110004, India.Fax: Fax: 91-11-23382365, 91-11-23711772
· Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister’s Office, Room number 152, South Block, New Delhi, India. Fax: + 91 11 2301 6857
· Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister, Chief Minister’s Office, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. Fax: +91 771 2221306. Email: cmcg@nic.in
· Mr. Ramvichar Netam, Home Minister, Office of the Home Minister, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. Email: hmin.cg@nic.in
· Mr. Shivraj Singh, Chief Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. Fax: +91 771 2221206. Email: cs-cg@nic.in / shivraj@nic.in
· Shri Shivraj Patil, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 104-107 North Block, New Delhi 110 001 India. Fax: +91 11 2309 2979.
· Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, India. Fax: +91 11 233 83792, Email: supremecourt@nic.in
· Justice Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110 001, India. Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: chairnhrc@nic.in / patilsv@nic.in
· H.E. Mr. Swashpawan Singh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Geneva), Rue du Valais 9, 1202 Geneva, Tel: +41 22 906 86 86, Fax: +41 22 906 86 96, Email: mission.india@ties.itu.int
· Embassy of India in Brussels, 217 Chaussée de Vleurgat, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 (0)2 6489638 or +32 (0)2 6451869
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of India in your respective countries.
***
Geneva - Paris, April 21, 2008
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 33 (0) 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 (0) 22 809 49 29
Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org
IND 005 / 0408 / OBS 058
Arbitrary arrest
India
April 21, 2008