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, in the night of February 9, 2008, members of the Guwahati police raided Mr. Lachit Bordoloi’s flat in Guwahati, where his wife and daughter were staying alone. Mr. Bordoloi had left earlier that day for a meeting at Tinsukia district in upper Assam. The police personnel seized his laptop and other material without issuing any seizure memo to his family members.
On February 11, 2008, at about 10:30 am, a team of the police of Dibrugarh District, Assam, stopped the bus in which Mr. Lachit Bordoloi was heading for Guwahati at Moranhat, Upper Assam, and arrested him. They brought him at the Dibrugargh Police Station.
On the next day, the police brought him at the Chandmari police station, in Guwahati, and remanded him for five days in the police custody. Mr. Bordoloi was charged with "having a role in fund collecting for the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)", an active armed group in the State of Assam, under the Unlawful Prevention Activities Act and with "waging war against the State" under sections 120B and 121 of the Indian penal Code.
On February 8-9, 2008, the police had arrested two supposed ULFA activists and, subsequently, police spokespersons had stated that the arrested activists were in the city to try and hijack a plane and that several prominent persons in the city were helping them out. Mr. Bordoloi would have reportedly been arrested on the basis of a statement given by one of the two detainees.
The Observatory recalls that Mr. Lachit Bordoloi has been repeatedly threatened, harassed and intimidated by the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Nagaon district, Assam, since September 2001, following the publication of an article by Mr. Bordoloi in the Assamese daily Asomiya Protidin, and highlighting corrupt practices at Nagaon Police Office. The article had then led to a high level departmental inquiry against the SP for Nagaon. Subsequently, the SP had tried to fabricate evidence of a link between Mr. Bordoloi and the ULFA.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Lachit Bordoloi, as it seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities. The Observatory also denounces the judicial proceedings against him, which seem to be based only on a testimony obtained from a suspect while in detention, and fears for Mr. Lachit Bordoloi’s physical and psychological integrity.
Furthermore, the Observatory 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" [2].
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 Mr. Lachit Bordoloi;
ii.Release Mr. Lachit Bordoloi immediately and unconditionally, as his detention is arbitrary since it only aims at sanctioning his human rights activities;
iii.Put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Bordoloi as well as 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:
Mr. Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam, Office of the Chief Minister, Janta Bhawan, Dispur, Guwahati, Assam, India, Fax: 0091 361 2262069
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
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. Balkrishnan, Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, 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, Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: chairnhrc@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
Mr. Dipak Chatterjee, Ambassador, 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.
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Geneva - Paris, February 14, 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