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.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by People’s Watch of the killing of Ms. Shehla Masood, a civil rights and environmental rights defender in Madhya Pradesh.
According to the information received, on August 16, 2011, at around 11:00 a.m., Ms. Shehla Masood was shot dead by an unidentified person while she was in her car leaving her house in Koh-e-Fiza locality, in Bhopal. Nobody witnessed the shooting. The Bhopal Senior Superintendent of Police stated that the police have registered the case as “unnatural death” and started the investigations.
Ms. Shehla Masood was known for her activities against corruption and in favour of the enforcement of the 2005 Right to Information Act (RTI), as well as for her actions for wildlife protection and conservation of natural resources. She was engaged in denouncing a diamond mining project in Chhattarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, led by the transnational mining company Rio Tinto. The day of her murder, she was on her way to join a demonstration organised by her and other human rights defenders to support an anti-corruption campaign[1]. She was planning to ask the people of Bhopal to write the name of the leaders who are corrupted on a 200 feet (60 meters) wide banner.
The Observatory recalls that several human rights defenders denouncing corruption by relying on the RTI have been victims of attacks and other acts of harassment[2]. As the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has stated “Right To Information (RTI) activists, who may be ordinary citizens, have increasingly been targeted for, among others, exposing human rights violations and poor governance, including corruption of officials”[3].
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the killing of Ms. Shehla Masood which merely seems to aim at sanctioning her human rights activities.
Actions requested:
The Observatory urges the authorities of India to:
i. Order an immediate, thorough, effective and impartial investigation into the killing of Ms. Shehla Masood, the result of which must be made public, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil, competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;
ii. Put an end to acts of harassment and threats faced by all human rights defenders in India;
iii. Conform to the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, especially:
– its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
– and its Article 12.2, which provides 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, 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”.
iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by India.
Addresses:
· Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister’s Office, Room number 152, South Block, New Delhi, India. Fax: + 91 11 2301 6857 Email: pmosb@pmo.nic.in
· Dr. P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 104-107 North Block, New Delhi 110 001 India. Fax: +91 11 2309 2979. Email: hm@nic.in
· Justice Kapadia, Chief Justice of India and RK. Raghavan, Chairman of the Special Investigation Team, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, India. Fax: +91 11 233 83792, Email: supremecourt@nic.in
· Justice K. G. Balkrishnan, Chairperson of the 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: covdnhrc@nic.in ; ionhrc@nic.in
· Gopinathan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Geneva), Rue du Valais 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. 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.