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INDIA: Beaten by BSF, but, unlike Babu, still breathing

June 5, 2012

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-096-2012

5 June 2012
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INDIA: Beaten by BSF, but, unlike Babu, still breathing

ISSUES: Torture; inhuman and degrading treatment; violence; police negligence
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning the torture of 40-year-old Krishna Mondal on 1 January 2012 in yet another case of Border Security Forces (BSF) brutality in West Bengal, India. Torture, extrajudicial killings, religious discrimination and a culture of impunity are features of everyday life for Indian people living near the country's borders. Such acts violate a human being's inherent and fundamental right to life, liberty and security of person. Such acts are oppressive, patently unjust and contemptible.

We urge you to write in to appeal to the relevant authorities to take actions against the BSF personnel responsible for these crimes against humanity. In so doing, we express a hope that, despite the threatening fault lines along the face of India's law enforcement and judiciary, India may yet undertake serious social and institutional reforms that will remove the vestiges of lawlessness in the land and bring her people a lasting peace.

CASE NARRATIVE:

An inquiry undertaken by MASUM reveals the following facts:

Around 7am on 1 January 2012, Mr Krishna Mondal had been working his farmland when four BSF jawans from BSF Out-Post No. 9 under Harudanga BSF Camp came. The BSF jawans detained him and tied his hands behind his back with a rope without providing a reason for the arrest. They then assaulted the victim with the butts of their rifles, whereupon he fell to the ground. The BSF jawans continued to attack him by kicking him with boot-clad feet. The perpetrators even reportedly removed his clothes and continued to beat him with a slip of bamboo embedded with nails. All the while, the BSF personnel verbally abused the victim.

As a result of the brutal attack, Krishna sustained severe injuries and bled from numerous wounds all over his body. After the BSF personnel left, leaving Krishna almost unconscious, he was carried from the place by the witnesses comprising his brothers, Mr Jairam Mondal, Mr Arjun Mondal, Mr Sanatan Mondal, and their neighbour, Mr Bijoy Mondal. Krishna was immediately treated by a local doctor, Mr Siraj Sk.

The BSF jawans returned and threatened to kill Krishna if he attempted to lodge a complaint at the local police station, but Krishna's neighbours encouraged him to seek legal recourse. The victim's wife, Ms Anita Mondal, sent a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad, by courier, explaining the entire incident and requesting that appropriate legal action is taken against the perpetrator BSF jawans. To this day, the police and others in the district/state administration have no taken action against the perpetrators.

Krishna is still in poor physical condition and unable to resume work. He is unable to arrange for proper medical treatment due to his poor financial condition. He was medically treated at MASUM's monthly medical camp VIC-TREE. The statement of the victim can be accessed here.



The above case highlights several systemic failures in the administration of Murshidabad in West Bengal:

1. The lack of transparency and accountability in the operation of the BSF, which breeds impunity and disregard for the law;
2. The pervasive, and oftentimes senseless, use of violence by authorities against individuals within their jurisdiction;
3. The lack of enforcement and/or poor communication by India's central government of basic protocol amongst paramilitary forces such as the BSF;
4. The lack of complete responsiveness of police to aggrieved locals either due to fear of or collusion with the BSF, or an execrable apathy to the plight of the victim and his family

Krishna is lucky to be alive. Other victims of physical abuse by the BSF have not been so fortunate (refer AHRC-UAC-088-2012). Without state intervention or international pressure, the people of India face, for the foreseeable future, continued abuse of their freedoms and physical persons with no likelihood for justice to be served to those acting with complete impunity.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Krishna has, as a human being, a right to life, liberty and personal security (1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6 (1), 7, 9 and 10). He had a right against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 5 of the UDHR and Article 7 of the ICCPR). The BSF jawans who assaulted him did not treat them as born free and equal to themselves in dignity and rights and as being endowed with reason and conscience (UDHR Article 1). They did not act towards him in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Border Security Act, 1968 and its Rules 1969, is supposed to regulate the conduct of the BSF. Section 41 (f) of the Act mandates that a BSF officer who commits any offence against the property or person of any inhabitant of, or resident in, the country in which he is serving to be punished with seven years of imprisonment. The Indian Penal Code of 1860 also provides punishment for voluntarily causing hurt or injuries to a person. Section 326 of the Code prescribes punishment by way of imprisonment for a term of ten years to a person who voluntarily causes hurt by dangerous weapons or means. In addition, Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees protection of life and personal liberty of every citizen. There is, however, an obvious lack of discipline and commitment to duty, as well as a culture of violence and impunity, within the BSF. This case once again illustrates how the BSF operates, and is permitted to operate, with impunity and in utter defiance of these three legal documents.

The AHRC has documented substantial number of BSF atrocities in India over the years. AHRC and MASUM have reported in detail over 800 cases of custodial violence committed by the BSF over the past eight years and have called for action on the part of the Indian authorities. The AHRC has noted the absolute impunity with which the BSF acts, a fact evidenced by the lack of disciplinary action taken against their criminal offences by the relevant BSF superiors and police personnel. Critically, many of these cases reveal a troubling unresponsiveness, and sometimes complicity, in parts of the legal system to patent injustices committed against individuals by the BSF. Not only is the legitimacy and integrity of the Indian justice system threatened, but so is its border and national security.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities mentioned below demanding an investigation into this case. Mr Krishna Mondal's torture by BSF jawans must be inquired into. The police at Raninagar Police Station should also be investigated for neglecting their duty to pursue the matter. They should also undergo training that would permit them to better assert their authority over rogue BSF. The victim's family members and the rest of the traumatised community, particularly witnesses to the incident, must be provided adequate protection against reprisals by challenged BSFs. The community must also be assured that such senseless acts of violence and impunity will not occur again in the future, or, if they do, that they will be capably met by proper checks and balances within the justice system.

The AHRC is also writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment calling for further intervention in this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Please investigate the torture of Mr Krishna Mondal by BSF jawans under the Harudanga Camp of the 91st Battalion of the BSF under the jurisdiction of Raninagar Police Station in Murshidabad, West Bengal

Name of victim: Mr Krishna Mondal, 40 years old, son of late Shyamapada Mondal, of the Hindu faith, farmer residing in Char Sahebnagar under the jurisdiction of Raninagar Police Station, Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Alleged perpetrators: Four BSF personnel attached to Out-Post No. 9 under Harudanga BSF Camp, 91st Battalion of BSF under Raninagar Police Station, Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Date of incident: 1 January 2012 around 7am
Place of incident: Inside the victim's farmlands around 3 kilometres from his house, plot no. 1288, khatian no. 319, J. L. No. 87, Banshgara Mouza, Raninagar Police Station, Murshidabad.

I am writing to express concern regarding yet another case of torture by BSF personnel attached to Harudanga Camp of 91st Battalion of the BSF around 7am on 1 January 2012. The details of the case are as follows:

Around 7am on 1 January 2012, Mr Krishna Mondal had been working his farmland when four BSF jawans from BSF Out-Post No. 9 under Harudanga BSF Camp came. The BSF jawans detained him and tied his hands behind his back with a rope without providing a reason for the arrest. They then assaulted the victim with the butts of their rifles, whereupon he fell to the ground. The BSF jawans continued to attack him by kicking him with boot-clad feet. The perpetrators even reportedly removed his clothes and continued to beat him with a slip of bamboo embedded with nails. All the while, the BSF personnel verbally abused the victim.

As a result of the brutal attack, Krishna sustained severe injuries and bled from numerous wounds all over his body. After the BSF personnel left, leaving Krishna almost unconscious, he was carried from the place by the witnesses comprising his brothers, Mr Jairam Mondal, Mr Arjun Mondal, Mr Sanatan Mondal, and their neighbour, Mr Bijoy Mondal. Krishna was immediately treated by a local doctor, Mr Siraj Sk.

The BSF jawans returned and threatened to kill Krishna if he attempted to lodge a complaint at the local police station, but Krishna's neighbours encouraged him to seek legal recourse. The victim's wife, Ms Anita Mondal, sent a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad, by courier, explaining the entire incident and requesting that appropriate legal action is taken against the perpetrator BSF jawans. To this day, the police and others in the district/state administration have no taken action against the perpetrators.

Krishna is still in poor physical condition and unable to resume work. He is unable to arrange for proper medical treatment due to his poor financial condition. He was medically treated at MASUM's monthly medical camp VIC-TREE. The statement of the victim can be accessed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lvgGfS_OZc&feature=youtu.be.

The above case highlights several systemic failures in the administration of Murshidabad in West Bengal:

1. The lack of transparency and accountability in the operation of the BSF, which breeds impunity and disregard for the law;
2. The pervasive, and oftentimes senseless, use of violence by provincial authorities against individuals within their jurisdiction;
3. The lack of enforcement and/or poor communication by India's central government of basic protocol amongst paramilitary forces such as the BSF;
4. The lack of complete responsiveness of police to aggrieved locals either due to fear of or collusion with the BSF, or an execrable apathy to the plight of the victim and his family

Krishna is lucky to be alive. Other victims of physical abuse by the BSF have not been so fortunate (refer AHRC-UAC-088-2012 online at humanrights.asia/). Without state intervention or international pressure, the people of India face, for the foreseeable future, continued abuse of their freedoms and physical persons with no likelihood for justice to be served to those acting with complete impunity.
Krishna has, as a human being, a right to life, liberty and personal security (1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6 (1), 7, 9 and 10). He had a right against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 5 of the UDHR and Article 7 of the ICCPR). The BSF jawans who assaulted him did not treat them as born free and equal to themselves in dignity and rights and as being endowed with reason and conscience (UDHR Article 1). They did not act towards him in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Border Security Act, 1968 and its Rules 1969, is supposed to regulate the conduct of the BSF. Section 41 (f) of the Act mandates that a BSF officer who commits any offence against the property or person of any inhabitant of, or resident in, the country in which he is serving to be punished with seven years of imprisonment. The Indian Penal Code of 1860 also provides punishment for voluntarily causing hurt or injuries to a person. Section 326 of the Code prescribes punishment by way of imprisonment for a term of ten years to a person who voluntarily causes hurt by dangerous weapons or means. In addition, Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees protection of life and personal liberty of every citizen. There is, however, an obvious lack of discipline and commitment to duty, as well as a culture of violence and impunity, within the BSF. This case once again illustrates how the BSF operates, and is permitted to operate, with impunity and in utter defiance of these three legal documents.

The AHRC has documented substantial number of BSF atrocities in India over the years. AHRC and MASUM have reported in detail over 800 cases of custodial violence committed by the BSF over the past eight years and have called for action on the part of the Indian authorities. The AHRC has noted the absolute impunity with which the BSF acts, a fact evidenced by the lack of disciplinary action taken against their criminal offences by the relevant BSF superiors and police personnel. Critically, many of these cases reveal a troubling unresponsiveness, and sometimes complicity, in parts of the legal system to patent injustices committed against individuals by the BSF. Not only is the legitimacy and integrity of the Indian justice system threatened, but so is its border and national security.

As such, I demand that:
1. Raninagar Police Station immediately acknowledges receipt of Mr Krishna Mondal's statement;
2. The case of Babu's murder and torture is investigated by an independent agency appointed by the central government at the earliest possible moment;
3. The case of Babu's murder and torture is simultaneously investigated by another neutral commission to be established by the National Human Rights Commission, also at the earliest possible moment;
4. The BSF is immediately booked and criminally prosecuted by the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against them on the basis of Anita Mondal's complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad;
5. Action is initiated against the Superintendent of Police of Murshidabad for not taking any action on the complaint lodged by the victim’s wife, Anita Mondal, against the perpetrator BSF jawans;
6. Strong punitive action is taken against the BSF personnel found responsible;
7. Krishna Mondal is to be compensated for the physical and psychological injury suffered at the hands of the BSF jawans, for medical treatment and to live on while Krishna's physical conditions continues to prevent him from returning to work his farmland;
8. Adequate and pre-emptive protection is provided for Krishna, his family members and other witnesses of this incident, who may be subject to retaliatory attacks by armed BSF personnel;
9. The central government formulate concrete plans to introduce urgently needed reforms and discipline amongst its paramilitary forces, particularly the BSF, which has already been implicated in countless cases of violence against citizens of India;
10. The central government introduce more checks and balances within the policing system by according the police powers that are actually (not theoretically) equal to or greater than the BSF, which is by definition a paramilitary force with a specific mandate to regulate borders only

Yours sincerely,
---------------------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Director General BSF
Block 10, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi -03
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 24360016
E-mail: probsf@yahoo.com, bsfhq@bsf.nic.in, bsf_hq@hub.nic.in, bsf_hq@bsf.delhi.nic.in

2. Director General & Inspector General of Police
Government of West Bengal
Writers Buildings, Kolkata-1
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 2214 4498 / 2214 5486
Email: dgp_westbengal@gmail.com

3. Chief Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: + 91 33 2214 4328
Email: chiefsec@wb.gov.in

4. Additional Chief Secretary (Home)
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in

5. Ms. Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Building, Kolkata, West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: + 91 33 22144328
Email: cm_wb@nic.in

6. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Fax: + 91 11 2338 4863
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in

7. Superintendent of Police
Murshidabad
BMP Police Office
Berhampore 742101, Murshidabad District
West Bengal State
INDIA


Thank you

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-096-2012
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.