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INDIA: Arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killing by police personnel in Varanasi

March 3, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

3 March 2006
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UA-081-2006: INDIA: Arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killing by police personnel in Varanasi

INDIA: Arbitrary arrest; extra-judicial killing; un-rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner, the Peoples’ Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR), regarding human rights violations in Varanasi, India, at the hands of local police officers who act with complete impunity. In this latest incident Santosh Kumar Singh was forcibly and arbitrarily detained and later shot-dead by the police, who have labeled the killing a death by an ‘encounter’.

On 31 January 2006, at 10pm, Mr. Subedar Singh reported to PVCHR that his son, Mr. Santosh Kumar Singh (alias Sanjay Singh) had been forcibly arrested two hours earlier while buying vegetables in Pahadia. Mr. Subedar Singh suspected that his son would be killed by the police in an extra-judicial killing which would then be labeled as an encounter by the police. He requested that the PVCHR save his son’s life. The next morning local newspapers reported the death of the victim in an encounter with police.

The PVCHR has demanded that a First Information Report (FIR) be registered against Mr. Vivek Singh, the police officer in charge of Sarnath Police Station, under sections 302 and 368 of the Indian Penal Code. The victim’s father also lodged complaints with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the district magistrate of Varanasi and the Senior Superintendent of Police of Varanasi on 31 January, soon after his son was taken into custody. No action however, has been taken by any of the authorities.

It is important to note that this so-called ‘encounter killing’ is not an isolated case but rather a part of an increasingly common practice in India involving law enforcement agencies and the occurrence of extra-judicial killings (see UA-079-2006 and UA-003-2006). Likewise, the fabrication of FIRs by the police is also not uncommon (see also UA-145-2005).

This case, and others like it, describes a pattern of police brutality imposed upon the people of Varanasi leading to a general collapse in the rule of law. Rather than viewing law enforcers as those to seek protection from and those who uphold the law, citizens are increasingly seeing them as those to avoid and those most likely to break the law.  Such cases also reaffirm the AHRC’s observation that India lacks adequate mechanisms that can prevent police brutality and torture. India must criminalise torture and as the first step in the process must ratify the International Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. India has signed the convention but failed to ratify it on the pretext that the existing domestic mechanism is equipped in preventing torture and similar violence committed by law enforcement agencies. This case, and the other examples given, however, clearly demonstrate that it is not.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to Mr. Navneet Sikera, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Varanasi District Uttar Pradesh who is officially responsible to initiate inquiry and action in this case and to ensure that strong disciplinary and criminal action is taken against those police officers who arbitrarily detained and murdered the victim, and have falsified their reports regarding the events. We request that you please send copies to the other relevant authorities mentioned below.


Suggested letter:

Dear Mr. Sikera

INDIA: Arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killing by police personnel in Varanasi

Name of victim: Santosh Kumar Singh, alias Sanjay Singh, son of Subedar Singh, and resident of Anand Bihar Colony, Varanasi District
Name of alleged perpetrators:  Mr. Vivek Singh, Officer in Charge (OIC) of Sarnath police station and other officers under the command of the OIC, Sarnath police station, Varanasi District, Uttar Pradesh
Date of incident:  31 January 2006
Place of incident: Sarnath Police Station, Varanasi District

I am writing to voice my concern about the continued abuses perpetrated by the police in Varanasi, which have, most recently, resulted in the arbitrary detention and murder of Mr. Santosh Kumar Singh.

I am shocked at the failure of the police to follow the guidelines of arrest and detention outlined by the Supreme Court in the D.K. Basu case, which are also included in the Criminal Code of Procedure; their failure to respect the fundamental rights given to all Indian citizens under the Indian Constitution; and their lack of concern for the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights, both of which India has ratified. The fundamental disrespect for human life the police have shown for the victim, and their willingness to disregard the rules of arrest and to falsify reports, points to a decay in the rule of law in Varanasi.

I therefore urge you to take immediate action to investigate the events surrounding the death of Mr. Santosh Singh, to ensure that all those police officers found responsible are prosecuted, and to ensure that compensation is provided to the victim’s family. I also urge you to take steps to ensure that the police in Varanasi display a greater understanding of their obligations to those under their protection, the people of Varanasi district, so that incidences such as this do not occur in the future.

Finally, I take this opportunity to remind the Government of India that its current domestic mechanisms lack the ability to prevent police brutality and torture. To remedy this, India must criminalise torture and as the first step in the process must ratify the International Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Until this is achieved, police brutality and torture will only continue to occur.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

Mr. Navneet Sikera
Senior Superintendent of Police
Varanasi District, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Tel: +91 54 22502655, +91 98 3950 4898 (mobile)
Fax: +91 54 2250 1450


PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister's Secretariat
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 52 2223 0002 / 2223 9234
Email: csup@up.nic.in

2. Justice A.P. Mishra
Chairperson
Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission
6-A Kalidass Marg
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Tel: +91 52 2272 6742
Fax: +91 52 2272 6743

3. Shri Justice A. S. Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 23074448
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in

4. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Attn: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org

5. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Attn: Mr Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)
Email: mdelalama@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-081-2006
Countries :
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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.