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INDIA: Illegal detention, blatant violation of laws and threat to life of three people

July 6, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

6 July 2005
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UA-116-2005: INDIA: Illegal detention, blatant violation of laws and threat to life of three people

INDIA: Arbitrary detention, threat to life, blatant violation of laws, failure of rule of law
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Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal regarding three persons illegally and arbitrarily detained at Jalangi police station of Murshidabad Distrcit, West Bengal India.

Even though two of them were arrested and taken into custody on 1 July 2005 and the third person on 3 July 2005, they were not informed of the reason for their arrest. It is reported that they were tortured in custody and held without being produced before the local magistrate; a violation of Indian law itself.

On 4 July 2005, when the members of MASUM visited the police station in connection with starvation deaths in Jalangi, it was only then that they came to know of the three people. When the members from MASUM asked the police at Jalangi police station why the three persons were detained in custody, the officers had no reply.

It is now known that the police have released two of the three persons detained in custody fearing that MASUM will take action against the police officers for illegally detaining the three. However, it is our fear that the police officers will trace the two persons released and will bring harm to them to prevent them from taking action against the police. We also fear for the person who is still detained and strongly question why this is the case.

This is yet another incident from India where police arrest people at random and torture them in custody. This incident is a blatant violation of India’s law and a clear indicator of to what extent the rule of law in India has deteriorated.

In light of the above, please intervene without delay and ask the Director General of Police to ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted into the incident and necessary actions is taken against the police officers responsible for the arrest and torture of the three persons. Please also ask that all necessary steps are taken to safeguard the life of the two released persons and that the person still detained in police custody is released immediately.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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INFORMATION:

Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Anarul Islam Asraf SK, Roshan Nagar Village, Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India
2. Mr. Ruhul Amin SK, son of Mr. Ahad Ali SK, Bhaduria Para Village, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India
3. Another person whose name has not been identified (this person remains in custody)
Place of incident: Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India
Alleged perpetrators: Officer in charge of Jalangi Police Station and other police officers at Jalangi police station
Date of incident: 1 July 2005 and 3 July 2005

On 4 July 2005, members of MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal paid a visit to Jalangi police station regarding the issue of starvation deaths reported from Jalangi, Murshidabad District of West Bengal State, India. While they were at the police station, they saw three persons aged about 24 years detained at the police lock up. The police lock up was visible from the same room where the team from MASUM were having discussions with Mr. Ansari, the Sub Inspector of the police station who was holding charge of the police station in absence of the senior police officer.

When Mr. Ansari was asked why the three persons were detained in custody, the officer had no tenable answer. However, the members of MASUM approached the police lock up and asked the three detainees why they were held at the police lock up. They replied that two of them (the persons named above) were taken into custody on 1 July 2005 and the third person was taken into custody on 3 July. Upon being detained, not one of the persons was informed of the reason for their detention, nor were they produced before the local magistrate even though the law requires any arrested person to be produced before the local magistrate within 24 hours of arrest.

The detainees also informed the members of MASUM that they were tortured severely while in custody and that they do not know what to do. Upon seeing the detainees and the members of MASUM communicating, Mr. Ansari asked the latter not to talk to the former and asked them to keep away from the lock up.

Aware that arguing with the police officer would come to nothing, yet determined to take action, the members of MASUM left from the police station. Some time soon after they were informed that two of the the detainees were released from custody immediately after MASUM left the police station. MASUM now fears that the life of the two persons released are at stake since the police might re-arrest the victims fearing that they will lodge complaints with appropriate authorities with the help of MASUM. It is also feared that the police will register non-bailable cases against the two persons so that they could re-arrest them and ensure that they could not lodge complaints. MASUM also fears for the well-being of the person still detained at Jalangi police station.

It is disturbing that the police in India resort to such acts of illegal arbitrary detention against the law of the country and even against the standing directions of the Supreme Court since the court had in the past categorically directed the law enforcement agencies to abide by the law or to face severe consequences. This incident is yet another case which proves how far the rule of law in India has deteriorated and demonstrates how little the general public can trust the law enforcement agencies in the country.

Suggested action

Please send a letter to the Director General of Police, West Bengal urging him to immediately order an investigation into the incident and also to punish the police officers who are responsible for the illegal detention and torture of the three victims.

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Sample letter:

Dear Mr. Awasthi

Re: Illegal detention, blatant violation of laws and threat to life to three people at Jalangi police station, Murshidabad

Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Anarul Islam Asraf SK, Roshan Nagar Village, Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India
2. Mr. Ruhul Amin SK, son of Mr. Ahad Ali SK, Bhaduria Para Village, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India
3. Another person whose name has not been identified (this person remains in custody)
Place of incident: Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India
Alleged perpetrators: Officer in charge of Jalangi Police Station and other police officers at Jalangi police station
Date of incident: 1 July 2005 and 3 July 2005

I am appalled to learn of yet another case of illegal arrest, detention and custodial torture from West Bengal. It is deplorable to know that the police officers at Jalangi police station took into custody three persons, detained them illegally and tortured them while they were denied all available rights guaranteed under the law. It is shocking to read the alarming number of cases reported from West Bengal, which are of similar nature.

It is a matter of concern that two of the detainees who were released now fear that their life is in danger since the officers at Jalangi police station are aware that they might lodge complaints against them. It is a further concern that the detainees release may have been purely out of fear that a human rights group came to know about the detention and may have acted on this. Such recurring incidents are an indicator of how far your police officers are willing to go to, to first violate the law they are meant to uphold, and then to avoid it when their duties and conduct are brought into question.

I therefore urge you to conduct an immediate inquiry into the incident and take necessary action against the police officers at Jalangi police station. Their involvement in the arbitrary arrest and detention of these three persons, the subsequent torture they subjected them to, and their failure to produce them before the local magistrate, must not go unpunished. I also urge you to take immediate action so that the released persons can live without fear for their safety and have the freedom to pursue justice for the violations committed against them. I also ask that you release immediately the third person still detained, presumably at Jalangi police station, and take measures to ensure his safety.

Yours sincerely,

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SEND A LETTER TO:

Mr. Subhas Awasthi
Director General of Police
Government of West Bengal
Writers Buildings, Kolkata-1
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91-33-2214 4498 / 2214 5486
Email: padgp@wbpolice.gov.in

SEND A COPY TO:

1. Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister and Minister in Charge of Home (Police) Department
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 2214 5555 (O) / 2280 0631 (R)
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480
E-mail: cm@wb.gov.in

2. Mr. A.K. Deb, IAS
Home Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +913322145656
Fax: +913322143001
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in

3. Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani Bhavan, Alipore
Calcutta-700027
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633
Email: wbhrc@cal3.vsnl.net.in

4. Justice A.S.Anand
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Tel: +91-11 23382742
Fax: +91-11 23384863
Email: covdnhrc@nic.in, ionhrc@nic.in

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-116-2005
Countries :
Issues :
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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.