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INDIA: A suspicious death of a man whilst in the Thrissur Town West police custody in Kerala

November 2, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

2 November 2004
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UA-145-2004: INDIA: A suspicious death of a man whilst in the Thrissur Town West police custody in Kerala

INDIA: Custodial death; Alleged Torture
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the custodial death of a man named Mr. Shibu at the Thrissur Town West Police Station in Kerala, India on 12 October 2004. Mr. Shibu was found dead in the toilet of the police station after he was arrested and detained at the Thrissur Town West Police Station on the charges of possessing cannabis on 11 October 2004.  

The police have claimed that the victim had committed suicide out of shame and have not launched any investigation into this case. However, the victim's family said that when they saw the victim's body, it was covered in cuts, bruises and blood. Cuts and bruises to the head, ear, chest and abdomen, together with blood clots on many parts of the victim's body, provide strong evidence that Mr. Shibu, who had been healthy and in good condition before his arrest, was beaten and tortured whilst in police custody.  Though a post-mortem was carried out on Mr. Shibu's body, it was done so by a police surgeon and the impartiality of the surgeon's findings, therefore, is highly questionable.

Your urgent action is required to urge the local authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation of this case and conduct an independent post-mortem by a qualified doctor without delay.  

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

Name of the victim: Mr. Shibu, 30 years old, son of Madhavan, a driver, resides in Karuvachadu House, Aruvilamchal P.O., Kunthipara, Idukki District, Kerala, India
Alleged perpetrators: 1. Circle Inspector Krishnankutty Pillai of the Thrissur Police Station, 2) Officers attached to the Thrissur Police Station
Date of the incident: 11-12 October 2004
Place of the incident: Thrissur Town West Police Station

Account of the incident:

Mr. Shibu and two other men (Shaji, 30 years and Sasi, 43 years) were arrested near the Viyyur Church by a police patrol party led by the Circle Inspector N. Krishnankutty Pillai at 2:30pm on 11 October 2004. The police claim that they arrested Mr. Shibun and the other two men as they had information that they were involved in the drug trafficking. The police also claim that they seized 3 kilograms of cannabis at the time of the arrest. This claim has however, not been substantiated.  The family reported that Mr. Shibu had no criminal record and had been in a good condition before his arrest.  

Following this, the police took Mr. Shibu and the two men to the Thrissur Town West Police Station. On the early in the morning of 12 October 2004, Mr. Shibu was found dead in the toilet at the police station.  His body was positioned in a water tub, suggesting that Mr Shibu may have committed suicide.  Mr. Shibu's body however, was covered in cuts and bruises, indicating that he had been brutally tortured prior to his death.  There were bloody clots of many parts of his body.  There were also many cuts and bruises to his head, ear, chest and abdomen. 

The police have maintained that Mr. Shibu was restless after his arrest and he committed suicide out of shame. However, the circumstances surrounding the victim's death are questionable. First, Mr. Shibu was allowed to take a bath in the toilet that was exclusively used by the staff of the police station, despite there being separate toilet rooms for detainees.  Second, Mr. Shibu was also taken to the staff toilet room by women constables, which is an unusual practice. Third, the police, without any provocation, broke open the door of the toilet room whereupon Mr. Shibu's body was soon after removed, his body appearing to show no sign of life.  The police immediately took Mr. Shibu to a nearby private hospital, where a doctor declared Mr. Shibu dead.

A post-mortem was carried out on Mr. Shibu's body, though this was done so by a police surgeon. The report has yet to be released.  There was wide protest from many within Mr. Shibu's community and human rights defenders that an autopsy by a police surgeon in a case indicating custodial death where senior police officers are implicated, is contradictory to the impartiality and independence required in a situation such as this.  Due to these circumstances, Mr Shibu's family is strongly demanding an impartial post-mortem by independent and qualified doctors.

The circumstances surrounding Mr Shibu's death strongly indicate that he died due to the brutal torture committed by police officers at the Thrissur Town West Police Station.  The AHRC calls for an immediate and impartial investigation into this matter, including the questioning of those police officers involved in this case, and a second independent post-mortem to be carried out on Mr Shibu's body. The post-mortem report should be accessible to the public, including the victim's family.

    
SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter, fax, or an e-mail to the addresses below and express your concern about this case.

Sample letter:
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Dear Sir,

Re: INDIA: Custodial death of a man whilst in the Thrissur Town West police custody in Kerala

Name of the victim: Mr. Shibu, 30 years old, son of Madhavan, a driver, resides in Karuvachadu House, Aruvilamchal P.O., Kunthipara, Idukki District, Kerala, India
Alleged perpetrators: 1. Circle Inspector Krishnankutty Pillai of the Thrissur Police Station, 2) Officers attached to the Thrissur Police Station
Date of the incident: 11-12 October 2004
Place of the incident: Thrissur Town West Police Station

I write to express my deep concerned regarding the alleged torture and suspicious death of Mr. Shibu whilst detained at the Thrissur Town West Police Station on 12 October 2004.  Mr Shibu was arrested by police officers under the leadership of Circle Inspector Mr Krishnankutty Pillai on suspicion of drug trafficking on 11 October 2004. 

However, on the following morning Mr Shibu was found dead in the toilet of the police station and his body covered in cuts, bruises and blood.  The circumstances in which Mr Shibu was found, in the private staff toilet of the police station, also raises many questions. Though a post-mortem was carried out on Mr. Shibu's body, it was done so by a police surgeon, which surely contradicts the impartiality and independence required in cases such as this. 

In such circumstances, I urge you to order an immediate and thorough investigation into this case. Legal and disciplinary action should be taken against those responsible officers for the alleged torture and death of Mr. Shibu.  I also request you to ensure that an independent post-mortem be conducted on Mr. Shibu's body by an impartial and qualified doctors and its report should be made public. Finally, I urge you to take immediate steps so that the Indian government ratifies the International Convention against Torture (CAT) and introduces the corresponding domestic legislation, so that police officers found guilty of crimes can be punished in accordance with law.

Sincerely yours,


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Send a letter to:

1. Shri. A.P.J. Abdul kalam
President of India
Rashtrapathi Bhavan
New Delhi -110001
INIDA
Tel: +91 11 23015321
Fax: + 91 11 23017290 / 23017824
E-mail: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in

2. Justice A. S. Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Sardar Patel Bhaven, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA
Tel: + 91 11 23346244
Fax: + 91 11 23366537
E-mail: mailto:ionhrc@hub.nic.inor chairnhrc@nic.in

3. Mr. Oomman Chandy
Chief Minister of Kerala
Room No.141, IIIrd Floor, North Block, Secretariat
Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala State
INDIA
Tel: +91 471 2 333812, 332184 (O) / 314853, 317051 (H)
Fax: +91 471 2 333682 (O) / 333489 (H)
E-mail: chiefminister@kerala.gov.in

4. Mr. K.M. Mani
Minister for Revenue and Law, Kerala State
Room No.216, 3rd Floor, North Sandwitch Block
Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala State
INDIA
Tel: +91 471 2 327876, 327976
Fax : +91 471 2 327876
E-mail: minister-revenue@kerala.gov.in

5. Mr. Justice M.M. Pareed Pillay
Chairperson
Kerala State Human Rights Commission
A/19, Jawahar Nagar
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 040
Kerala State
INDIA
Tel: + 91 471 2337145 / 2313950
Fax: +91 471 2337148
E-mail: kshrctvpm@vsnl.net

6. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9174
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

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


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-145-2004
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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.