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INDIA: A mother running pillar to post to get her son released from illegal detention

July 23, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

24 July 2007
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UA-234-2007: INDIA: A mother running pillar to post to get her son released from illegal detention

INDIA: Caste based discrimination; impunity; failure of rule of law; custodial torture
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner the PVCHR, a human rights organisation based in Varanasi, regarding the case of Mr. Pahalu Musahar who is currently detained by the Cholapur police in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. It is reported that the police has detained Pahalu to force his brother Umesh to surrender at the police station. It is alleged that Pahalu is tortured by the police to disclose where his younger brother Umesh is hiding, about which Pahalu has no information whatsoever.

CASE DETAILS:

Pahalu Musahar is the second son of Ms. Chanda Musahar. Chanda has four sons and two daughters. Of the six children Umesh, the third son, was involved in some criminal activities and has run away from home since the past ten years. The family has no information whatsoever about Umesh's current whereabouts.

On May 21, 2007 at about 6pm a police constable from Cholapur Police Station came to Pahalu's house and asked to give directions to his sister Bibi's house. Pahalu asked the constable why the constable wanted to go there for which the constable informed him that he wanted to question Bibi's husband about Umesh's whereabouts. Pahalu agreed and took the constable to his sister's house. At his sister's house the constable asked Bibi's husband whether he knew about Umesh's whereabouts. Bibi's husband said that since nobody knows where Umesh is they cannot give any useful information.

The constable then asked Bibi's husband to come along with him to the police station. He refused, informing the constable that even if he comes, he will find it difficult to return since he is suffering from night blindness. The constable then contacted his superior officer and Pahalu could hear that constable was informing his superior that he had Pahalu with him and that he could not gather any useful information regarding Umesh. The superior officer asked the constable to bring Pahalu to the police station. The constable then asked Pahalu to accompany him to the police station. Pahalu asked why he had to come to the station. The constable informed Pahalu that he needs to be questioned and asked him to follow his directions without any further questions. Pahalu obliged and went to the police station. Since then what has happened to Pahalu is not clearly known, other than the fact that his mother was informed that he is been questioned regarding Umesh. It is also alleged that Pahalu is being tortured at the police station to find out the details regarding his allegedly absconding brother Umesh.

The next day, Pahalu's mother Chanda went to Cholapur Police Station and enquired about his son and asked the Station Officer Mr. Ravindrabhushan Maurya why her son is been detained. The officer asked Chanda to wait. By night she was asked to return the next day. This was repeated for the next two days. In the meanwhile Chanda was never allowed to see Pahalu. She was, at various occasions, between 21 May and 24 May informed that her son Pahalu was detained at other police stations in the district. She was asked to enquire at these police stations if she wished to see her son. Accordingly, Chanda went to several other police stations in the district between 22 May and 24 May. However each police station informed her that her son is not kept there, but must be in Cholapur Police Station.

On the 5th day, that is on May 25, 2007 Pahalu's father filed an affidavit at the Cholapur Police Station affirming that the family does not know about their son Umesh since he has left the family ten years before and that nobody in the family had any contacts with them. Pahalu's father also faxed letters to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Varanasi informing the illegal custody of his son Pahalu and requesting the officer to release him. The family also sent a registered letter demanding similar relief. None of these letters were considered by the officers. It is now alleged that Pahalu is kept at the Mirzapur Prison, being charged with non-bail able offenses. It is alleged that Pahalu is been charged with offenses to justify the detention and illegal arrest.

Neither Pahalu, nor his family is informed why Pahalu was taken into custody and on what charges. Pahalu's family is not aware where exactly he is detained. It is alleged that the detention of Pahalu is merely to force his brother Umesh to surrender before the police. While detention of this nature is prohibited in law in India, it is mandatory for the police to inform the detainee about the charges for which he is taken into custody. The police are also required to inform the nearest relative of the detainee about the arrest and the details of the member of their family. It is also alleged that Pahalu is being tortured in custody to force him to divulge information regarding his allegedly absconding brother.

Chanda's family is extremely poor and has no capacity to engage a lawyer to approach the court. The Musahars are considered as an untouchable community within the caste Hindu community which dominates Uttar Pradesh. It is alleged that members of the Musahar community and other tribal and backward communities are treated as 'criminal natured' communities in Uttar Pradesh, especially by the law enforcement agencies. This is a contemporary form of racial discrimination which is widely practiced in India. The PVCHR is now planning to file a habeas corpus writ at the Allahabad High Court asking the court's intervention in this case to produce Pahalu in court.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities listed below and urge them to immediately intervene in the situation.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Sample letter:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Please take immediate action to release Mr. Pahalu Musahar from the illegal custody of Cholapur police in Varanasi district

Name of the victim: Pahalu Musahar, son of Ms Chanda Musahar, residing at Atensa Block, Harauwa, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Ravindrabushan Maurya, Station Officer, Cholapur Police station and his subordinate officers
Date and place of incident: From May 21, 2007 at Haruwa, Varanasi district

I am writing to you to express my concern about the illegal and arbitrary detention of Mr. Pahalu Musahar, son of Ms Chanda Musahar, residing at Atensa Block, Harauwa, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh. It is alleged that Pahalu is illegally detained by the Cholapur police since May 21, 2007 for no reason other than for obtaining information regarding his allegedly absconding brother Mr. Umesh. I am informed that neither Pahalu nor his family is informed why Pahalu is detained and where is been kept and under what charges.

I am aware that such a detention is against the domestic law in India. I am also informed that Pahalu's mother had approached several police stations in Varanasi district enquiring about her son for which she has not been provided any credible or satisfactory information. I am also informed that Pahalu has committed no crime whatsoever still a charge is fabricated and filed against him to justify the police action.

I am also informed that Pahalu is being tortured in custody to obtain information regarding the whereabouts of his brother Umesh about which Pahalu has no information at all. I am worried about Pahalu's safety and the possibility of his being charged and forced to defend a case for which he is no way responsible. I therefore urge you to immediately intervene in this case and take all necessary actions so that Pahalu is released from custody forthwith.

I also urge you to take appropriate actions so that the entire incident is investigated and the Station Officer Mr. Ravindrabhusan Maurya, currently stationed at Cholapur Police Station in Varanasi district, is punished for official misconduct and breach of law.

I also urge you to take appropriate actions so that Pahalu is produced before a court without any delay and that he is examined by a medical officer to verify whether he has been subjected to custodial torture. If the medical examination reveals that Pahalu has been tortured the officers responsible must be charge sheeted and put to trial for causing injury to a detainee while in custody.

Yours truly,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms. Mayawati
Chief Minister
Chief Minister's Secretariat, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 522 - 2230002/2239234
Email: mayawati@sansad.nic.in

2. Director General of Police
Tilak Marg, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax :+91 52 2220 6120, 2220 6174
E-mail : police@up.nic.in

3. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Tel: + 91 11 23074448
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in

4. National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Government of India
5th Floor, Loknayak Bhawan
Khan Market
New Delhi 110003
INDIA
Tel: + 91 11 2462 0435
Fax: + 91 11 2462 5378

5. Mr. Doudou Diene
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10,
SWITZERLAND
Tel: + 41 22 917 93 88
Fax: + 41 22 917 9006

6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-234-2007
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.