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INDIA: Custodial torture and death of Mr. Hafeel by the police at the Perumbadappu Police Station in Kerala

March 4, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

4 March 2004

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UA-26-2004: INDIA: Custodial torture and death of Mr. Hafeel by the police at the Perumbadappu Police Station in Kerala

INIDIA: Torture; Custodial Death; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Mr. Hafeel (24) was arbitrarily arrested on 24 February 2004 by officers from the Perumbadappu Police Station and thereafter tortured to death within two hours of his arrest. It is reported that no case against the perpetrators has been registered yet and the Sub Inspector of Police responsible for the murder is obstructing access to the case records at the police station. Please send a letter to the local authorities and request them to correct this matter immediately.

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

Name of the victim: Mr. Hafeel, 24, son of Veliyankodu Mukriyath Mammu Musliar of Thrissur District, Kerala State, India
Alleged perpetrators: Sub Inspector of Police at the Perumbadappu Police Station, Malappuram District, Kerala State, India
Date of incident: 24 February 2004

Case details:

On 24 February 2004, Mr. Hafeel was arrested by officers from the Perumbadappu Police Station where he was tortured to death by the Sub Inspector of the Police within two hours of his arrest.

On 24 February 2004, there was a festival at the local temple and Mr. Hafeel and his friends were on their way to watch the festival. Near the festival place some people started fighting and someone telephoned for police assistance. The police party led by the Sub Inspector of Police arrived at the scene and rounded up several persons who involved in fighting as well as many onlookers. Mr. Hafeel, as he was passing through the crowd, was also rounded up by the Sub Inspector. Then inspector immediately punched and assaulted the victim severely. After the assault, Mr. Hafeel was thrown into the police jeep and taken to the Perumbadappu Police Station.

At the police station, the Sub Inspector of Police again assaulted Mr. Hafeel severely. Due to the continuous violent attack, Mr. Hafeel fell unconscious. Fearing that he might die, the police immediately took Mr. Hafeel to the nearby government hospital at Vadakkekadu. Since there were no facilities to treat him, Mr. Hafeel was referred to go to the Kunnumkulam Government Hospital. Before he reached the hospital, the victim succumbed to the injuries. He was declared dead by the doctor at the Kunnumkulam Government hospital. According to his family, Mr. Hafeel was a healthy person and had no history of serious ailment prior to the arrest.

Meanwhile, the President of the local Panchayath, Mr. K. Veerankutty, who knew about the arrest of the victim, rushed to the Perumbadappu Police Station to see the victim. However, the police did not permit him to see the victim and they informed him that unless there was prior permission from the Circle Inspector, he would not be allowed to meet Mr. Hafeel. At that time, Mr. Hafeel was unconscious and had already been sent to the hospital.

The death of the victim occurred within two hours after the arrest. When the body of the victim was brought to the Royal Hospital at Kunnumkulam for an inquest, a large crowd gathered in front of the hospital. Fearing the situation would worsen, the Circle Inspector from Ponnani police station came to the spot. The crowd demanded that the police from the Perumbadappu police station and Ponnani police station must be kept away from the inquest proceedings. The Sub Divisional Magistrate Mrs. A Parvathy, who was present at the hospital to prepare the inquest, feared the people would turn violent and ordered the inquest to be conducted in the absence of the police from the Perumbadappu and Ponnani Police Stations. According to the Magistrate's order, police from the Kunnumkulam Police Station were summoned during the time the inquest was held. The body was sent to the Thrissur Medical College for forensic examination.

However, no case against the perpetrators has been registered yet and the Sub Inspector of Police responsible for the murder is obstructing access to the case records at the police station.

The government of India has emphatically denied ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) on the grounds that the existing domestic legislation can prevent torture. In fact, in spite of broad constitutional guarantees and reflections of certain abstract safeguards, there is no specific legislation preventing torture and thereby qualifying it as a "crime" in India.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern about this serious case.

1. Shri. A.P.J. Abdul kalam,
President of India
Rashtrapathi Bhavan,
New Delhi -110001
INIDA
Tel: +91-11-23016767 (Joint Secretary), 23014507 (Personal Secretary)
Fax: + 91 11 23017290 / 23017824
Email: presssecy@alpha.nic.in or Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in

2. Shri Justice A S Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Sardar Patel Bhawan, 1st Floor,
Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110 001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 2 334 0891 / 2334 7065
Fax: +91 11 2 334 0016/ 336 6537 / 334 4113
E-Mail: chairnhrc@nic.in

3. Mr. Justice V.P.Mohan Kumar
The Chairperson
Kerala State Human Rights Commission
Arka Njlayam, M.P. Appan Road
Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram -14,
Kerala State
INDIA
Tel: +91 471 2 337263 / 337145 (direct) 313950
Fax: +91 471 2 2337148
Email : kshrctvpm@vsnl.net

4. Mr. A. K. Antony
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

5. 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

6. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9016

7. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: 92 42 5763 234
Fax: 41 22 917 9006 / 92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk

Sample letter:

Dear

Re: Custodial torture and death of Mr. Hafeel by the police at the Perumbadappu Police Station in Kerala

Name of the victim: Mr. Hafeel, 24, son of Veliyankodu Mukriyath Mammu Musliar of Thrissur District, Kerala State, India
Alleged perpetrators: Sub Inspector of Police at the Perumbadappu Police Station, Malappuram District, Kerala State, India
Date of incident: 24 February 2004

I am shocked to hear about yet another custodial death from Kerala. To arrest a person and torture him in public and further continue the torture in custody, leading to the death of a healthy person within two hours illustrates the horrendous situation of policing in India.

Mr. Hafeel was arrested and taken into custody on 24 February 2004 by the Sub Inspector of Police from the Perumbadappu Police Station in Malappuram District, Kerala State. According to information from reliable sources, Mr. Hafeel was tortured immediately on arrest before taken into the police jeep, amidst the public. After he was taken to Perumbadappu police station, he was severely tortured again, causing him to fall unconscious. On the way to the Government Hospital at Kunnumkulam from the Government Hospital at Vadakkekadu, the victim died.

I am gravely concerned of the way in which the police tried to interfere with the postmortem inquest and by all probabilities the police will try to hush up the incident as has happened in many former occasions. However, no case against the perpetrators has been registered yet and the Sub Inspector of Police responsible for the murder is obstructing access to the case records at the police station.

Therefore, I call upon your attention to this matter and request you to order an impartial inquiry into the incident immediately. The Sub Inspector of the Police of Perumbadappu Police Station should be suspended from service while the investigation is going on. I also request the Kerala State Government to compensate to the victim¡¯s family according to international standards. The records of postmortem should be made available to the victim's family. I again urge the Government of India to ratify the Convention against Torture (CAT) and to legislate upon it without delay.

Yours truly



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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-26-2004
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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.