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INDIA: Victims arbitrarily arrested and manhandled by Kattakada police and damage caused to property

October 7, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

8 October 2003

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UA-62-2003: INDIA: Victims arbitrarily arrested and manhandled by Kattakada police and damage caused to property


INDIA: Illegal police raid, arbitrary arrest, torture, loss of property and police violence
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Kerala police, India, have arbitrarily arrested 19 persons and caused damage to their property. Your urgent action is required to pressure local authorities to correct this violation.

Urgent Appeals Desk

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

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Name of the victims:1. Mr. Ajeer; 2. Ms. Junaida aged 32; 3. Ms. Shiyas aged 10, s/o Junaida; 4. Ms. Ramla aged 45; 5. Ms. Nadeera aged 32; 6. Ms. Shakeela aged 30; 7. Ms. Sainaba aged 32; 8. Ms. Subaida aged 55; 9. Ms. Shanida aged 18; 10. Master. Nias aged 11, s/o Junaida; 11. Mr. Khajimoideen aged 39; 12. Mr. Mohamed Ajir aged 25; 13. Mr. Shefi aged 23; 14. Mr. Shibu aged 25; 15. Mr. Bukhari aged 27; 16. Mr. Biju aged 29; 17. Mr. Salim aged 36; 18. Mr. Shafiq aged 21; 19. Mr. Amir aged 21

Perpetrators: Police officers in charge of the Kattakada Police station, Thiruvanandapuram, Kerala

DETAILED INFORMATION:

After a direction from the Kerala High Court, the State government enforced a rule relating to wearing of helmets for two-wheeler travelers in the state from 1 September 2003.

Since then the police have been conducting random checks at public roads and started booking travelers on two wheelers who were not wearing helmets. On 28 September the police from the Kattakada Police station, Thiruvanandapuram Dictrict, Kerala State were conducting random checks on the public road near Killi, which is within the limits of the same police station. The first victim was riding his motorcycle without wearing the helmet and when the police asked him to stop he tried to drive away. Immediately one of the police constables threw a lathi (stick provided to the state police made of hardened cane) at Mr. Ajeer. The stick hit him on the back of his head, causing bleeding.

Seeing this brutal act some of the passers-by protested, which resulted in a scuffle between the police and the public. The police later took Mr. Ajeer to the hospital. But the local police kept a vengeance against the public agitation; they registered a case where the accuseds were portrayed as "several people who can be identified" on charges of interfering with police duty. The police on 5 October on the pretext of searching for those accuseds whom they could identify on sight raided a dozen houses at Killi.

The raid was conducted at daybreak, with the police forcefully opening the doors and destroying household articles within the rooms and shouting and terrorizing the residents. The police manhandled the children and women, injuring victims no. 2-10. The police also arrested victims 11-19. They were taken to Kattakada Police station and were manhandled in custody. The injured are now hospitalized.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter, fax or email to the local authorities to express your concern on this case. A sample letter is attached.

Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to:

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

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

3. Mr. M. M. Pareedu Pillai
The Chairman
Kerala State Human Rights Commission
Arka Njlayam, M.P. Appan Road
Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram 695014,
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. Justice Jawhar Lal Gupta
Chief Justice, Kerala High Court
Chief Justice's Residence,
Retd. Justice K.T. Koshy Avenue,
Kochi - 682 011,
Kerala State
INIDA
Tel: +91 474 2 397049, 354350
Fax: +91 474 2 352504

7. 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
E-mail: <mailto:secrt.hchr@unog.ch>secrt.hchr@unog.ch

SUGGESTED LETTER:

Dear

Re: Arbitrary arrest, manhandling of victims and damage to property

I am writing to you with regard to yet another incident of arbitrary police raids in Kerala, India. While conducting the raid on 5 October, the police officers ignored all rules of arrest and search and used brutal force on innocent people. Children and women were attacked by the police and were injured in the police action.

The reason for the raid was the irresponsible behaviour by a police officer of Kattakada police station on 28 September, which resulted in public protest. The manner in which the motorcycle rider was stopped, by having a stick thrown at his head, is an example for the ignorance and disregard for human life by the police in the country.

The police action is condemnable and the victims should be compensated for the injuries sustained and loss suffered. I urge you to take immediate steps to punish the officers responsible and bring justice to the victims. I also urge the Government of India to ratify the Convention Against Torture and to legislate upon the convention by taking steps to prevent any further brutal police actions in the country.

Yours sincerely

 

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-62-2003
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.