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UPDATE (India): Updates on death threats to human rights activists working with dalit and marginalized group in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

August 18, 2005

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal

19 August 2005

[RE: UA-138-2005: INDIA: Human rights activist facing death threats for working with Dalit and Backward Community]
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UP-100-2005: INDIA: Updates on death threats to human rights activists working with dalit and marginalized group in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

INDIA: Intimidation of human rights defenders
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Dear friends,
 
The article below includes the updates regarding the death threats to  human rights activists working with dalit and marginalized group in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India (UA-138-2005). It shows how your support gives an impact to improve the protection of the poor and encourage them to participate in the movement regaining their rights.
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We could vote after twenty seven years
 
"It was like getting some water and food after a long starvation. It was like a rain after long drought…" says Ms. Bhagawathi and Ms. Kalawathi. They could not hide their happiness after being able to cast their vote in Belwa Village for the Village Panchayath election held on 17 August 2005.
 
For the last 27 years the dalits and the backward community in Belwa Village in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India were not able to cast their vote in any election. The upper caste dominated village in Varanasi District of Utter Pradesh never allowed the lower caste community to enjoy their right to vote. The reasons are manifold. The lower caste and the backward community is a source of free labour and faced all sought of exploitation. The caste Hindus were afraid that if their slaves were allowed to vote, they would capture power which might eventually put an end to their exploitation.
 
For the Village Panchayath election which just concluded on 17 August 2005, Mr. S. N. Giri, an accepted figure and human rights activist working for the dalits and the backward community filed his nomination as a candidate. Mr. Rajendra Thiwari, the former Village Headman who held the post unchallenged for about 25 years immediately realized the threat to his unchallenged power. He had contested the election formerly through his wife when the seat was reserved for a woman candidate. Mr. Thiwari and his men threatened Mr. Giri and told him that if he did not withdraw his nomination he and his colleague Mr. Lenin Raghuvanshi of People’s Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) and their family members would be assassinated.
 
On receipt of the threat Mr. Lenin of PVCHR contacted the AHRC seeking for help to intervene in the situation. The AHRC immediately issued an Urgent Appeal through its urgent appeals network (See further: UA-138-2005) and also contacted various other local and international organisations, including the UN bodies calling for immediate protection of Mr. Giri and Mr. Lenin. The UN responded through its Special Procedures Branch for Human Rights Defenders. The AHRC also contacted various government bodies and foreign consulates in India seeking support.
 
Due to the immense pressure from various corners, including from local and international organisations there was a response from the state government. The person who called Mr. Lenin and threatened him was arrested and later released on bail. There was a huge police presence during the immediate days prior to election and during the day of election. The following statement by Mr. Lenin itself would show how elections were held in the past and how it was held on 17 August 2005.
 
I am Dr. Lenin, and I work with the PVCHR, an ngo working for the dalits and the backward community in Utter Pradesh. This 17th was the election at Belwa. During the last years no other person were allowed to file nomination here other than those approved by Mr. Rajendra Thiwari. This time we asked Mr. S. N. Giri to file in his nomination. We thought he could give a fair contest since the majority of the people in this place are dalits and members from the backward community. They never had an opportunity to participate in the democratic process. So we thought there should be somebody whom the members from the dalit and the backward community could trust and could make their voice heard at places of authority. This would also help to break the servitude.
 
Form the day Mr. Giri filed the nomination; we started getting threats in various forms. Finally when somebody called me over my telephone and categorically said that all of us involved with the work of PVCHR and Mr. Giri would be dealt with and that Mr. Giri and myself would be assassinated, I realized that things have gone too far from what we could manage. I called up the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong and updated them the situation. Later I came to know that they have issued urgent appeals on our case calling in for support from various corners.
 
Support did come in. many people contacted me over telephone and inquired about the situation which in itself was a great relief. I mean to say that when you understand that one is not alone, that itself is a motivation to continue the work. The next day to all of our surprise the person who contacted me over telephone was arrested by the local police which had never happened in the past. Those who said that the police would never dare to touch them and that the police is with them found that the same police coming up against them. I am sure that it is not because the police wanted to do so, on their own, but because that they realized that if they did not do anything they would be exposed.
 
The police did something which never happened in the past. They came with public address systems and announced at the upper caste Hindu areas that if anyone would create confusion and commotion preventing the dalits and the lower caste from casting their vote they would be immediately taken into custody according to law. Similarly they went to the lower caste houses and announced that they are free to cast their vote and that every protection would be given for them to exercise their right. This continued for two days immediately prior to the election.
 
The day of poling was interesting. The dalits and the backward community started pouring in from the morning. But initially many stood behind and watched and once they were sure that no one would attack them as in the past they formed long queues and cast their vote. One another interesting element is that the women from the upper caste also came in huge numbers. Probably Mr. Thiwari was convinced that unless he let their women to exercise their right he would fail the election. The District magistrate also came to the place early in the morning and announced that anyone who disrupts the election proceeding would be immediately taken into custody and those who attempt armed attack would be shot.
 
At about 1 pm some people, whom we suspect are the aides of Mr. Thiwari tried to cast vote on false names and tried playing fraud. To our surprise they were arrested and taken into custody. To my memory, but for this election, never was there an election here which could be anywhere called as an election. On the election day people employed by the upper caste candidate would come, take all the ballot papers, fix the seal of the candidate of their choice and the put it back in the ballot box and the entire election would be over within a matter of few hours and those who challenged this never could live in Belwa anymore.
 
But this time it was different. I do not know how to thank all those who made this possible for us. Now the question is to maintain the same calm and peace for the counting, which is coming up next week. I hope things will go smoothly. This is the result of a collective work.
 
Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi
 
The whole example shows when the protection of the poor improves, they spontaneously participate in the democratic process.
 
Urgent Appeals Desk
The Asian Human Rights Commission
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-100-2005
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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.