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UPDATE (India): Arrested protesters released and compensation package offered to the affected villagers

December 16, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal

16 December 2005

[Re: UA-225-2005: INDIA: Villagers protesting against a river project are subjected to torture in Uttaranchal]
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UP-164-2005: INDIA: Arrested protesters released and compensation package offered to the affected villagers
INDIA: Police arrest and torture; Impunity; Rule of law; Environmental issues
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the arrest and atrocities perpetuated by the local police in league with the district administration on villagers protesting against the construction of a dam under the Bhilangana Hydel River Project in Tehri Garhwal District, Uttaranchal.

According to the latest information, activists and organizations associated with the Jan Caravan repeatedly approached the district administration for the release of dam activists besides giving a memorandum to the Chief Minister and other Secretaries. The activists who were arrested were finally released by the district administration on 30 November 2005.

The dam authorities have also offered a compensation package to the villagers though this is yet to be given in writing. The compensation package involves:

a) Rs 2.5 lakhs per year to be given to the Phalenda village and Rs 1.5 lakhs to be given to the Sarona village by the dam authorities for village development,
b) Afforestation programmes, fodder development and soil conservation programmes would be undertaken by the dam authorities,
c) Water would be made available to the villagers through a separate canal which would be provided by the dam authorities,
d) The dumping area of the dam is reduced to two from three.

The AHRC is pleased to note the actions taken by the district administration and the compensation package offered by the dam authorities. However, we still urge the Government of Uttaranchal to conduct the Environment Impact Assessment for the 22.5 megawatt plant so that a total analysis of the impact of this project on the livelihood and health of the villagers and on the environment can be carried out. We also urge the authorities to ensure that no further arrests of protesting villagers takes place and there are no atrocities committed against them.

BRIEF REMINDER OF THE CASE

The Bhilangana Hydel river project in Tehri-Garhwal District, Uttaranchal, was contracted by the Government of Uttaranchal (GOU) to Swasti Power Engineering Ltd, a private company owned by the brothers of Andhra Pradesh's CM, Mr. RSR.

A contract between the GOU and Swasti Powers was signed on 21 March 2001 wherein Swasti Power was sanctioned an 11 megawatt project on the Bhilangana River for a 35 year lease period. This was given on the basis of completion of a survey and clearance of the EIA (prepared by Acres International) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It is to be noted that Acres International, which is a partner of Swasti Powers, was convicted for bribery in 2002 and has been blacklisted by the World Bank on charges of corruption and barred from being involved in any bank contracts for three years.

On 16 October 2003, another contract, this time for a 22.5 megawatt plant was signed between GOU and Swasti Powers for a 40 year lease period. However, when the capacity of the project was unilaterally doubled, the specifications also changed substantially.

It now appears that the GOU considered the short term profitability of the proposed investment and ignored the social and environmental costs that the communities living in that area would have to endure as a result of this project. This is reflected in the absence of any analysis of the socio-economic profile of the local population or mention of the impact on their livelihood, health and other aspects. The impact upon the environment too has been ignored. Apart from the fact that there is no EIA for the new project which is essential (since the last one was for a project of much less capacity), the present EIA makes no mention of the location of quarries required for construction materials, release of oils, greases, the nature of ribbon and ancillary development, the likelihood of heavy metal releases from turbine erosion and the impact of all these on the environment.

This project is said to directly affect the lives and livelihood of seven villages with a population of approximately 5000 people. This mainly includes farmers who have small plots of land and sustain their families on the two crops they are able to grow in a year due to the continuous supply of water from the Bhilangana River. It is alleged that this supply will now be controlled by Swasti Powers and released only as per the company's calculations of the people's needs.

The villagers have been protesting in Phalenda, Tehri District against this project and have made a list of demands. The police with help from the local administration arrested 120 protesters in March 2005 and another 79 in July 2005. Another 29 people have been arrested since November 20 for protesting against the violations of government norms. Women were beaten and abused, dragged by their hair and their clothes were torn. As a result of the beatings, some carried scars on their faces even three weeks after the brutality. Families of these protesters have been repeatedly harassed by the police.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please send a letter to the authorities thanking them for the action taken and further urging them to conduct the Environment Impact Assessment for the 22.5 megawatt plant so that a total analysis of the impact of this project on the livelihood and health of the villagers and on the environment can be carried out.

Dear _________,

Re: INDIA: Arrested protesters released and compensation package offered to the affected villagers

I have received updated information regarding the arrest and atrocities perpetuated by the local police in coalition with the district administration on villagers protesting against the construction of a dam under the Bhilangana Hydel River Project in Tehri Garhwal District, Uttaranchal.

According to the latest information, activists and organizations associated with the Jan Caravan repeatedly approached the district administration for the release of dam activists besides giving a memorandum to the Chief Minister and other Secretaries. The activists who were arrested were finally released by the district administration on 30 November 2005.

The dam authorities have also offered a compensation package to the villagers though this is yet to be given in writing. The compensation package involves:

e) Rs 2.5 lakhs per year to be given to the village -Phalenda and Rs 1.5 lakhs to be given to the village Sarona by the dam authorities for village development,
f) Afforestation programmes, fodder development and soil conservation programmes would be undertaken by the dam authorities,
g) Water would be made available to the villagers through a separate canal which would be provided by the dam authorities,
h) The dumping area of the dam is reduced to two from three.

I am pleased to note the actions taken by the district administration and the compensation package offered by the dam authorities. However, I still urge the Government of Uttaranchal to conduct the Environment Impact Assessment for the 22.5 megawatt plant so that a total analysis of the impact of this project on the livelihood and health of the villagers and on the environment can be carried out. I also urge the authorities to ensure that no further arrests of protesting villagers takes place and no atrocities committed against them.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND A LETTER TO:

1. Shri Narain Datt Tiwari
Chief Minister of Uttaranchal
Chief Minister Niwas, Circuit House
Old Annexe, Cantt. Road
Dehradun - 248 001
INDIA
Tel: +91-135-2665090/ 2665100
Fax: +91 0135-2665722

2. Shri Namo Narayan Meena
Minister of State for Environment and Forests
R. No 101, Paryavaran Bhavan
CGO Complex, Lodi Road
New Delhi-3
INDIA
Tel: +91-11-24362131 /24364791

3. Ms Kiran Choudhary Battacharya
Director General of Police
Police Head Quarters
12 Subhash Marg
Dehradun
Uttaranchal
INDIA
Email: dgp@ua.nic.in

4. Shri Justice A. S. Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 23074448
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.inn

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the question of torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-164-2005
Countries :
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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.