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UPDATE (India): Police inaction into death threats to human rights defenders in Varanasi despite the UN intervention

December 21, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

21 December 2005

[Re: UA-138-2005: INDIA: Human rights activist facing death threats for working with Dalit and Backward Community, UP-95-2005: INDIA: Another human rights activist threatened for working with Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, UP-100-2005: INDIA: Updates on death threats to human rights activists working with dalit and marginalized group in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh]
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UP-166-2005: INDIA: Police inaction into death threats to human rights defenders in Varanasi despite the UN intervention

INDIA: Death threat to human rights defenders; Police inaction; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), a local non governmental organisation working in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, that the local police are refusing to take any action against those threatening human rights activists in Varanasi (See further: UA-138-2005, UP-95-2005 and UP-100-2005). The police arrested one perpetrator but released him thereafter and have not taken any serious action to arrest other perpetrators, including a local politician. Such inaction continued even after the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) intervened in this matter through its special complaint procedures. The AHRC is informed that the UN has contacted the Government of India to take appropriate and immidiate action to intervene into this case.

We call for your urgent intervention into this matter. Please send an appeal letter to the Indian authorities and urge them to arrest and prosecute the alleged perpetrators, provide effective protection to threatened human rights defenders and take strong action against erring police officers who are responsible for negligence of their duty.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE:

According to the latest information received, after receiving a complaint from two human rights activists, Dr. Lenin and Mr. S. N. Giri regarding death threats to them and their family, the local police merely registered a First Information Report (FIR) about the case without taking any serious action to investigate the case.

Only after such by local and international pressures did the police later arrest Mr. Rama Sharay Singh, one of the alleged perpetrators, who reportedly called Dr. Lenin and threatened that he would murder him and Mr. Giri along with their families if they did not stop their work promoting human rights among dalits (untouchables) and the marginalized community in Varanasi. However, Mr. Singh was released soon after his arrest and no further inquiry has been conducted into the incident. It was alleged that Mr. Singh committed this criminal act with the aid of Mr. Rajendra Tiwari, a local politician and the head man of Belwa village in Varanasi District.

Upon receiving information regarding these death threats, the AHRC immediately issued an Urgent Appeal calling for a proper investigation and protection to the victims and also reported it to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights through its special complaint procedures.

In addition, despite the statements given by Dr. Lenin and Giri regarding the involvement of Mr. Tiwari and his son Mr. Gudu Tiwari into the incident, the police have not yet taken any serious action to investigate or arrest them. Meanwhile, there were continued threats and physical and psychological abuse on the activists associated with the PVCHR by Mr. Tiwari and his gang. Complaints were again made about these incidents which resulted in no action by the police. The AHRC closely followed the situation of the case and again issued Updated Appeals (See further: UP-95-2005 and UP-100-2005).

The AHRC is informed that in spite of a UN intervention up to date Mr. Tiwari, his son and his aides are free and no action whatsoever has been taken against them by the police.

SUGGESTED ACTION
Please send a letter to the persons listed below and urge them to take immediate action to arrest the alleged perpetrators and provide protection to human rights defenders at threat. Please also urge them to take strong disciplinary/criminal action against erring police officers responsible for negligence of their duty to investigate the case.

Sample letter:

Dear __________,

Re: INDIA: Police's apparent inaction into death threats to human rights defenders in Varanasi despite UN intervention

I am extremely concerned about the apparent inaction and failure of investigation into the case of death threats to human rights activists associated with the Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. I am further disturbed to learn that those responsible for threatening Ms. Anupam Nagvanshi, Dr. Lenin and Mr. S. N. Giri are still free and that the local police have not initiated any serious action either to investigate the incidents or to arrest the alleged perpetrators.

It is indeed a disgrace to the entire country that even after repeated requests and UN intervention through its agencies, the local police have proved immune to such pressures and have continued proving their allegiance to the criminals in the country. This case also depicts how rule of law in India has completely broken down.

I therefore urge you to immediately intervene in this case and take necessary action so that the death threats to human rights activists Ms. Anupam Nagvanshi, Dr. Lenin and Mr. S. N. Giri are investigated thoroughly and the police officers responsible for apparent negligence of their duties are punished in accordance with law. If any evidence is found to prove their inaction, these erring officers must be suspended from their service.

Yours sincerely,


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SEND LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister's Secretariat
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 52 2223 0002 / 2223 9234
Email: csup@up.nic.in

2. Mr. K. Natwar Singh
External Affairs Minister
Akbar Bhavan, Chanakya Puri
New Delhi-110021
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 26114451, Extn.1205/1219, 24103071, 24103205
Fax: + 91 11 23010700 / 23010680
E-mail: usfsi@mea.gov.in

3. Mr. Navneet Sikera
Senior Superintendent of Police
Varanasi
INDIA
Tel: +91 54 22502655, +91 98 3950 4898 (mobile)
Fax: +91 54 2250 1450

4. Mr. Gokaran
District Magistrate
Varanasi
INDIA
Tel: +91 54 2250 8585
Fax: +91 54 2234 8313
E-mail: dmvsn@satyam.net.in 

5. Justice A.P. Mishra
Chairperson
Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission
6-A Kalidass Marg
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Tel: +91 52 2272 6742
Fax: +91 52 2272 6743

6. 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.in

7. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Ben Majekodunmi
Room 1-040
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10,
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006

8. Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo
Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Att: Ms. Julie De Riviero
Room: 3-042
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9177
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)

9. Mr. Doudou Diene
Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
Room 4-041
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson,
Rue des Paquis 52, Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 9179271
Fax: +41 22 9179050


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-166-2005
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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.