Human rights – Page 2

Drowned Syrian Toddler Is Buried in Kobane

September 4, 2015 by Nasheman

Abdullah Kurdi (center), father of the drowned three-year-old boy, holds his son’s body during the funeral in Kobane. Photo via Dicle News Agency/EPA

by VICE News

The body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi has been laid to rest in the Syrian town of Kobane on Friday, alongside his brother and mother, who also died trying to reach Greece.

The shocking photographs of the drowned Syrian child, washed up on a beach near Bodrum, Turkey, have sparked international outcry this week. The images have reignited the debate as to how to help those fleeing from war and how to solve the European refugee crisis, where thousands have died trying to reach Europe by sea.

The child’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, buried his family in the ‘Martyrs’ Ceremony’ in the predominantly Kurdish town, near the border with Turkey.

Speaking at the border crossing, he called upon neighboring Arab countries to help Syrian refugees. Kurdi said: “What I want now is for Arab states, not the European ones, the Arab states, to see what happened to my children.”

In an interview with the BBC, Kurdi described how he lost his family at sea when the boat they were travelling by capsized: “I tried to steer the boat but another high wave pushed the boat over. That is when it happened,” he said.

“My children were the most beautiful children in the world. Is there anybody in the world for whom their child is not the most precious thing?”

It was initially reported that the Kurdi family was refused entry into Canada, yet an aunt in Vancouver clarified that she had tried to sponsor other relatives first.

Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences to the family during a speech on Thursday, and promised to “do more” if re-elected: “We should be doing everything, we are doing everything and and we will do more of everything,” he said.

Yet opposition Liberal leader Justin Trudeau retorted: “You don’t get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an election campaign. You either have it or you don’t.”

Other world leaders have also been criticized for not taking in more Syrian refugees, including British Prime Minister David Cameron. He has now vowed to accept “thousands” more people from UN camps bordering Syria.

On Friday, the UN refugee agency announced that Britain will accept 4,000 refugees from Syrian camps.

Drowned Syrian toddler was denied asylum in Canada: report

September 3, 2015 by Nasheman

A Turkish police officer carries a young boy who drowned in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos. Photograph: Reuters

by Tamar Pileggi, The Times of Israel

The toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach Wednesday was a Syrian-Kurdish refugee whose family was desperately trying to reach North America, even though Canada had rejected their request for asylum.

The image of a policeman cradling the body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish beach has triggered horrified reactions as the tragedy of Europe’s burgeoning refugee crisis hits home.

Aylan drowned along with his mother and five-year-old brother and at least a dozen others when the overloaded boat they were traveling in capsized during an attempt to reach the Greek Island of Kos. Images of Aylan lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey’s main tourist resorts sparked horror across the globe, with many demanding Europe ease the path for the thousands of refugees fleeing war.

Another 15 people were rescued from the boat, including the father of the family, Abdullah. According to the report, he said he now wishes to return to bury his family in their hometown.

Canadian legislator Fin Donnelly told The Canadian Press that a Vancouver-area woman had sought to sponsor the mother and two children but that her request was turned down by immigration officials.

The Ottowa Citizen quotes Aylan’s aunt, who immigrated to Vancouver over two decades ago, as saying that the Kurdi family’s privately funded refugee application had been rejected by Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Department in June, due to the catch 22-like dilemma displaced Syrians face.

Like thousands of other refugees in Turkey, they were not registered as refugees by the UN refugee agency, and the Turkish government does not to grant exit visas to unregistered refugees without valid passports.

“I was trying to sponsor them, and I have my friends and my neighbors who helped me with the bank deposits, but we couldn’t get them out, and that is why they went in the boat. I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there,” Teema Kurdi said.

Aylan and his family were traveling on a tiny boat built for four people but thought to have been carrying 15 refugees. The family is believed to be from the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani to have fled to Turkey last year to escape Islamic State extremists.

While the escalating migrant crisis has exposed deep divisions in the EU’s policy, the plight of Syrian refugees took center stage on the Canadian campaign trail this week, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisting that he would do more to help if his Tories are re-elected.

Harper has come under fire for not welcoming more Syrians fleeing their country’s deadly conflict. Canada agreed to resettle 20,000 refugees, but, as of late July, had only welcomed 1,002, according to government figures.

“As long as we have organizations like ISIS or the so-called Islamic State, creating literally millions of refugees and threatening to slaughter people all over the world, there is no solution to that through refugee policy,” Harper said. “We have to take a firm and military stance against ISIS and that’s what we’re doing.”

Canada joined the US-led coalition fighting the extremist group in November 2014, adding airstrikes on targets in Syria the following year.

‘Humanity washes ashore’ goes viral as photos capture horror of war, plight of refugees

September 3, 2015 by Nasheman

#KiyiyaVuranInsanlik

A Turkish police officer stands next to the body of the young boy. Photograph: Reuters

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

A series of heartbreaking photos showing a young boy—believed to be a refugee from Syria—washed up on the beach in Turkey after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Greece is being shared and discussed across the world on Wednesday after many media outlets decided to publish the images as a way to confront Europeans—and humanity at large—with a “stark reminder” that “more and more refugees are dying in their desperation to flee persecution and reach safety.”

A Turkish police officer carries a young boy who drowned in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos. Photograph: Reuters

Under the social media hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (which translates from the Turkish as “humanity washes ashore”), the photos have spurred a global outcry surrounding the plight of those families and individuals who have become victims to the “callous indifference” of western nations and what international aid groups have decried as a broken system for the world’s ballooning refugee population.

As the Guardian reports:

The full horror of the human tragedy unfolding on the shores of Europe was brought home on Wednesday as images of the lifeless body of a young boy – one of at least 12 Syrians who drowned attempting to reach the Greek island of Kos – encapsulated the extraordinary risks refugees are taking to reach the west.

The picture, taken on Wednesday morning, depicted the dark-haired toddler, wearing a bright-red T-shirt and shorts, washed up on a beach, lying face down in the surf not far from Turkey’s fashionable resort town of Bodrum.

A second image portrays a grim-faced policeman carrying the tiny body away. Within hours it had gone viral becoming the top trending picture on Twitter under the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (humanity washed ashore).

The two images described can be see here and here. (Warning: these images are graphic and may be distressing to view.)

Though only one young life out of the nearly three thousand people estimated to have died so far this year while attempting to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea, the pictures of the young boy appear to have captured the collective sorrow of those sickened by a world in which children—with or without their families—are forced to face such dangers in order to escape the threats of war and impoverishment that have made their homelands unlivable.

(Editor’s note: Despite agreeing with the sentiment that such images should be seen as a way for the general public to be confronted with the horrors wrought by endless war, a global assault on human rights, and the scourge of poverty and statelessness that results, Common Dreams has decided not to publish the images on our pages given their ubiquity elsewhere and in deference to the unidentified child’s family and anyone who may be needlessly traumatized by viewing such images.)

Responding to the impact the photo was having, Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children, told the Guardian the “tragic image of a little boy who’s lost his life fleeing Syria is shocking and is a reminder of the dangers children and families are taking in search of a better life. This child’s plight should concentrate minds and force the EU to come together and agree to a plan to tackle the refugee crisis.”

Explaining why it published the un-edited photos prominently on its homepage, the UK-based Independent said it made the decision “because, among the often glib words about the ‘ongoing migrant crisis,’ it is all too easy to forget the reality of the desperate situation facing many refugees.”

While dramatic images of desperate refugees “emerge almost every day,” the newspaper continued, “the attitude of Europe’s policymakers and much of the public have continued to harden.”

In an open letter to “anyone who ever talked down the refugee crisis,” the Independent‘s sister publication, i100, went further on the necessity of the general public seeing the photos. Addressed to a cross-section of individuals and groups of people who have framed the plight of refugees seeking asylum in Europe as a “migrant crisis”—specifically [British Prime Minister] David Cameron, Theresa May, Nigel Farage, the Daily Express, protesters in Germany, Katie Hopkins, Philip Hammond, anyone who has ever written a disparaging comment on a Mail Online article, police in Hungary, the governments of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia, the people of Britain, Czech police, tourists in Kos, Tony Abbott, cartoonists, Ukip MEPs and people on Twitter—the letter chastises those who have disparaged and dehumanized those desperate enough to make the journey while “spreading anti-migrant and anti-refugee sentiment” across Europe and beyond. It states:

Some of you have hauled refugees off trains and written numbers on their arms.

Some of you have simply built a wall.

Somehow you’ve lost sight of the simple fact that our fellow humans are in dire need of help, having fled death and destruction in their homelands only to face an even more perilous journey into Europe.

Somehow you’ve stopped seeing refugees, and they are refugees, for what they are, and tried to deny them the assistance they are legally, and morally, entitled to.

But it has to end, and end now. It has to end because people are dying in their thousands, because Europe’s reputation as a champion of human rights is disintegrating, because if we don’t act now we will regret it for the rest of our history.

“Enough is enough,” the letter concluded. “Attitudes have to change. See the human and not the imagined danger that anything is under threat apart from these people’s lives. A refugee crisis unlike any other since the Second World War is unfurling on our doorstep and now is the time to help people who need it the most.”

Despite the distressing and repetitive imagery, the social media conversation surrounding the images continues on Twitter and other platforms.

The state of the right to life in India

August 27, 2015 by Nasheman

The right to life of at least 130,407 persons or 1,086 persons per month violated in India during 2004-2005 and 2013-2014

New Delhi: Releasing the report, The State of the Right to Life in India, the first ever study on the subject, Asian Centre for Human Rights today stated, “The right to life is perhaps the most violated right in India. In the last 10 years from 2004-2005 to 2013-2014, as per official records the right to life of at least 130,407 persons or 1,086 persons per month were violated either by the State agencies or caused by the failure of the State agencies to fulfill their responsibilities to prevent violations by the non-State actors. The majority of the victims are women (80,947) followed by victims of custodial deaths (16,465), encounter deaths (10,900), deaths in police firing (2,527), deaths of 10,219 civilians in militancy/Naxal related violence, deaths in caste related violence (8,138) and deaths in communal violence (1,211).

From 2004-2005 to 2013-2014, this report counts 16,465 cases of custodial death (with 1,389 deaths in police custody, 15,076 deaths in judicial custody and 23 cases of death in the custody of the army and the central paramilitary forces); 10,900 deaths in “encounters” (1,654 deaths involving police and 9,246 deaths involving the armed forces and para-military forces, of which 4,005 in Jammu and Kashmir, 3,650 in the North East and 1,591 in the Naxal affected areas); and 2,527 deaths in police firing.

The State’s failure to safeguard the right to life of individual citizens, particularly those belonging to vulnerable groups, during the same period also resulted in the death of 80,947 women (79,404 dowry killings and 1,543 killings of those suspected of witchcraft); 10,219 civilians in militancy/Naxal related violence; 8,138 (1,646 Scheduled Tribes and 6,492 Scheduled Castes) in identity-related violence; and 1,211 persons in communal violence.

The report states that though the Supreme Court of India has gradually expanded elements of the right to life, it has not been immune from its role to diminish the right to life. The report criticized the Supreme Court for arbitrary imposition of death penalty and stated that the Guidelines to deal with encounter killings which among others barred mandatory registration of FIRs in encounter deaths issued by the Supreme Court on 23 September 2014 in the case of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties & Anr v. State of Maharashtra & Ors are fallacious. The guidelines limited the powers of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) both on reporting of encounter killings by the police and in awarding compensation and has direct bearing on pending case of A.P. Police Officers Association v. A. P .Civil Liberties Committee & Ors [SLP(C) NO. 5933/2009].

The fallacious nature of the Supreme Court judgement in the PUCL case stands exposed from the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on 16 April 2015 to register FIR against the members of the Special Task Force for murder of 20 labourers dubbed as smugglers in a forest in Chittoor district on 7 April 2015.

The report stated that impunity is the root cause for violations of the right to life. In the highly unusual situation that an independent and timely investigation is secured and a chargesheet filed against State security force personnel, prosecution is virtually impossible to pursue since Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) stipulate that prior permission must be sought from the government. There are well-known cases in which prosecution has stopped for want of permission from the government to prosecute the accused.

“Unless impunity is addressed, the violations of the right to life cannot be effectively reduced” – stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.

One in every 122 humans forcibly displaced by war and persecution: UN

June 20, 2015 by Nasheman

New report exposes ‘unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before.’

Refugees and migrants on a fishing boat pictured before making contact with the Italian navy. (Photo: Italian Coastguard/Massimo Sestini)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

As wars and persecution escalate worldwide, one out of every 122 people on the planet is a refugee, seeking asylum, or internally displaced, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported Thursday.

Taken together, this population of humans wrenched from their homes by violence would constitute the 24th largest country in the world.

The agency’s new report, Global Trends: World at War, chronicles what UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres calls “an age of unprecedented mass displacement.” Based on data gathered in 2014, the study documents the harrowing human toll of new wars, resurgent conflicts, and long-term violent displacement.

At least 59.5 million people were violently displaced during 2014, roughly half of them children. This is a dramatic jump from the 51.2 million people displaced in 2013. And these numbers do not include the many people who are displaced by poverty and global economic inequality—meaning that the actual number of people uprooted is far higher.

Displacement has increased four-fold over the past four years, with the conflict in Syria acting as the largest driver of this rise and surging conflicts from the Central African Republic to Yemen to Ukraine also fueling these grim numbers. The uprooted also include the long-term displaced, including people from Afghanistan and Palestine.

Despite the role of rich nations in driving this crisis through increasing militarism, the UN report notes that “the global distribution of refugees remains heavily skewed away from wealthier nations and towards the less wealthy,” with countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Lebanon taking in far more refugees than European nations and the United States.

“Far too many of the world’s richest and most peaceful countries are ignoring their global responsibility to provide assistance and protection,” said secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland, in a press statement responding to the UN’s findings. “They are hiding behind closed borders.”

Western countries are not just closing their borders, however—they are also militarizing them.

As migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe face the rising danger of death at sea, the European Union is rolling back its humanitarian rescue response and replacing it with a militarized one by targeting and attacking alleged networks of smugglers.

In a letter released last month, over 300 slavery and migration scholars asked, “Where is the moral justification for some of the world’s richest nations employing their naval and technological might in a manner that leads to the death of men, women and children from some of the world’s poorest and most war torn regions?”

Speaking to this crisis, Guterres said in a press statement: “We are witnessing a paradigm change, an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before.”

“For an age of unprecedented mass displacement,” Guterres continued, “we need an unprecedented humanitarian response and a renewed global commitment to tolerance and protection for people fleeing conflict and persecution.”

Tripura withdraws AFSPA after 18 years

May 28, 2015 by Nasheman

Chief minister Manik Sarkar says no requirement of the Act now as the insurgency problem has largely been contained

A file photo of Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

Agartala: The Tripura government on Wednesday decided to lift the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from the state, where the controversial law was in effect for the last 18 years to curb insurgency.

Chief minister Manik Sarkar, who is also the home minister of the state said this decision was taken in the meeting of the council of ministers during the day. “We have reviewed the situation of the disturbed areas of the state after every six months and also discussed the issue with the state police and other security forces working in the state.

“They suggested that there is no requirement of the Act now as the insurgency problem has largely been contained. We would soon issue gazette notification in this regard,” Sarkar told reporters.

This Act was imposed in the state on 16 February 1997 following spurt of violence by the ultras. “When the Act was imposed there were only 42 police stations and two-third of the entire police station areas were under this act.

“The number of police station areas at present are 74 and out of 74 police stations 26 police stations were fully and four police stations partly under this Act till recently,” he added.

(PTI)

'Indiscriminate' killing in Gaza was top-down war plan, say Israeli soldiers

May 5, 2015 by Nasheman

Over 60 officers and soldiers who took part in ‘Operation Protective Edge’ anonymously testify about acts they committed or witnessed

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

The “massive and unprecedented harm” inflicted on the population of Gaza during last summer’s 50-day Israeli military assault stemmed from the top of the chain of command, which gave orders to shoot indiscriminately at civilians, according to the anonymous testimony of more than 60 officers and soldiers who took part in “Operation Protective Edge.”

The Israeli group Breaking the Silence, an organization of “Israeli Defense Force” veterans who engaged in combat, on Monday released the 240-page collection of testimony entitled,This is How We Fought in Gaza.

“While the testimonies include pointed descriptions of inappropriate behavior by soldiers in the field,” the report states, “the more disturbing picture that arises from these testimonies reflects systematic policies that were dictated to IDF forces of all ranks and in all zones.”

Breaking the Silence said that the war on Gaza operated under the “most permissive” rules of engagement they have ever seen.

“From the testimonies given by the officers and soldiers, a troubling picture arises of a policy of indiscriminate fire that led to the deaths of innocent civilians,” said Yuli Novak, director of the group, in a press statement. “We learn from the testimonies that there is a broad ethical failure in the IDF’s rules of engagement, and that this failure comes from the top of the chain of command, and is not merely the result of ‘rotten apples.'”

Gaza is one of the most densely-populated places on earth—home to an estimated 1.8 million people, over 60 percent of whom are children under the age of 18. Approximately 2,194 Palestinians were killed in last summer’s attack, at least 70 percent of Palestinians killed in the assault were non-combatants, according to the United Nations. The assault damaged and destroyed critical civilian infrastructure—including houses, shelters, and hospitals—and nearly a year later, hardly any reconstruction has taken place and the civilian population remains strangled by an economic and military siege.

Numerous soldiers said that, during the war, they were told that all people in given areas posed a threat and were ordered to “shoot to kill” every person they spotted.

“The instructions are to shoot right away,” said an anonymous First Sergeant who deployed to Gaza City. “Whoever you spot—be they armed or unarmed, no matter what. The instructions are very clear. Any person you run into, that you see with your eyes—shoot to kill. It’s an explicit instruction.”

Some said they were lied to by their commanders, who told them there were no civilians present.

“The idea was, if you spot something—shoot,” said an anonymous First Sergeant identified in the report as having deployed to the Northern Gaza Strip. “They told us: ‘There aren’t supposed to be any civilians there. If you spot someone, shoot.’ Whether it posed a threat or not wasn’t a question, and that makes sense to me. If you shoot someone in Gaza, it’s cool, no big deal.”

Soldiers testified that thousands of “imprecise” artillery shells were fired into civilian areas, sometimes as acts of revenge or simply to make the military’s presence known. Civilian infrastructure was destroyed on a large scale with no justification, often after an area had already been “cleared,” they said.

“The motto guiding lots of people was, ‘Let’s show them,'” said one Lieutenant who served in Rafah. “It was evident that that was a starting point.”

One Staff Sergeant described perverse and deadly acts committed by soldiers:

During the entire operation the [tank] drivers had this thing of wanting to run over cars – because the driver, he can’t fire. He doesn’t have any weapon, he doesn’t get to experience the fun in its entirety, he just drives forward, backward, right, left. And they had this sort of crazy urge to run over a car. I mean, a car that’s in the street, a Palestinian car, obviously. And there was one time that my [tank’s] driver, a slightly hyperactive guy, managed to convince the tank’s officer to run over a car, and it was really not that exciting– you don’t even notice you’re going over a car, you don’t feel anything – we just said on the two-way radio: “We ran over the car. How was it?” And it was cool, but we really didn’t feel anything. And then our driver got out and came back a few minutes later – he wanted to see what happened – and it turned out he had run over just half the car, and the other half stayed intact. So he came back in, and right then the officer had just gone out or something, so he sort of whispered to me over the earphones: “I scored some sunglasses from the car.” And after that, he went over and told the officer about it too, that moron, and the officer scolded him: “What, how could you do such a thing? I’m considering punishing you,” but in the end nothing happened, he kept the sunglasses, and he wasn’t too harshly scolded, it was all OK, and it turned out that a few of the other company’s tanks ran over cars, too.

While numerous human rights organizations and residents have exposed war crimes committed during last year’s assault on Gaza, this report sheds light on the top-down military doctrine driving specific attacks by ground and air.

One First Sergeant explained that soldiers were taught to indiscriminately fire during training, before their deployments. “One talk I remember especially well took place during training at Tze’elim—before entering Gaza [the Gaza Strip]—with a high ranking commander from the armored battalion to which we were assigned. He came and explained to us how we were going to fight together with the armored forces. He said, ‘We do not take risks, we do not spare ammo—we unload, we use as much as possible.'”

No Israeli soldiers, commanders, or politicians have been held accountable for war crimes, and the Israeli government has resisted international human rights investigations, from Amnesty International to the United Nations.

Breaking the Silence says it “meticulously investigates” testimony to ensure its veracity. The group garnered global media headlines when it launched a report featuring testimony from Israeli soldiers who took part in the 2009 military assault on Gaza known as “Operation Cast Lead.” In that report, soldiers testified about indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including use of chemical weapon white phosphorous.

Fact finding report on the assassination of five Muslim under trial prisoners at Aler Town of Telangana state Of India

April 20, 2015 by Nasheman

by Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee

A fact finding team of Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee comprising Lateef Mohammed Khan, Adv. D. Suresh Kumar, Ashala Srinivas, Kaneez Fathima, Adv. Mandakini, Adv. Greeshma, Adv. Md. Ismail Khan and Charan K.S conducted fact finding from 12th to 14th April 2015 and met the family members of the deceased, visited place of incident, met the police authorities and local people of Aler and surrounding areas as well as journalists who had covered the incident. The team members recorded the statements of all the people to find out the facts as to what actually happened in the Aler police station limits where five under trial prisoners were shot dead by the police personnel of escort party of central prison of wrangle district of Telangana a newly formed state of India.

According to the facts gathered by this team Aler is a town in Nalgonda district of Telangana state and is 77 kms from Hyderabad and 75 km from Warangal. Aler is a rural town and it is famous for Sri Ramachandra Swamy Temple and Jain temple. Aler is connected through road and railway. Aler is a mandal consisting of more than 20 villages. Elected member of Parliament is Dr. Narsaiah Boora and elected member of Legislative Assembly is Gongidi Sunitha Mahender Reddy and they are belongs Telangana Rashtraya Samithi (TRS). Aler police station is in high security zone and one has to go security check to go into the police station. The station house officer is headed by a sub-inspector of Police P. Raghavender. The Aler highway is a double road and very busy; it connects two districts namely Warangal and Nalgonda.

Facts of the case

1. Fact finding team visited the spot of the incident where the escort police of Warangal central prison shot dead the five Muslim under trial prisoners namely Viqar Ahmed, Syed Amjad, Mohd. Zakir, Dr. Mohd. Haneef and Izhar Khan. The place of offence is a remote place adjacent to sub-way which goes towards Kandigadla Tanda, outskirts of Tangatoor village of Aler police station. The trees on the side of the highway road had numbering by the forest officials and the two trees had 398 & 399 number on it and the bus was stopped exactly on this spot. There is also a pit beside this spot and there were blood stains and broken glass of the bus window pane on the road. The local people said that two side roads were blocked i.e. from Warangal towards Hyderabad and vice versa. They were able to reach only after few hours of the incident.

2. As per the police story, “on 17.04.2015 at about 07.55 AM the escort party consisting of RSI Uday Bhaskar and 16 other ranks went to central Prison, Warangal in mini bus No. MP 11/TR E 8217 and took custody of 5 UT prisoners i.e. Md. Jakeer UT No. 1002, Vikar UT o. 1064, Sayed Amjad Ali UT No. 1065, Izar Khan UT No. 1066, Md. Haneef UT No. 1077, to be produced before Honble VII Asst. MSJ Court Nampally, Hyderabad. On the way at about 10.05 hours when the escort vehicle reached out skirts of Tangatur Village UT Prisoner Viqar insisted to stop the vehicle for passing urine, after passing urine and getting into the bus the UT prisoners led Viquar pounced on the police party snatching an INSAS RIFLE by uttering words ‘MAR SALEKU, CHODNA NAHI’, The he opened fire on RSI Uday Bhaskar and party. In self defense police party opened fire resulting in the death of 5 UT prisoners name by Md. Jakeer UT No. 1002, Vikar UT o. 1064, Sayed Amjad Ali UT No. 1065, Izar Khan UT No. 1066, Md. Haneef UT No. 1077.

3. Facts of the Story: As per the sources on 7th April 2015 two kilometer roads were blocked from two sides. The fact is that all the five deceased under trails were handcuffed and chained to their seats as evident from the images and videos of the encounter site. It seems clear that INSAS rifle was placed on their hands after they were shot dead. Rifles were locked and clean without any blood stains on it. No single police officer was injured in the whole incident and a cross firing scene was created by shattering the windows of the mini bus.

The spot where the encounter took place is deserted jungle area it seems unimaginable that an escort party will stop a vehicle in a deserted road to allow a prisoner to take a natures call. The story painted by the police is illogical to say the least.

The fact finding team met the family members of the deceased and came to know the following details:

Father of Viqar Ahmed, Mr. Mohd. Ahmed is a civil engineer. He worked in gulf country for many years; presently he has taken off from services and staying in his own house at Malakpet. He has five children, two sons and three daughters. Viqar was the younger son. This family is educated and well settled. His elder son is also a civil engineer. According to his father, Viqar was 34 years of age and got educated up to B.Com. Viqar was a calm and soft spoken person; he has religious in nature and has concerned for community. He was actively participated in 6th December Rallies organized by DJS. As his father and brother were working in gulf country, Viqar was looking after his female family members while undergoing education in Hyderabad.

Viqar’s father further said that everything was going fine until Makkah

Masjid bomb blast happened and then everything changed in their lives. Viqar’s name was implicated in the Makkah Masjid bomb blast case along with other youth. Then police started arresting and torturing Muslim youth. Due to the fear of police Viqar stopped moving out of the house and one day he disappeared. Then in May 2008, he heard his son’s name in the media that police is associating his name with DJS and blaming him for attack on police picket in the revenge of Makkah Masjid police firing on innocent people. Then he came to know that Ahmedabad police registered a case on his son for the conspiracy to kill Modi. Mr. Ahmed said that he is not aware of his son’s involvement in any crime. The cases which were registered against his son in Hyderabad, trial was going on in these cases, and almost 90 percent of trial had been completed and the charges against his son were not proved till then and in about two more months, the trial was to be completed and there were great chances of his son’s acquittal.

Mr. Ahmed also mentioned that whenever he went to see his son in the jail, he always complained about police torture on the way while returning from the court to the Warangal jail. On this, Viqar’s father had given an appeal to the chief justice of High Court to save the life of his son and order the state government to transfer his son from Warangal jail to Hyderabad. Mr. Ahmed also said that the court had given trial dates from 1st to 10th April. And on 6th April, Viqar complained to the Judge that his life is in danger, the escort police party is using abusing language, provocating and beating him. So he requested the Judge to transfer him to Hyderabad. On this the judge accepted his request and posted this matter to hear on 7th April.

Viqar’s father in a very depressed mood said that, “on 7th April my son could not reach the court and his expression of danger to his life became practical, on the other side we were waiting for him at the court and instead of seeing him at the court, we heard the sad news that my son has been brutally killed by the police”. His father rejected the police story and said that, ‘from 1st April, every day the police used to start from Warangal prison at 10 or 11 AM, but on this particular day i.e. on 7th April, the police started at 8am itself from Warangal central prison, this itself speaks volumes about the ill intention of police towards my son to kill him in cold blooded manner’.

Mr. Ahmed also said further that the person whose trial was going to complete and had full confidence on judiciary that justice will be done, why will he try to snatch the gun. There is no possibility of snatching the gun when his right hand is handcuffed and chained to the seat. He further stated that his son was in judicial custody and it was the responsibility of the judiciary to see that his son reaches safely to the court. At least now the judiciary should fulfill its responsibility to provide justice to his son.

4. Ishrat Banu wife of Dr. Mohd. Haneef stated that her husband was a practicing doctor and running his own clinic in Warsiguda area of Hyderabad. He is survived by one daughter and two sons. On 11th July 2010, at around 11am, policemen in plain clothes came to his clinic, spread a black cloth on his face and took him away in Tata Sumo. That time he was examining his patients. The woman who was cleaning the floor at the clinic saw this and informed his family. Then they searched him in all police stations and complained in one police station about this incident. They also gave complaint to the commissioner of police, home minister, SHRC etc. After three days i.e. on 14th July he was produced in Nampally criminal court. When they visited to see him at Cherlapally jail, he was unable to walk and he told them that he was tortured in 3rd degree, police made him drink urine, beat on feel soles etc. Dr. Haneef’s wife said that he was labeled with the charges of anti-national and giving shelter to Viqar Ahmed.

Ishrat Banu further said that they do not know who Viqar is! Her husband used to go to clinic from 10am to 2pm then come back home, spend time with his children and again from 6pm to 10 or 11pm till the patients visit he used to be at the clinic. Most of his patients were non-Muslims, she said. He never attended any procession or any kind of meeting. Even on 6th December he used to go to his clinic and attend the patients. When his family asked him why he does not close the clinic as it is black day, he used to reply that, ‘black day is for the whole world, but what about my patients, if I don’t go to clinic and give them injections they cannot eat food as they are diabetes patients’. Further his wife said, ‘a person who takes care of people’s lives, has been labeled with the conspiracy of killing Modi and put him behind the bars in 2012. Earlier my husband had participated in providing medical relief at Shah Alam relief camp in Ahmedabad after Gujarat genocide in the year 2002’.

She further stated that on 9th March 2015 he was brought to Cherlapally jail of Hyderabad from Ahmedabad and then shifted to Warangal central prison on 11th March 2015 in high security cell. The court had given dates from 1st to 10th April 2015 for trial and during this period they were daily brought and taken back from Warangal to Hyderabad and everyday they were tortured while going back. When they brought them on 6th April, Dr. Haneef had told his family members that he is feeling something danger to his life because of the escort police party attitude. Ishrat Banu also said that she had great hope that her husband would be shifted to Cherlapally jail as they already had told the judge that they have threat to their lives and the judge had also understood the matter. While weeping she said to us that on 7th April she got to know from the news channels that her husband has been killed by the police and later her lawyer also informed the same. She further said that when they were going to bring the dead body, they were passing through the same way where her husband was shot dead and she wanted to see that place through window but police brought a van in between and ordered the driver to move fast from that place. She also said that till they reached the hospital for her husband’s body, the hospital authorities already had done post mortem without their consent and in a hurried manner the police forced her to sign the papers and moved them from the hospital, the media persons wanted to speak to her but police did not allow them to approach her. Somehow she came along with the body to Hyderabad to perform the last rites; and she said that there were 8 bullet marks on the body, one bullet had pierced from one side of the forehead to the other side, one leg bone was broken, neck and back of the body had torture marks, the back body skin was all torn, and she felt that before killing her husband he might have been tortured severely. She raised the doubt that whether he was shot dead in the bus itself or shot dead somewhere outside and brought and placed him in the bus. She also recollected that once in the court, Viqar had pleaded the judge saying, ‘allegations are on me but the other youth had no connection with me, please leave them’. The other women who are the relatives of Ishrat Banu said that we had participated in Telangana movement, casted our vote in favour of Narsimha Reddy, TRS candidate from the Musheerabad constituency, who is now Home Minister. But why is he silent spectator today.

Mohd Zakir was another under tail prisoner in the same case. He was lodged in chanchalguda jail but on 6th April 2015 he was shifted to warangal prison and on 7th escort police party killed him on the way to Hyderabad. His family doesn’t have any knowledge of shifting of this youth from Hyderabad jail warangal jail. His family is from poor background. They are in shock and much afraid and not in a position to speak

It is necessary to mention here that in the year 2007, 18th May a terror attack in the form of bomb blast took place at Makkah masjid at Charminar during the Friday prayers. Many people died in the blast, hundreds got injured and then immediately after the bomb blast another terror act took place i.e. police firing on the innocent people who had come to pray at the Masjid, and who had come to know about their kin after hearing the news of blast and also those were helping the blast victims. Five people died in the blast and many more died and injured in the indiscriminate police firing. Immediately after the blast a section of police officers with the help of mainstream media blamed the Muslim community for the blasts. In this way, three terror attacks took place on Muslim community i.e. bomb terror, police terror and media terror. Muslims were much angry and they were in shock. Muslim’s political and religious leadership failed to fulfill their responsibility in this time of crisis. By taking the advantage of Muslim leadership silence, police targeted Muslim youth with impunity. At that time of crisis, Civil liberties monitoring committee conducted a fact finding of the whole incident, exposed the facts and initiated the movement against the greater conspiracy of the police to demoralize and create fear psychosis among the Muslim community by arresting the Muslim youth. Its logical end came with the acquittal of the Muslim youth by the court and apology by the then Andhra Pradesh government as well as compensation and issued good character certificate to the youth.

But in fact, it seemed to be the end but not in real sense. On every anniversary of Makkah masjid bomb blast, if anything happened in the city, it was linked with Viqar. But he never admitted these allegations in the court and he always said that it is a big conspiracy against him in which he is struck badly.

Role of Police:

The role of police is inhuman and highly objectionable. It is the practice of Hyderabad police to make fictitious stories on Muslim youth and create an image of terrorist. Then on that name they target and arrest large number of Muslim youth. This has become the trend since 1980s. The latest trend was Viqar, he was the target of police to whom other youth were also associated and killed. The fictitious image and story of Viqar was created by the police and media run that story in such a manner that the image of Viqar and the fictitious story was fixed in the minds of the people. Apart from this police also created a story saying Viqar told them that he wanted to avenge police firing on people and also arrest and torture of Muslim youth in the blast case. Now it is in the minds of the people who is the next target of police?

When the escort police shot dead these five under trial prisoners, Aler police registered a case crime no. 35/2015 against the dead youths under section 307 but refused to register a case against the police personnel involved in the killing, under section 302. Those who are approaching Aler police station including the family members of the deceased with a complaint to register a case under section 302 against escort police officers, local police are misguiding, misleading and confusing them but not registering a case on their complaint. Whereas according to the law police is bound to register an FIR whenever a complaint is lodged in any cognizable offence.

It is pertinent to bring on record Committee also made an endeavor to register a FIR against escort police officers by giving a written complaint to Aler PS. But in return SHO Aler PS registered our complaint in the already existing case of crime no. 35/2015 which is actually a 307 case booked against the slain youths. Moreover in the pretext of accepting our complaint SHO also issued a notice under section 160 of CrPC asking us to visit again to record our statement in existing police case, which committee has nothing do off. This is nothing but a bullying tactic by the police against general public to discourage them from setting criminal law into motion against guilty police officers.

We came to know that the station house officer P. Raghavender, SI has previously worked in old city of Hyderabad i.e. at Moghulpura police station and also in special task force and he is posted in Aler PS just six months back.

Here the police instead of working as per the law, entire police personnel of Telangana government came for the defense of killer police gang and using all their sources and mounting pressure on the government of Telangana not to take any action against the police personnel those who are involved in the killing.

Role of political class:

It is common practice of the political class that they always ignore the arrest, detention, custodial deaths and encounter killings of Muslims. They are always afraid that if they speak out, they will lose their Hindu vote bank and they also think that their contact with the ruling party may become unpleasant. So they carefully take steps in these matters. The discrimination of political class is clearly exposed in this incident of cold blooded murder of five under trial Muslim prisoners. Telangana state is under the rule of TRS party led by K. Chandrasekhar Rao who is also the Chief Minister and Mahmood Ali deputy chief minister of Telangana. These two responsible persons have not opened their mouth till date. This state has become a police state and it seems that Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have become sub-ordinates to the police personnel. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana state who had given assurances to the Muslim community during the Telangana movement, has now turned off his face and playing in the hands of police. The formation of SIT for investigation is a big joke with the community and this G.O. mentions the term “terror operatives”. This itself shows the seriousness of the government towards the investigation of the cold blooded murder of five Muslim under trial prisoners. The gravity of human rights violations can be imagined by seeing the killing of five Muslim prisoners by planting a false story.

The opposition party Congress thought it better to be silent in this matter. When our committee reminded Mr. Digvijay Singh Senior leader of congress party, why the Congress party is maintaining silence in the state of Telangana, he replied that the party has been issued the direction in this issue. But this committee came to know from the senior leaders of congress that Congress does not want to lose Hindu votes by talking on this issue. And now the corporation elections are also nearby. MIM and its alliance MUF are playing very safely and their tone is not so powerful and demanding. They are very submissive to KCR and the people are stun as to why the Muslim political class has become so helpless, weak and bounded they are unable to built pressure on the government to fulfill the demands.

Role of Media:

Whoever the Fact finding committee met, all of them expressed their anger on Media and clearly said that media is playing a communal card only to increase the TRP ratings and to attract their Hindu viewers. The victims’ families, the common people of the Muslim community, intellectuals and students of various universities raised the question as to how can the media conduct trial and come on conclusion that a person is a terrorist. Generally now the people are thinking that whenever a Muslim name comes, it is tagged with the term terrorist and it is very easy for the state, police and media to target Muslims by labeling terrorist. Especially Telugu media run the stories and conduct the trial 24×7. The victims’ families clearly said it is only because of this media that we lost our men and in our presence one media person from TV9 came to speak to Viqar’s father but he denied speaking to him and said that, ‘TV9 has destroyed my son’s life, I will never forgive them in my life’.

Role of Judiciary:

This committee during its fact finding mission met the lawyers and advocates of the under trial prisoners. They said that each time they had pleaded to the courts that their clients have threat to their lives. But judges did not take it seriously. Viqar’s father had submitted a petition to the chief justice of Andhra Pradesh to protect the life of his son and shift him from Warangal to Hyderabad jail. But chief justice of Andhra Pradesh simply ignored this petition. We came to know that on 6th April Viqar himself had submitted an appeal in written form to the court shift him to Hyderabad from Warangal saying his life is in danger and the escort party might kill him any time and the judge had agreed to hear it on 7th April. The family members of the deceased said that if at all the courts had taken this appeal seriously in the starting itself, and then their lives would have been saved. The family members asked this committee that their men were in judicial custody and police killed all these youth, then why the same court did not ask these police men as to where are the men who were in the judicial custody? Why the same court did not order the enquiry/investigation?

The lawyers are trying to approach the High Court asking to conduct enquiry after registering 302 case on the policemen. For this purpose they were going through the earlier judgments of Supreme Court, National Human Rights Commission guidelines on custodial killings, but they found it very strange that no where it is mentioned clearly to register case under section 302 on the policemen involved in the killing. Even the Supreme Court judgment which came in 2014 is very vague.

Observations:

1. The fact finding team observed that the Aler spot is the suitable place for carrying out extra judicial killing operation and the level of impunity is such extent it seems to be the Story of encounter given with the intention to let know the general public that the encounter was indeed fake and police can get away with it any time.

2. It is clearly observed that conspiracy can be seen behind this killing which was carried out in a well planned manner.

3. It seems that the top brass of Telangana police hatched the conspiracy and got permission from the head of the government to execute the plan.

4. It is observed that the police started journey from Warangal to Hyderabad at 8 am itself, so that they can carry the operation in the early hours; whereas generally they started journey at around 11am.

5. The escort police party Chief Uday Bhaskar, Reserve Sub Inspector of Warangal made a statement and registered a complaint at Aler police station, and has many loopholes which clearly indicates that the story is concocted and filmy script.

6. Family members had apprehensions from starting itself that their kin are not safe. Even the under trial prisoners mentioned many times orally and in writing that they have threat to their lives.

7. These youth were arrested in the year 2010 at Hyderabad with the allegations that they attacked the police personnel in the revenge of Makkah Masjid police firing. But the same youth were implicated in Gujarat cases of conspiracy to kill Modi. This has become a routine matter to implicate the Muslim youth in the conspiracy or anti national cases. Later they are killed in encounter.

8. From the family members statements it is clear that the youth were tortured after they were arrested and also tortured while returning back from the court to Warangal central prison.

9. The post mortem of the deceased was not conducted according to the NHRC guidelines. As per the family members there were many torture marks all over the body and to hide this, the police in a hurried manner asked the hospital authorities to conduct postmortem as soon as possible.

10. We can see the nexus between the different departments of the government in killing the five under trial prisoners and carrying out post mortem.

11. The terror operation that started against the Muslim community in the year 2007 it is still continuing. And the Muslim community is under target by the state terrorism, Hindutva terrorism and media terrorism.

12. Political parties’ discrimination is clearly visible in the encounter killing of Muslim youth under trial prisoners. The same political parties are condemning the Sesachalam encounter killings but they are hesitating to speak on Aler fake encounter.

13. Role of police is completely inhuman, they are misinforming, misguiding the entire civil society and the Aler SHO is misleading the investigation by stating that they have already registered a case under section 307.

14. Branding the Muslim youth as Terrorists and killing them in encounter has become common practice of Indian police and particularly Hyderabadi police is more perfect and they have specialization on implicating and killing of Muslim youth.

15. Muslim leadership failed to tackle the situation and is saying that all the atrocities and brutalities are happening on Muslims due to the formation of Telangana. It seems that this statement is given to wash off their hands from their responsibilities towards the community.

16. K. Chandrasekhar Rao who is the Chief Minister of Telangana is maintaining silence on the brutal killing of Muslim youth. This silence gives the impression that he was well aware of this cold blooded murder of five under trial Muslim prisoners. It also indicates that he wants to be close with the Modi government and induct his daughter in Modi’s cabinet. That is why these five Muslim youth who had the allegation of conspiracy to kill Modi, are killed.

17. The mindset of the state is itself communal, which is visible by the term “terror operatives” used in the G.O. by the Chief Secretary of Telangana government which formed SIT to investigate this issue.

18. Every civilized person of the society feel that media is playing irresponsible role and those who are running the media houses do not have journalistic values. All these media are labeling and calling these youth as terrorists, this is a very grave inhuman act as the dead bodies cannot speak and defend themselves. People believe that due to the media trial these five Muslim under trial prisoners lost their lives. Victims’ family members are holding media responsible for cold blooded murder of five Muslim under trial prisoners.

19. These five youth were in the judicial custody. Whenever there is a person in Judicial custody it is the responsibility of the judiciary to protect their life, but even after many pleadings to the judge and also sent applications to the chief justice , judiciary failed to protect the under trial prisoners. It was a grave negligence and after the death of these youth, there is no clear direction of Supreme Court as to what case should be registered on the police personnel. This committee strongly feels that judicial procedure system is under impunity.

20. Aler police registered a case under section 307 of IPC i.e. attempt to murder against the under trail prisoners who were killed by the escort police party, but not registering the case u/s 302 IPC against police personal who killed these handcuffed and tied with chained under trails prisoners. Common people are saying that how can police registered a case on dead person and how this dead person can defend himself.

Conclusion:

Five youth who were in the judicial custody, hand cuffed, and tied with chain were killed by the police while bringing them to the court of law. These are cold blooded political murder with a intention to send a message to the Muslim community. The story planted by the top brass of police is nothing but a bundle of lies and it seems that high level police officers already planned the killing of five youths to send the message to the Muslim community that their lives are based on the mercy of the police. It is a clear act of suppression. In this killing a particular mind set is working and it seems the Telangana police are completely under the influence of fascist mindset.

Five Muslim youths who were in the judicial custody, hand cuffed and chained were killed by the police ruthlessly and in cold blooded manner while bringing them to the court of law. The story planted by the top brass of police is nothing but a bundle of lies and it appears that high level police officers already planned a conspiracy for the killing of five youths and they have selected these particular under trail prisoners, to send the message to the Muslim community that their lives are based on the mercy of the state. It is a clear act of suppression. In this killing a particular mind set has been emerged in full-fledged manner and it is fascist mindset of state of Telangana government led by K.chandershaker Rao the chief Minister of Telangana state. The Telangana police are working completely under the influence of fascist mindset. By going through the facts and figure It seem that state has given free hands and license to the police to suppress them in the name of fight against terrorism. There is total impunity given on police brutalities in Telangana State. The cold blooded murder of five muslim under trail prisoners are actually is the target killing is nothing but political murder and community has termed it as “Assassination” of five under trail political prisoners. This program of targeted killing without prove of charge or trial, violates the constitutional guarantee of due process and it also violates international law. Because of this state sponsored assassination there is unrest found in people belonging to all quarters and they are thinking that “Right to life is in danger and more particular prisoner’s life is on stake.”

Demands:

The committee holds the chief minister of Telangana morally responsible for the Assassination of five Muslim under trail prisoners and administratively responsible for not fulfilling his responsibility and assurances given during the Telangana movement and election manifesto. Hence the committee demands the resignation of the chief minister Telangana Mr.K.chandershekhar Rao.

Prosecution should be launched against those policemen who opened fire on under trail prisoners.

The investigation should be immediately handed over to credible judicial authority.

Lateef Mohammed Khan, G. Secretary. CLMC

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee. India
Amberpet, Hyderabad, A.P, India – 500013
Phone: 09391051586, 09347853843Fax: 040-27427860
Email: clmci@hotmail.com Website: www.civillibertiesindia.org

World Bank-funded projects fueling land grabs, displacement of global poor

April 18, 2015 by Nasheman

Despite mission of ending poverty, new report shows destructive legacy of World Bank projects across the planet

Joseph Kilimo Chebet, a father of five, standing next to the burned remains of his homestead in Kenya, destroyed only hours prior by Kenya Forest Service officers. (Photo: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

The World Bank regularly broke its own promises to protect Indigenous rights around the globe by funding projects that displaced or threatened the livelihood of millions of the most vulnerable people on the planet, a new investigation has found.

Evicted and Abandoned, a joint report published Thursday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and several other outlets, found that a slew of World Bank-funded projects—including dams and power plants—have pushed 3.4 million people out of their homes or off their lands around the world since 2004.

ICIJ reviewed more than 6,000 World Bank documents and interviewed former and current employees and government officials who were involved in Bank-funded projects and found that in many cases, the World Bank violated its own internal policies and ignored evictions caused by its projects. The organization also did little to ensure the safety or livelihood of those who were resettled, in many cases not providing them with new housing or job prospects, as required.

“There was often no intent on the part of the governments to comply—and there was often no intent on the part of the bank’s management to enforce,” said Navin Rai, a former World Bank official who was responsible for the organization’s protection of Indigenous people from 2000 to 2012. “That was how the game was played.”

Between 2009 and 2013, World Bank Group lenders invested $50 billion in projects—like oil pipelines, mines, and dams—that were most likely to have “irreversible or unprecedented” social or climate impacts, such as physical or economic displacements, which have been shown to “rip apart kinship networks and increase risks of illness and disease,” according to the report.

“Resettled populations are more likely to suffer unemployment and hunger, and mortality rates are higher,” the report states.

Moreover, the World Bank and its private-sector lending arm, the International Finance Corp., sometimes bankrolled regimes and companies that were accused of human rights violations including rape, murder, and torture, the report found. In some cases, the lenders continued to finance the operations even after evidence of such abuses emerged.

In Ethiopia, one initiative which was focused on health and education led to land grabs which involved violent mass evictions. Authorities there diverted millions of dollars from a World Bank project to fund those forced resettlements, and in 2011, soldiers who were responsible for carrying out the evictions killed at least seven people and targeted villagers for beatings and rape, according to the report.

The World Bank Inspection Panel found that the organization had failed to acknolwedge an “operational link” between its Ethiopian initiative and the mass eviction campaign—an oversight that violated the World Bank’s own rules.

In Nigeria, a Bank-funded project to improve water supplies, roads, and power in Lagos resulted in the eviction of nearly 2,000 slum-dwellers in Badia East, the report found. After Badia East residents sounded the alarm to the inspection panel, chairwoman Eimi Watanabe refused to open an investigation, instead urging them to negotiate with the Lagos state government, which gave out small sums of money as compensation. The panel then reportedly closed the case because of “the progress made and speedy provision of compensation to displaced people.”

Through its projects in those countries, as well as in Albania, Brazil, Honduras, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Kosovo, Peru, Serbia, South Sudan, and Uganda, the World Bank “[failed] to protect people moved aside in the name of progress,” the report found.

“In these countries and others, the investigation found, the bank’s lapses have hurt urban slum dwellers, hardscrabble farmers, impoverished fisherfolk, forest dwellers and indigenous groups—leaving them to fight for their homes, their land and their ways of life, sometimes in the face of intimidation and violence,” the report reads.

ICIJ’s report comes as the World Bank is increasing its call for projects that require forced resettlements. On Friday, the bank will begin its yearly Spring Meetings with the International Monetary Fund, where new policies will be considered. Some of the organization’s officials have expressed doubt over what the bank has called its “strongest, most state-of-the-art environmental and social safeguards,” but which critics say give foreign governments room to avoid complying with the bank’s standards.

Ahead of the meetings, a coalition of more than 260 global NGOs, farmer groups, and trade unions is publicly posing three questions to the bank about its role in the land grabs, as well as “climate destruction and the corporatization of agriculture.”

Those questions include:

Why have you not spoken to farmers before promoting massive agriculture-reform programs?
Why are you rewarding countries that cede their power and wealth to foreign corporations, while punishing those who spend on the health and wellbeing of their populations?
Why are you prioritizing farming models that destroy the environment and impoverish people, over those that work in harmony with the environment and are already feeding the world?

In a joint letter to the World Bank published Wednesday, 85 NGOs urged the organization to address the “numerous and serious failings of the safeguards system” and solve its “deep-seated fundamental flaws… by identifying the people who have been displaced by bank-financed projects and providing them with genuine sustainable development opportunities through a series of new grant-funded projects.”

Among the signatories are Human Rights Watch, Oxfam International, and the Africa Law Foundation, as well as Raquel Rolnik, former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing.

The report’s findings are “deeply troubling,” the letter reads. “While it is important that the review of Bank-financed projects was undertaken and finally published, the lack of transparency demonstrated by the Bank in concealing the Review’s findings—for three years in the case of part one and nine months in the case of part two—is unacceptable for a public institution.”

ICIJ and Huffington Post will feature stories, photographs, and videos of these resettlements on a microsite hosted by the Huffington Post, beginning Thursday, April 16.

Chittoor firing: HC orders fresh post-mortem of 5 victims

April 17, 2015 by Nasheman

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court today ordered fresh autopsies for another five victims of the police firing in Seshachalam forests of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh state on April 7. Yesterday it had ordered fresh post-mortem of victim Sasi Kumar, a Tamil Nadu-based labourer, upon his wife’s application. The division bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar passed the direction today after relatives of five more victims (out of the 20 people who were killed) moved the court seeking fresh autopsies.

The “re-post-mortem” was sought with the accusation that the firing incident was a “brutual and planned murder” by the Special Task Force (STF) of Andhra Pradesh Police. Yesterday, the high court had directed the Andhra Pradesh government to conduct fresh autopsy on the body of Sasi Kumar in response to the application filed by his wife Muniyammal. Her counsel had sought fresh autopsies for five others too, but the court declined to pass order, as the relatives concerned had not approached the court.

Muniyammal’s lawyer, advocate K Balu, today filed similar applications on behalf of the kin of five deceased — wives of four victims and another’s mother. The high court also ordered teams of medical experts from either Osmania Hospital or Gandhi Hospital (both state-run institutions here) to fly to Chennai to conduct the re-postmortem of the five bodies.

All the six bodies, including that of Sasi Kumar, are being kept at a government hospital in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu. The judges also directed the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu to ensure safety of the medical teams. Their reports should be submitted in a sealed cover to the court on Monday, they said.