Human rights – Page 5

Move to decriminalise suicide raises hope for Irom Sharmila's release

December 11, 2014 by Nasheman

Imphal: The central government’s move to decriminalise attempt to suicide has ushered in new hope for release of Manipur’s rights activist Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has been fasting for over 14 years.

The human rights fraternity of the northeastern state is now planning to move the court for release of Sharmila, better known as the “Iron Lady of Manipur”, who has been fasting since November 2000 to demand repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers’ Act (AFSPA).

Sharmila’s brother Irom Shinghajit expressed his happiness over the decision, saying this would help Sharmila get out of the jail and will boost their movement against the AFSPA.

Manipur-based rights activist Babloo Loitongbam said: “We are going to move court soon for necessary orders. The central government’s decision has removed criminal tinge from the Sharmila’s movement, we have been saying that her movement is a political one.”

Sharmila decided to sit for indefinite fast after the Assam Rifles killed 10 civilians at Malom in Imphal.

A court in August observed that the “charge of attempt to commit suicide was wrongly framed against the petitioner (Sharmila)” and asked the state government to release her immediately.

However, she was re-arrested within 48 hours of her release. Justifying her re-arrest, Manipur Police said Sharmila was re-arrested on charges of attempt to commit suicide under Section 309 of the IPC.

Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that the government has decided to decriminalise “attempt to suicide” by deleting section 309 of the Indian Penal Code from the statute book.

The AFSPA, which covers large parts of northeastern India and Kashmir, gives security forces sweeping powers to search, enter property and shoot-on-sight and is seen by critics as cover for human rights abuses.

(IANS)

Women with disabilities locked away and abused

December 8, 2014 by Nasheman

End Forced Institutionalization, Sexual and Physical Violence, Involuntary Treatment

A resident sits on the floor in the women’s ward of Thane Mental Hospital, a 1,857-bed facility in the suburbs of Mumbai.
© 2013 Shantha Rau Barriga/Human Rights Watch

by HRW

New Delhi: Women and girls with disabilities in India are forced into mental hospitals and institutions, where they face unsanitary conditions, risk physical and sexual violence, and experience involuntary treatment, including electroshock therapy. As one woman put it, they are “treated worse than animals.”

In a new report released today, Human Rights Watch found that women forcibly admitted to government institutions and mental hospitals suffer grave abuses and called for the government to take prompt steps to shift from forced institutional care to voluntary community-based services and support for people with disabilities.

“Women and girls with disabilities are dumped in institutions by their family members or police in part because the government is failing to provide appropriate support and servaices,” said Kriti Sharma, researcher at Human Rights Watch. “And once they’re locked up, their lives are often rife with isolation, fear, and abuse, with no hope of escape.”

The Indian government should immediately order inspections and regular monitoring of all residential facilities – private and government-run – for women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities, Human Rights Watch said. India should also take steps to ensure people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities can make decisions about their lives and receive treatment on the basis of informed consent.

The 106-page report, “‘Treated Worse than Animals’: Abuses against Women and Girls with Psychosocial or Intellectual Disabilities in Institutions in India,” documents involuntary admission and arbitrary detention in mental hospitals and residential care institutions across India, where women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities experience overcrowding and lack of hygiene, inadequate access to general healthcare, forced treatment – including electroconvulsive therapy – as well as physical, verbal, and sexual violence. In one case, a woman with both intellectual and psychosocial disabilities was sexually assaulted by a male staff member in a mental hospital in Kolkata. The report also examines the multiple barriers that prevent women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities from reporting abuses and accessing justice.

The Indian government should pursue urgent legal reforms, including amending two bills currently before parliament, to address these abuses and protect the rights of women and girls with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, Human Rights Watch said.

The report analyzes the situation of women and girls with disabilities in six cities across India. Research was conducted from December 2012 through November 2014 in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Mysore, and is based on more than 200 interviews with women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities, their families, caretakers, mental health professionals, service providers, government officials, and the police. Human Rights Watch visited 24 mental hospitals or general hospitals with psychiatric beds, rehabilitation centers, and residential care facilities.

There are no clear official government records or estimates of the prevalence of psychosocial or intellectual disabilities in India. The 2011 census estimates that only 2.21 percent of the Indian population has a disability – including 1.5 million people (0.1 percent of the population) with intellectual disabilities and a mere 722,826 people (0.05 percent of the population) with psychosocial disabilities (such as schizophrenia or bipolar condition). These figures are strikingly lower than international estimates by the United Nations and World Health Organization which estimate that 15 percent of the world’s population lives with a disability. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare claims much higher percentage of the Indian population is affected by psychosocial disabilities with 6-7 percent (74.2 – 86.5 million) affected by “mental disorders” and 1-2 percent (12.4 – 24.7 million) by “serious mental disorders.”

India’s government launched the National Mental Health Programme in 1982 to provide community-based services, but its reach is limited and implementation is seriously flawed in the absence of monitoring mechanisms. The District Mental Health Programme is only present in 123 of India’s 650 districts and faces a number of limitations including lack of accessibility and manpower, integration with primary healthcare services, and lack of standardized training.

In a country where gender-based discrimination is pervasive, women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities in particular face multiple layers of discrimination – on account of their disability and gender – and are thus among the most marginalized and vulnerable to abuse and violence. Often shunned by families unable to take care of them, many end up forcibly institutionalized. The process for institutionalizing women and men in India is the same. But women and girls with disabilities face unique challenges – including sexual violence and denial of access to reproductive health – that men do not.

“Without appropriate community support and a lack of awareness, people with psychosocial disabilities are ridiculed, feared, and stigmatized in India,” Sharma said.

Families, legal guardians, and child welfare committees can admit women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities to institutions without their consent. If found wandering in the streets, they may also be picked up by the police and admitted to these institutions through court orders. If no family member comes to take them home, they can often stay there for decades. None of the women and girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch currently or formerly living in institutions were admitted with their consent. Among the 128 cases of institutional abuse that Human Rights Watch documented, none of the women or girls had successfully been able to access redress mechanisms for being institutionalized against their will or facing abuse within the institution. Most of the women and girls interviewed were not even aware of mechanisms for redress.

“Long-term warehousing of women and girls with disabilities is simply not the answer,” Sharma said. “Even in the most serious cases, there are ways to find out what kind of services they want.”

In some of the facilities visited by Human Rights Watch, overcrowding and lack of hygiene were a serious concern. For instance, as of November 2014, close to 900 people live in Asha Kiran, a government institution for people with intellectual disabilities in Delhi – nearly three times the hospital’s capacity. In Pune Mental Hospital, the superintendent, Dr. Vilas Bhailume, told Human Rights Watch: “We only have 100 toilets for more than 1,850 patients – out of which only 25 are functional; the others keep getting blocked. Open defecation is the norm.”

Human Rights Watch documented cases of 20 women and 11 girls who are currently or were recently given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) without their consent in 4 mental hospitals. Vidya [not her real name], a 45-year-old woman with a psychosocial disability, was institutionalized by her husband and underwent ECT for months. “ECT was like a death tunnel,” she told Human Rights Watch. “I would get a headache for days…. When my medication was reduced, I started asking questions. Til then I was like a vegetable. It was only many months later that I found out that I was being given ECT.”

India ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007. Under the treaty, governments must respect and protect the right to legal capacity of people with disabilities and their right to live in the community on an equal basis as others. Forced institutionalization is prohibited. However, India’s laws allow courts to appoint guardians to take decisions on behalf of people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities, without the their free and informed consent, and India perpetuates a healthcare system where people with such disabilities are segregated in institutions instead of having access to support and services in the community.

In an attempt to bring its national legislation in line with the CRPD, in 2013, the government has introduced two bills in parliament, the Mental Health Bill and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill. However, they do not fully guarantee women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities the right to legal capacity and the right to independent living, as required by the treaty.

The central government in India should immediately order an evaluation and take steps to end abusive practices and inhumane conditions in mental hospitals and state and NGO-run residential care institutions by organizing effective monitoring of such facilities, Human Rights Watch said. India should further undertake without delay a comprehensive legal reform to abolish guardianship and recognize the legal capacity of all persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, while developing a comprehensive, time-bound plan to develop alternatives to long-term residential-based care. The few local community support and independent living initiatives available in India are run by NGOs, such as Anjali: Mental Health Rights Organization (Kolkata), The Banyan (Chennai), Bapu Trust for Research on Mind and Discourse (Pune) and Iswar Sankalpa (Kolkata).

“India has an opportunity to move away from a system of isolation and abuse and instead build a system of support and independence,” Sharma said. “The lives of millions of women with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities are at stake.”

Ten cases under AFSPA you should know about

November 18, 2014 by Nasheman

Photo: V. Sudershan, The Hindu

by Ravi Nitesh

As recently, a court martial awarded life term to 7 persons of Indian army after a court of inquiry in Machil encounter case. The infamous draconian act Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the impunity that it grants to security forces under which no prosecution can be held in any civil court without a prior sanction from Government of India has made the security forces a big hub for human rights violations. Besides Machil, there are many more cases, named and unnamed that need attention of government and judiciary because these cases are infamous for the atrocities performed by security forces.

Here are few infamous cases, listed about which we all should know, in view of our sensitization towards human rights and how there are difficulties in ascertaining the punishment to security personals who are surviving with impunity. It is also evident that these atrocities are still continued. Though here are the selected cases only, there are hundreds and thousands of cases like these where human rights violations reported in areas where AFSPA is imposed (North East region and J&K).

Operation Blue Bird (Oinam, Bishunpur District, Manipur): Operation Blue Bird was launched in 11 th July 1987 at Oinam of Manipur, where more than 30 naga villages covered and human rights violations including torture and even extrajudicial killings were done in addition to sexual harassment, theft and loot by security personals. In a petition filed by NPMHR, it was reported that many houses were burnt and dismantled, many women were tortured and people got killed in fake encounters. This operation was done for many days, whole area was kept isolated and in jailed condition where even civil administrative authorities were not permitted to move in. Cases were filed in courts, even registrar of a high court was denied to move in to record the statements, but so far nothing happened.

Kunan Poshpora (Kupwara District, J&K): On 23 rd February 1991, a search operation was conducted by Indian army in Kunan Poshpora village of Kupwara district. During this search operation, around 100 women including pregnant women were allegedly raped by army persons in front of villagers. No clear inquiry was made by government. Later in the year 2014, the police officer who first visited the village to record testimony told that he was threatened many times to not to make report public. Government tried its best to make this case as ‘baseless’ and on the other hand, Chief Justice of J&K high court in his findings told that he never saw such a case where even normal investigative procedures were ignored. A case is still running in Supreme Court of India on this issue.

Bijbehra firing (Anantnag district, J&K): On 22 October 1993, approximate 35 civilians got killed when BSF fired upon crowd during a protest. It was alleged that firing was unprovoked and done while the protest was peaceful. Magistrate inquiry and NHRC findings marked that the firing was unprovoked. J&K High Court also accepted the reports and findings and ordered for compensation to victims and their families. It is not clear if the case against BSF personals was sent to grant sanction for prosecution, but till now no such prosecution was done.

Malom (Imphal District, Manipur): It was 2 nd November 2000, when at Malom, a place near Imphal, Assam Rifles fired upon 10 persons at a bus stand and they got killed. In these persons, even a 60 year old lady and 18 year old bravery award winner also got killed. This case sparked the anger in Manipur. Protest was organized. Irom Sharmila started her fast with demand to repeal the act AFSPA. However, still nothing happened.

Pathribal (Anantnag district, J&K): On 25 th March 2000, at Pathribal in J&K, 5 civilians were picked up by Rashtriya Rifles and allegedly made as ‘foreign militants’ and as the main accused persons who were responsible for Chhatisinghpura case. Local people protest against this and calimed that these were civilians and were not involved in any such activity. Initially, no case was lodged as defined with the impunity granted under AFSPA but later when protest erupts, CBI was asked to investigate the case. CBI in its investigation submitted report and found guilty a Brigadier, a Lt Col, two majors and a subedar of 7 Rashtriya Rifles for a staged encounter where civilians were picked up from Anantnag district . These encounters were told as ‘cold blooded murders’. Supreme Court of India, with findings of CBI told Indian army in the year 2011 for court martial, (as sanction for prosecution under civilian law could not be provided under AFSPA) , however after two years army closed the case with no actions on accused personals.

Manorama Killing (Imphal Distrcit, Manipur): It was the night of 10 th July 2004, when Assam Rifles went to house of Manorama at Imphal, Manipur at night, tortured her at her house before her brother and mother, then picked her up. In the morning, dead body was found at Ngariyan Yairipok road with bullets injuries in her private parts. Massive protest was organized by people, even the infamous naked protest also happened but case under criminal charges could not be lodged. A local judicial inquiry was done but report was not made public. A PIL in Supreme Court of India is still going on but no verdict has been awarded yet.

Shopian Case (Shopian district, J&K): on 29 th May 2009 in Shopian (J&K), two women named Aasia (age approx 17) and Neelofar (age approx 22) went missing from their orchard on their way back to home. Their dead bodies found on next day morning. People alleged it as murder and rape by security forces who were camped nearby. Initially, no FIR was lodged and police told that postmortem report cleared injuries over private parts. However people believed that police report about postmortem is fake, protests were continued by people and later J&K govt formed a judicial panel. Under judicial inquiry, Forensic lab report established the gang rape of both the women. Besides few suspension and transfers from police department, nothing has happened in this case.

Mass Graves in J&K: In the year 2008-09, mass graves of approximate 3000 unmarked persons were found in Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara and other districts. It was believed that most of these graves may belong to people who has been killed and buried by security personals without any accountability under AFSPA. It was also believed that there may be persons who are reported as ‘disappeared’, as thousands of cases of disappearances are recorded. State Human Rights Commission confirmed that thousands of bullet ridden bodies buried in unmarked graves. Some 500 bodies are identified as ‘locals’ and not the ‘foreign militants’ as it was told by security agencies. In spite of all cry and hue by human rights organizations and local people, no concrete action has been taken yet from the side of government.

Machil Encounter (Kupwara district, J&K): On 30 th April 2010, three civilians of Baramulla (J&K) were shot by Indian army at Machil sector in Kupwara district of J&K and were framed as ‘foreign militants’. However, later with the protest and inquiry, it was established that these persons were civilians and were called by army to provide them jobs of porters and later were killed in a staged encounter. With the protest that erupted all over J&K as an anger of people and force used to suppress the protests, as many as 110 lives of civilians lost in the whole summer unrest of the year 2010. Indian army in its inquiry found them guilty and in November 2014 sentenced life imprisonment to two officers and five soldiers in the court martial for being guilty. It was told that these army personals murdered these civilians, painted their face black, had put the guns and told them ‘foreign militants’ to get rewards and remunerations under ‘anti-militancy operations.’

1528 cases of extra judicial killings: In a write petition filed in Supreme Court of India (SCI), it was told that during May 1979 to May 2012 , approximate 1528 cases belongs to extra judicial killings. Supreme Court picked 6 random cases from the list and formed a high power commission under Justice (retd) Santosh Hegde and two others members to inquire about these 6 cases. Commission submitted its report to SCI stated that all 6 cases are found cases of fake encounters where no criminal records found for these persons who got killed. Case is still in SCI.

Ravi Nitesh is a Petroleum Engineer, Founder- Mission Bhartiyam, Core Member- Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign. Follow on twitter: www.twitter.com/ravinitesh Blog: www.ravinitesh.blogspot.com

An innocent man, tortured by the US, asks the UN: Where's the accountability?

November 13, 2014 by Nasheman

by Dan Froomkin, The Intercept

U.S. officials are in for a serious grilling on Wednesday as they get hauled before the U.N. Committee against Torture and questioned about about a multitude of ways in which the U.S. appears to be failing to comply with the anti-torture treaty it ratified 20 years ago.

As Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU Human Rights Program noted on Monday:

This marks the first U.N. review of the United States’ torture record since President Obama took office in 2009, and much is at stake. The review will test the pledges President Obama made to reverse disastrous Bush-era policies that led to gross violations of human rights, like torture, secret and incommunicado detention, “extraordinary renditions,” unfair trials, and more. It is also likely to examine practices that emerged or became entrenched during Obama’s time in office, such as indefinite detention at Guantánamo, immigration detention and deportations, and the militarization of the police, as witnessed by the world during this summer’s events in Ferguson.

The ACLU’s “shadow report” to the committee is a profoundly grim indictment of the nation’s failure to live up to its principles.

And although Obama claims to oppose torture, the New York Times recently reported that he could well fail another key test of his sincerity by reaffirming the Bush administration’s position that the international Convention Against Torture imposes no legal obligation on the U.S. to bar cruelty outside its borders.

Obama has already flouted the convention’s requirement that member states hold torturers accountable. I have long argued that his failure there has been particularly profound.

U.S. non-governmental agencies were allowed to address the U.N. committee today, and Murat Kurnaz (pictured above), who was tortured and detained by the U.S. at Kandahar and then Guantanamo over a period of five years, traveled to Geneva with his attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights Legal Director Baher Azmy. He made the following statement:

Good afternoon. My name is Murat Kurnaz. I am a Turkish citizen who was born and raised in Bremen, Germany, where I currently live. I spent five years of my life in detention in Kandahar and Guantanamo Bay from 2001-2006.My story is like many others. In 2001, while traveling in Pakistan, I was arrested by Pakistani police and sold to the U.S. military for a $3,000 bounty. In Kandahar, the U.S. military subjected me to electric shocks, stress positions, simulated drowning, and endless beatings. In Guantanamo, there was also psychological torture—I was stripped of my humanity, treated like an animal, isolated from the rest of the world, and did not know if I would ever be released.

Even though my lawyers proved that the U.S. knew of my innocence by 2002, I was not released until 2006. I lost five years of my life in Guantanamo.

Eight years later, I cannot believe that Guantanamo is still open and that there are almost 150 men detained there indefinitely. My time in Guantanamo was a nightmare, but I sometimes consider myself lucky. I know that part of the reason I am free today is because I am from Germany.

Most of the current prisoners remain in Guantanamo because they are from Yemen and the U.S. refuses to send them home. Many are as innocent as I was. But they are enduring the torture of Guantanamo for over 12 years because of their nationality, not because of anything they have done.

I understand that international human rights laws like the Convention Against Torture were created so that the people who commit torture are punished. Isn’t that how we can end torture in the world? So why has no U.S. official been held responsible for brutal practices and torture at Guantanamo or other U.S. prisons?

I will never get five years of my life back, but for me and others, it is important that the Committee confronts the United States about its actions in Guantanamo and other prisons.

Thank you.

The committee’s proceedings are being livestreamed here. The questioning of the U.S. delegation begins as 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Geneva time — 4 a.m. ET.

Affordable, quality professional legal services to vulnerable sections through trained lawyers, paralegals: Nyayika case studies

November 12, 2014 by Nasheman

From left: Gagan Sethi, Prof Madhava Menon, Rajendra Joshi and Satyajeet Mazumdar

by Counterview

A public event in Delhi, National Meet on Social Lawyering — organized by the Centre for Social Justice and Lawyers for Change — saw release the book ,“Nyayika – Making Professional Legal Services Accessible”, which deals with how Nyayika carried out its unique experiment over the last one year of its existence as a private non-profit company. Prof Madhava Menon, chancellor, Guru Ghasidas Central University, Chhattisgarh, who released the book, said the Nayika model of community lawyering offering affordable legal services with sensitivity to the poor and the vulnerable should focus more on people and communities rather than courts. He added, there was a need to move away from court-centric lawyering towards a process of bringing justice to the people by using administrative and other mechanisms outside the courts to enable people to claim their rights and entitlements, and live with dignity.

Among those who took part in the event included founding directors of Nyayika, Rajendra Joshi, founder of SAATH Charitable Trust; Gagan Sethi, founder of Janvikas; Nupur Sinha, executive director of the Centre for Social Justice; and Satyajeet Mazumdar, CEO of Nyayika.

Providing quality professional legal services, both litigative and non-litigative, through trained lawyers and paralegals in its law centres, Nyayika addresses one the main barriers in access to quality legal services for people from the middle and lower income groups – the high fees of a lawyer – by providing its services for a fixed and affordable fee payable according to a payment schedule. Those unable to pay are offered free services. Nyayika follows transparent processes, assures speedy disposal of cases and is accountable towards its clients, a client friendly standardized operating procedure, and a robust monitoring and information system across eight centres in Gujarat – Ahwa, Modasa, Mandvi, Bharuch, Palanpur, Amreli, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad.

Below we reproduce some of the selected success stories of Nyayika, which would showcase how the new model has worked in solving people’s problems:

Child sex abuse in school, Mota Vijuda, Amreli district:

A child studying in class five was sexually abused by his school teacher, following which his father lodged a written complaint to the school principal. Based on the complaint, the principal brought the incident to the notice of the district education officer (DEO), who initiated an inquiry. Finding substance in the complaint, the teacher was transferred to another school. Nyayika learnt of the incident from a local newspaper. It approached the father of the child, the school principal and parents of two other children of the school and took their statements. The child’s parents regretted that the authorities had not acted sufficiently against the accused.

Nyayika sought copies of the written complaint of the father and the reply he had received from the DEO. An FIR was registered under Sections 4, 8 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 against the teacher. On investigation, police found that the complaint was true. Meanwhile, the accused sought anticipatory bail from the court, which was rejected on Nyayika’s plea backed by the public prosecutor. The accused was arrested and is in jail. It took just a month to book the culprit. It has created considerable awareness among people about Nyayika’s ability to seek justice. The teacher community, on the other hand, has become wary of acting in a highhanded manner.

Compensation to Amreli’s workers:

About a year ago, Nyayika learnt that many workers from Amreli district belonging to different talukas — Savarkundra, Lathi, Jaffrabad and Dhari – were not getting any compensation under the Workers’ Insurance Scheme. They would apply for compensation to the district labour officer, who would send the applications for approval to the director, insurance, Gandhinagar. After a lapse of seven to eight months, the director, insurance, Gandhinagar, would return most of the applications saying these workers could not be covered under the insurance scheme. The applications would be rejected, saying the workers did not adequate proof.

Nyayika filed a right to information (RTI) application to know about number of persons from Amreli district who had applied for insurance under the scheme, how many applications were pending, and how many were rejected. Based on the RTI reply, Nyayika called a meeting in Amreli of those whose names were rejected. Forty of them turned up for the meeting. Participants were asked why their names were rejected. They replied reason included insufficient documents. As all the workers were consumers of the insurance scheme, Nyayika decided to approach a consumer court for redressal of the grievance.

Twenty of the workers agreed to file complaint before the consumer court under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, under sections 12 and 13. A reply was sought from the director, insurance, Gandhinagar, as to why these persons were not paid insurance amount. The director, insurance, gave several reasons, including failure to send the application to him on time and insufficient documents, including identity cards. These replies were challenged through 20 affidavits, which were forwarded by Nyayika to the consumer court. It was argued that in the case the time period, the period should be counted not from the date of the accident but of the date on which the dispute commenced. As for identity card s, it was suggested that the workers did have them from the talati or the mamlatadar, which was equal to that of the certificate issued by the labour officer.

The consumer court ruled in favour of the workers. Each worker received Rs 1 lakh as insurance amount plus Rs 25,000 as interest. Each of the 20 received Rs 1.25 lakh. The director, insurance, Gandhinagar, who would evade giving proper answer found reason to become more vigilant. The workers became aware of the importance of identity card, and also that they could approach the consumer court to get compensation.

Land acquisition case in Babracot village, Amreli district:

This case relates to land acquisition carried out for mining by Ultratech in Babracot village of Rajula taluka in Amreli district for the company’s cement plant. The land acquisition had taken place in 1993, and six farmers agreed to sell their land to the company for Rs 70,000 per bigha under an agreement. During Nyayika’s interaction with the villagers, it came out that the company did not pay the full amount. Worse, the company quietly transferred in some land which belonged to the farmers in its name.

During the meeting, Nyayika explained to farmers about the land acquisition law. The six persons, whose land was acquired, agreed that their land had been taken away fraudulently, but had no proof, hence were helpless. Nyayika decided to file RTI application to get documents of the land which was transferred to the company, including ownership details and the amount paid to the farmers. Within 30 days Nyayika received reply. It was found that the company had not paid in accordance with the prevailing market rate. It was also found that the company had fraudulently taken away some pieces of land. The agreement required that the company would provide job to the affected farmers and their families, but this was not done.

Legal notice was served to the company on behalf of the six farmers. The notice demanded payment as per the market rate, and also payment against mental and physical harassment, misuse of the farm land, loss to agriculture and livelihood. In each case, Rs 3 to 4 lakh was demanded as compensation. The company called the farmers for a compromise. The farmers insisted that they should be paid compensation, or else they would approach the court of law. The matter is at the pre-litigation stage. Thanks to Nyayika’s intervention, the farmers in the region became aware of land-related issues.

Incestual rape in Ankaleshwar, Bharuch district:

This case relates to rape of a 14-year-old girl by her father in Ankaleshwar. Studying in seventh standard, the victim lived with his father, who had divorced his wife, with whom their son lived. The girl became pregnant a couple of times, and she was given capsule to trigger abortion. The father would threaten her that she would be murdered if she opened her mouth. During one vacation, the girl’s paternal aunt (chachi) took her to her mother’s residence. When the school vacation ended, the mother asked her to return, but she refused, and divulged what all had happened to her. The mother told everything to the child’s grandmother. A complaint was registered with the Ankaleshwar police station.

The police sought Nyayika’s help. A senior activist Pramilaben, who took personal interest in the matter, took statements from the child, the mother and the grandmother. She also got the child medically examined. An application was filed seeking compensation for the rape victim. Police was told to arrest the accused, which was done within a week. The accused person’s bail application was got rejected with the help of public prosecutor.

Nyayika’s intervention proved crucial. Pramilaben Varmora, a senior paralegal activist with Nyayika, took statement from the grandmother, the mother, and the victim. The father’s lawyer sought to argue out that the mother, who was a divorcee and had illicit relationship with someone, had put up a false case. The public prosecutor was told that the father’s lawyer should argue only on the complaint, and not about the character of the mother. The court agreed. It sentenced the father to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000. The rape victim received Rs 20,000 as compensation within a year.

Employment dispute in Vadoara:

Mr A (the complainant) was employed at ABC Info Soft Solutions Pvt Ltd (the employer) since December 19, 2013. The employer terminated the services of Mr A on April 10, 2014 through a termination letter sent on email. No termination notice was issued even though his contract with the employer required one month’s notice to be issued. Mr A’s salary for the month of March was also not paid. When this issue was raised by Mr A before the employer, it was alleged that Mr A had deleted data from the employer’s PC, hence his services were terminated without notice.

Mr A approached Nyayika on the May 9, 2014. Nyayika sent a legal notice to the employer on May 13, 2014 demanding payment of the salary due, which was Rs 40,000. The employer in turn filed a complaint before the police on May 16, 2014 against Mr A for the loss caused to the company from the data so deleted. The employer then replied to the legal notice on May 19, 2014 agreeing to settle the dispute through conciliation. The first conciliation sitting was held at the police station where Mr A was accompanied by a Nyayika lawyer. The employer agreed to take back the police complaint and agreed to pay part of the salary due to Mr. A. The second conciliation sitting was held at a café, where after much negotiation, the employer agreed to pay a sum of Rs 25000 to Mr A to settle the dispute.

The fees charged by Nyayika from Mr A for the entire process was Rs 1,500 only.

Conciliation in a case of domestic violence:

Mr N and Ms D were in a relationship. They decided to secretly get married and got a registered marriage done on October 20, 2000. Thereafter, they started living with their respective parents. However, their parents soon came to know of this, after which Ms D moved in to the residence of Mr N. Ms D continued her studies, obtained a degree and joined a school as a dance teacher. Meanwhile, Mr N was unemployed because of which his parents started to scold and quarrel with him frequently. This resulted in the couple moving out of the house and living independently in 2003.

Ms D managed the household expenses and sent her husband to an African country for a job. Somehow it did not work out and Mr N had to return to India in the year 2005. Ms D gave birth to a boy in the same year. In the year 2011, Ms D managed to purchase a house from her savings. She also had a second child, a daughter in the same year. Mr N was still unemployed. He developed a habit of drinking, and would also beat up Ms D. He started getting suspicious of Ms D, and this led to frequent arguments. On May 27, 2014, Mr N started a quarrel and Ms D retaliated. On hearing shouts, neighbours intervened and called up Ms D’s mother. Ms D left for her mother’s place at night.

Ms D approached Nyayika on May 28, 2014. The Nyayika lawyer listened to what Ms D had to say. Initially, Ms D wanted a divorce but was counseled about the process and all its pros and cons. Thereafter, she decided that to issue a legal notice to her husband through Nyayika and asked him to be present for mutual conciliation at the Nyayika office. A notice was served to Mr N on June 2, 2014 and the conciliation was fixed for the June 17. The conciliation took place in the presence of Ms D’s mother. Mr N was given a hearing after which both parties put forth their terms and conditions for entering into a compromise. Ms D wanted an assurance from Mr N that he would stop drinking and hitting her. Mr N wanted an assurance from Ms D that she would not get be vacated from the house they were living.. A compromise agreement was reached. Both parties signed the same in the presence of a notary on June 18, 2014.

The fees charged by Nyayika for the entire procedure was Rs 1,000 only.

The book can be downloaded by clicking here.

After 13 years imprisoned without charge, man released from Guantanamo

November 7, 2014 by Nasheman

Groups say human rights violations at the prison continue, Gitmo must be closed

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

A man held at the Guantánamo Bay prison for nearly 13 years without charge has been transferred to his home country of Kuwait.

The Department of Defense made the announcement of his release Wednesday.

Thirty-seven-year-old Fawzi al Odah is the first man to be released based on the assessment of the Periodic Review Board, a body established in 2011 through an executive order and tasked with evaluating the merits of ongoing detention for Guantánamo prisoners.

Agence France-Presse reports that in 2001, Odah “was seized by tribesmen in northern Pakistan, who sold him to the Pakistani army, which in turn handed him over to the United States.”

The transfer agreement requires al Odah to spend at least a year at a rehabilitation facility, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

One hundred forty-eight men still remain at the offshore prison, 79 of whom have been cleared for release.

Rights groups welcomed the decision to release Odah, but stressed that it was just a small step forward at the notorious prison.

“The U.S. government must do far more to end human rights violations at Guantánamo,” stated Amnesty International USA’s Director of Individuals At Risk Program Zeke Johnson. “All remaining detainees should either be fairly tried in federal court or released.”

The Center for Constitutional Right issued a similar statement: “The real work now is in getting the Obama administration to do the right thing and live up to its promise to close Guantánamo: release the men who have been cleared, no matter where they are from, and give the others real trials, not indefinite detention.”

Gaza cut off from World: Israel closes border crossings indefinitely

November 3, 2014 by Nasheman

Palestinians walk past trucks loaded with gravel at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

by RT

Israel has said it’s shutting the only two operating Gaza border crossings indefinitely. This comes a day after a projectile hit Israel from the strip, but caused no damage. Border closures threaten to isolate already devastated Gaza completely.

The move will affect both the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings, Haartez reported, quoting Israel’s defense establishment. The authorities have notified the Palestinians of the decision.

Meanwhile, the three other crossings into Gaza are still not operational and the passage from the area into Egypt – the Rafah crossing – remains closed.

From now on and until further notice, only critical humanitarian aid going into Gaza will be allowed via the Erez crossing.

The news comes after the Iron Dome defense system detected a projectile fired from Gaza overnight on Friday. There was no damage reported and no one has claimed responsibility for the incident.

“Overnight a rocket or mortar launched from Gaza struck southern Israel. No damage or injuries reported,”Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear if Israel’s move on Sunday was connected to the incident.

Meanwhile, Egypt has stepped up its plans to create a buffer zone on the Gaza border, in Cairo’s ongoing campaign against underground tunnels dug from the restive Sinai Peninsula, Ynet News reported. In Rafah, buildings are being demolished, while some of the local residents are leaving, fearing a new escalation of violence in the region.

Border closures threaten to cut off Gaza from much-needed humanitarian aid, which could make a dire situation in the area even worse. The Gaza Strip requires substantial rebuilding after Israel’s 50-day Operation Protective Edge this summer left much of its infrastructure in ruins.

Canada accused of failing to prevent overseas mining abuses

November 3, 2014 by Nasheman

Residents of Tapachula, Mexico protest mining by Canada’s Goldcorp. (Photo: Movimiento Mesoamericano Contra Modelo Minero/cc/flickr)

by Carey L. Biron, IPS News

The Canadian government is failing either to investigate or to hold the country’s massive extractives sector accountable for rights abuses committed in Latin American countries, according to petitioners who testified here Tuesday before an international tribunal.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also heard concerns that the Canadian government is not making the country’s legal system available to victims of these abuses.

“Canada has been committed to a voluntary framework of corporate social responsibility, but this does not provide any remedy for people who have been harmed by Canadian mining operations,” Jen Moore, the coordinator of the Latin America programme at MiningWatch Canada, a watchdog group, told IPS.

“We’re looking for access to the courts but also for the Canadian state to take preventive measures to avoid these problems in the first place – for instance, an independent office that would have the power to investigate allegations of abuse in other countries.”

Moore and others who testified before the commission formally submitted a report detailing the concerns of almost 30 NGOs. Civil society groups have been pushing the Canadian government to ensure greater accountability for this activity for years, Moore says, and that work has been buttressed by similar recommendations from both a parliamentary commission, in 2005, and the United Nations.

“Nothing new has taken place over the past decade … The Canadian government has refused to implement the recommendations,” Moore says.

“The state’s response to date has been to firmly reinforce this voluntary framework that doesn’t work – and that’s what we heard from them again during this hearing. There was no substantial response to the fact that there are all sorts of cases falling through the cracks.”

Canada, which has one of the largest mining sectors in the world, is estimated to have some 1,500 projects in Latin America – more than 40 percent of the mining companies operating in the region. According to the new report, and these overseas operations receive “a high degree” of active support from the Canadian government.

“We’re aware of a great deal of conflict,” Shin Imai, a lawyer with the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project, a Canadian civil society initiative, said Tuesday. “Our preliminary count shows that at least 50 people have been killed and some 300 wounded in connection with mining conflicts involving Canadian companies in recent years, for which there has been little to no accountability.”

These allegations include deaths, injuries, rapes and other abuses attributed to security personnel working for Canadian mining companies. They also include policy-related problems related to long-term environmental damage, illegal community displacement and subverting democratic processes.

Home state accountability

The Washington-based IACHR, a part of the 35-member Organisation of American States (OAS), is one of the world’s oldest multilateral rights bodies, and has looked at concerns around Canadian mining in Latin America before.

Yet this week’s hearing marked the first time the commission has waded into the highly contentious issue of “home state” accountability – that is, whether companies can be prosecuted at home for their actions abroad.

“This hearing was cutting-edge. Although the IACHR has been one of the most important allies of human rights violations’ victims in Latin America, it’s a little bit prudent when it faces new topics or new legal challenges,” Katya Salazar, executive director of the Due Process of Law Foundation, a Washington-based legal advocacy group, told IPS.

“And talking about the responsibility for the home country of corporations working in Latin America is a very new challenge. So we’re very happy to see how the commission’s understanding and concern about these topics have evolved.”
Home state accountability has become progressively more vexed as industries and supply chains have quickly globalised. Today, companies based in rich countries, with relatively stronger legal systems, are increasingly operating in developing countries, often under weaker regulatory regimes.

The extractives sector has been a key example of this, and over the past two decades it has experienced one of the highest levels of conflict with local communities of any industry. For advocates, part of the problem is a current vagueness around the issue of the “extraterritorial” reach of domestic law.

“Far too often, extractive companies have double-standards in how they behave at home versus abroad,” Alex Blair, a press officer with the extractives programme at Oxfam America, a humanitarian and advocacy group, told IPS. “They think they can take advantage of weaknesses in local laws, oversight and institutions to operate however they want in developing countries.”

Blair notes a growing trend of local and indigenous communities going abroad to hold foreign companies accountable. Yet these efforts remain extraordinarily complex and costly, even as legal avenues in many Western countries continue to be constricted.

Transcending the legalistic

At this week’s hearing, the Canadian government maintained that it was on firm legal ground, stating that it has “one of the world’s strongest legal and regulatory frameworks towards its extractives industries”.

In 2009, Canada formulated a voluntary corporate responsibility strategy for the country’s international extractives sector. The country also has two non-judicial mechanisms that can hear grievances arising from overseas extractives projects, though neither of these can investigate allegations, issue rulings or impose punitive measures.

These actions notwithstanding, the Canadian response to the petitioners concerns was to argue that local grievances should be heard in local court and that, in most cases, Canada is not legally obligated to pursue accountability for companies’ activities overseas.

“With respect to these corporations’ activities outside Canada, the fact of their incorporation within Canada is clearly not a sufficient connection to Canada to engage Canada’s obligations under the American Declaration,” Dana Cryderman, Canada’s alternate permanent representative to the OAS, told the commission, referring to the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the document that underpins the IACHR’s work.

Cryderman continued: “[H]ost countries in Latin America offer domestic legal and regulatory avenues through which the claims being referenced by the requesters can and should be addressed.”

Yet this rationale clearly frustrated some of the IACHR’s commissioners, including the body’s current president, Rose-Marie Antoine.

“Despite the assurances of Canada there’s good policy, we at the commission continue to see a number of very, very serious human rights violations occurring in the region as a result of certain countries, and Canada being one of the main ones … so we’re seeing the deficiencies of those policies,” Antoine said following the Canadian delegation’s presentation.

“On the one hand, Canada says, ‘Yes, we are responsible and wish to promote human rights.’ But on the other hand, it’s a hands-off approach … We have to move beyond the legalistic if we’re really concerned about human rights.”

Antoine noted the commission was currently working on a report on the impact of natural resources extraction on indigenous communities. She announced, for the first time, that the report would include a chapter on what she referred to as the “very ticklish issue of extraterritoriality”.

Hanged Iranian woman Reyhaneh Jabbari leaves heartbreaking last message

October 27, 2014 by Nasheman

Reyhaneh Jabbari, the Iranian woman who was hanged today by Iran after 7 years imprisonment had released her will in a voice message.

In a heart-rending message to her family in April, beginning with her mother Sholeh, 26-year-old Reyhaneh Jabbari tells how she trusted the law, but has faced death for the crime of defending herself against an agent of Iran’s intelligence who tried to abuse her.

English translation of Reyhaneh Jabbari’s will (translated by National Council of Resistance of Iran – NCRI).

Dear Sholeh, today I learned that it is now my turn to face Qisas (the Iranian regime’s law of retribution). I am hurt as to why you did not let me know yourself that I have reached the last page of the book of my life. Don’t you think that I should know? You know how ashamed I am that you are sad. Why did you not take the chance for me to kiss your hand and that of dad?

The world allowed me to live for 19 years. That ominous night it was I that should have been killed. My body would have been thrown in some corner of the city, and after a few days, the police would have taken you to the coroner’s office to identify my body and there you would also learn that I had been raped as well. The murderer would have never been found since we don’t have their wealth and their power. Then you would have continued your life suffering and ashamed, and a few years later you would have died of this suffering and that would have been that.

However, with that cursed blow the story changed. My body was not thrown aside, but into the grave of Evin Prison and its solitary wards, and now the grave-like prison of Shahr-e Ray. But give in to the fate and don’t complain. You know better that death is not the end of life.

You taught me that one comes to this world to gain an experience and learn a lesson and with each birth a responsibility is put on one’s shoulder. I learned that sometimes one has to fight. I do remember when you told me that the carriage man protested the man who was flogging me, but the flogger hit the lash on his head and face that ultimately led to his death. You told me that for creating a value one should persevere even if one dies.

You taught us that as we go to school one should be a lady in face of the quarrels and complaints. Do you remember how much you underlined the way we behave? Your experience was incorrect. When this incident happened, my teachings did not help me. Being presented in court made me appear as a cold-blooded murderer and a ruthless criminal. I shed no tears. I did not beg. I did not cry my head off since I trusted the law.

But I was charged with being indifferent in face of a crime. You see, I didn’t even kill the mosquitoes and I threw away the cockroaches by taking them by their antennas. Now I have become a premeditated murderer. My treatment of the animals was interpreted as being inclined to be a boy and the judge didn’t even trouble himself to look at the fact that at the time of the incident I had long and polished nails.

How optimistic was he who expected justice from the judges! He never questioned the fact that my hands are not coarse like those of a sportswoman, especially a boxer. And this country that you planted its love in me never wanted me and no one supported me when under the blows of the interrogator I was crying out and I was hearing the most vulgar terms. When I shed the last sign of beauty from myself by shaving my hair I was rewarded: 11 days in solitary.

Dear Sholeh, don’t cry for what you are hearing. On the first day that in the police office an old unmarried agent hurt me for my nails I understood that beauty is not looked for in this era. The beauty of looks, beauty of thoughts and wishes, a beautiful handwriting, beauty of the eyes and vision, and even beauty of a nice voice. My dear mother, my ideology has changed and you are not responsible for it. My words are unending and I gave it all to someone so that when I am executed without your presence and knowledge, it would be given to you. I left you much handwritten material as my heritage.

However, before my death I want something from you, that you have to provide for me with all your might and in any way that you can. In fact this is the only thing I want from this world, this country and you. I know you need time for this. Therefore, I am telling you part of my will sooner. Please don’t cry and listen. I want you to go to the court and tell them my request. I cannot write such a letter from inside the prison that would be approved by the head of prison; so once again you have to suffer because of me. It is the only thing that if even you beg for it I would not become upset although I have told you many times not to beg to save me from being executed.

My kind mother, dear Sholeh, the one more dear to me than my life, I don’t want to rot under the soil. I don’t want my eye or my young heart to turn into dust. Beg so that it is arranged that as soon as I am hanged my heart, kidney, eye, bones and anything that can be transplanted be taken away from my body and given to someone who needs them as a gift. I don’t want the recipient know my name, buy me a bouquet, or even pray for me. I am telling you from the bottom of my heart that I don’t want to have a grave for you to come and mourn there and suffer. I don’t want you to wear black clothing for me. Do your best to forget my difficult days. Give me to the wind to take away.

The world did not love us. It did not want my fate. And now I am giving in to it and embrace the death. Because in the court of God I will charge the inspectors, I will charge inspector Shamlou, I will charge judge, and the judges of country’s Supreme Court that beat me up when I was awake and did not refrain from harassing me. In the court of the creator I will charge Dr. Farvandi, I will charge Qassem Shabani and all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn’t pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it.

Dear soft-hearted Sholeh, in the other world it is you and me who are the accusers and others who are the accused. Let’s see what God wants. I wanted to embrace you until I die. I love you.

Reyhaneh,
April 1, 2014

Book Excerpt: Kafkaland: Prejudice, Law and Counterterrorism in India

October 27, 2014 by Nasheman

by Manisha Sethi

Once I had to drive a Mumbai ATS inspector across the city. He chatted about his B.A. degree (he too had studied Sociology), took an interest in my Ph.D. dissertation (“poor young girls were initiated into nunhood”), recommended the SUV that zipped past us (“value for money”). But we were not out sight seeing. In the rear seat was sitting a young man whose brother had been literally plucked by the ATS from the Delhi Police Special Cell which he was helping track down some suspects. He was then charged with conspiring the July 2011 Zaveri bazar blast in Mumbai. The ATS had now come calling on this young man, to take him to Mumbai, ostensibly to ‘question’ him. But questioning often means warrantless arrests, illegal detention and torture leading to leaked stories in the media and charges of terrorism.

The ATS team had arrived in the middle of a press conference. This effectively frustrated their simple enough plan to carry away Nadeem (name changed) for uninterrupted interrogation in the comforts of their police station. Slightly irritated at our presence, and shivering from the assault of the Delhi December cold, the ACP who headed the team began to enquire from this young man. The gist of his inquisition was this:

“What did your brother tell the Special Cell?”

“Wouldn’t it be simpler to pose this question to the Special Cell?”, we asked.

“Protocol”.

Apparently, the protocol is to whisk away suspects, or even their brothers.

So, now, here we were discussing sociology, Jain nuns and large cars, headed to the Nadeem’s house for a search at the other end of the city. “Why do you illegally detain suspects?”, I turned to a less pleasanter topic. “How would it hurt to send summons to those you wish to interrogate?”

The Inspector looked genuinely hurt. “Illegal detention? Never. We always take the person out for a walk after 23 hours.”

It was one of those tragi-comic moments when one isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Here was an officer of law telling us that the legal requirement of producing an arrestee before a magistrate within 24 hours could be circumvented ‘legally’.

This brief encounter was but a glimpse into the ease with which norms are institutionally subverted. It also gave us a first hand experience of the dread of being pursued. When every knock on the door, every ring of the phone makes your stomach churn; when the grey of the evening appears full of foreboding. But worst of all, the knowledge that no one may be able to help you from being taken away. The stories in Section I bear the imprint of this terror, felt as a visceral force. Some months after the above incident, I chanced upon a letter sent out by an accused in the Mumbai train bombings of 2006. The address was marked Anda Cell, Arthur Road prison. It was a grim chronicle of Ehtesham Qutub’s 75-day-long custody in the ATS. One name leapt out of this letter of horror. It was the name of the Inspector.

He, who had amiably offered expert comments to me on my Ph.D. thesis, sympathizing with girls “who were tortured into becoming nuns,” played a starring role in the letter as the master of ceremonies, conducting and executing a regimen of excruciating pain on the man under his power. This letter appears in “Dr. Narco and other Stories”, which recounts the centrality of torture and cavalier prejudice to the Mumbai train blasts investigations. But this affliction is not unique to the Mumbai ATS; Section I shows these to be fundamental to all terror investigations: the Uttar Pradesh STF working on the Katcheri blasts of 2006, the Special Cell of Delhi Police which abducted the IB’s informers and produced them in a dramatic press conference as Al Badr operatives; the Hyderabad Crime Branch – acting sometimes in collusion, at other times in competition, all tied tenuously by the shadowy Intelligence Bureau.

Nothing compares to the fear of the early days. With time however, the long arm of law manages to transform this palpable terror into a dull, unending ache.

Manisha Sethi is currently Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. She teaches at the Centre for Comparative Religions and Civilizations, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She is also Associate Editor at Biblio: A Review of Books. Her book Escaping the World: Women Renouncers among Jains was published in 2012. Sethi is an activist with Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA).

The book is published by Three Essays Collective. To order the book click here. For updates, like book’s Facebook page.