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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

26 June 2007
[UP-079-2007: INDIA: Continuing detention of human rights activist in Chhattisgarh; FA-003-2007: INDIA: Arrest of a prominent human rights activist over oppressive laws]
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UP-091-2007: INDIA: Arbitrary detention of Dr. Binayak Sen continues

INDIA: Inhuman and degrading treatment; abuse of power; impunity
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is appealing to you to write to the Indian authorities to release Dr. Binayak Sen, a human rights activist and medical doctor currently being held at Raipur Central Prison in Chhattisgarh state.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

The arrest of Dr. Sen is a knee jerk reaction of the Chhattisgarh state administration that has continuously failed to address the people’s need for the past several years. The extension of judicial remand of Dr. Sen by the court is also questionable and non-justifiable.

The AHRC had in the past issued two appeals UP-079-2007 & FA-003-2007 regarding Dr. Sen. A group of renowned persons have also called upon the authorities in India for the immediate release of Dr. Sen which is posted below for your information. Dr. Sen is in police custody since 14 May 2007. A bail application filed on behalf of Dr. Sen at the local court is coming up for consideration on 3 July, while yet another application filed at the Chhattisgarh High Court is coming up for hearing on 4 July.

16 June 2007
Release Dr. Binayak Sen, Repeal Chhattisgarh Act [The Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005]

We, the undersigned, are dismayed at the continued detention of Dr Binayak Sen, General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), since 14 May. Dr Binayak Sen is also National Vice-President of PUCL, one of the oldest civil liberties organizations in India.

Dr Sen epitomises a dwindling tradition in India of public health professionals taking health care to the poorest sections and most underdeveloped regions of this country. For the past 30 years, he has been promoting community rural health care centres. He was a member of the state advisory committee that piloted a community-based health worker programme in Chhattisgarh. He also helped establish the Shaheed Hospital in Dalli Rajhara, set up and operated by workers for over 25 years.

We believe that the arrest of Dr Binayak Sen is a grave assault on the democratic rights movement in India. PUCL Chhattisgarh has been one of the foremost independent organizations to draw attention to the excesses committed by the Chhattisgarh government under its Salwa Judum campaign. The fake encounters, rapes, burning of villages and displacement of adivasis in tens of thousands and consequent loss of livelihoods have been extensively chronicled by several independent investigations. Dr Sen's arrest is clearly an attempt to intimidate PUCL and other democratic voices that have been speaking out against human rights violations in the state. In recent days, the targets of state harassment have widened to include Dr Ilina Sen, who for years has been active in the women's movement, Gautam Bandopadhyaya of Nadi Ghati Morcha, PUCL's Rashmi Dwivedi, and other activists of PUCL.

Dr Sen has been detained under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2004 on charges that are completely baseless. Both these extraordinary laws have been criticized by numerous civil rights groups for being extremely vague and subjective in what is deemed unlawful, and for giving arbitrary powers to the State to silence all manner of dissent. As was feared, these undemocratic laws have been used to target Dr Sen and PUCL Chhattisgarh.

We demand:
1. That all charges against Dr Sen be dropped and that he should be released immediately;
2. That the threats to and harassment of other activists be stopped immediately;
3. The immediate disbanding of the Salwa Judum; and
4. That the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2004 be repealed.

SIGNATORIES

1. Professor Noam Chomsky 2. Professor Romila Thapar 3. Professor Irfan Habib 4. Dr Ashok Mitra 5. Habib Tanvir 6. Arundhati Roy 7. Professor Amiya Bagchi 8. Professor Prabhat Patnaik 9. Rajendra Yadav 10. Professor Sumit Sarkar 11. Dilip Chitre 12. Professor Jean Dreze 13. Professor Utsa Patnaik 14. Professor Namwar Singh 15. Shyam Benegal 16. Professor Jayati Ghosh 17. Anand Patwardhan 18. Professor Utsa Patnaik 19. Professor Imrana Qadeer 20. Dr Rama Baru 21. Dr Ritu Priya 22. Professor Tanika Sarkar 23. Anand Swaroop Verma 24. Sayera Habib 25. Professor Abhijit Sen 26. Geetha Hariharan 27. Professor Jasodhara Bagchi 28. Dr Uma Chakravarti 29. Professor Anand Chakravarti 30. Gopa Sen 31. Krishna Suman 32. Dunu Roy 33. Dr K. J. Mukherjee 34. Amar Kanwar 35. Vrinda Grover 36. Dr Mohan Rao 37. Professor K.R. Nayar

Collective
* Circulated by South Asia Citizens Wire | June 17-18, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2420 - Year 9.
Online 18 June 2007

The AHRC is concerned about the safety of Dr. Sen while he is in custody. The AHRC and its local partners are also concerned about the safety of other human rights activists, including Dr. Sen’s family. The AHRC immediately call for an intervention in this case, particularly by letters written to the Chhattisgarh state administration calling the state administration to withdraw the charges against Dr. Sen and to release him from custody.

The AHRC will keep you informed about the further development in the case. However in the meanwhile if you wish to receive any additional information please contact:
Mr. Rajendra K Sail, President –PUCL Chhattisgarh State Chapter, Post Box No. 87, Main Post Office, Raipur – 492001, Chhattisgarh INDIA Email: pucl.cg@gmail.com

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send letters to the relevant authorities listed below, particularly to the Chief Minister Dr. Ram singh, calling for an immediate investigation into this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Sample letter:

Dear ________,

INDIA: Please withdraw the charges against Dr. Binayak Sen, and release Dr. Sen from custody

Name of victim: Dr. Binayak Sen, National Vice-President, the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties, currently detained at Raipur Central Prison
Date of arrest: 14 May 2007

I am writing to you to express my concern about the continuing detention of Dr. Binayak Sen, a well renowned human rights activist and medical doctor of your state. I am aware that Dr. Sen, charged with crimes under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 has been denied bail by the court and is currently detained at the Raipur Central Prison.

I am aware that one of the charges leveled against Dr. Sen is regarding his alleged involvement with the anti-state rebel groups in Chhattisgarh state. However, I am informed that there are no credible evidences to substantiate this allegation. I am surprised by the reaction of the government in arresting a prominent human rights activist and doctor merely because he was involved in providing medical assistance to the poor. I am aware that Dr. Sen’s arrest has brought in enormous criticism against your state administration which is already suffering from a bad image due to maladministration.

Resorting to violence is by no means an invitation for discussion to resolve the issues that your state is currently facing. The very engagement of Salwa Judum, a private army funded and trained by the state is one of the worst acts an administration could do to resolve a crisis. Resolution of a crisis begins with discussion of issues in a peaceful manner. If the state government also resort to violence what is the deference between your administration and the rebels in your state?

In this context I request you to immediately take the following measures:

1. To release Dr. Binayak Sen and withdraw all charges pending against him;
2. To order a public inquiry into the entire incident that led to the arrest of Dr. Sen and to make public the findings of the inquiry;
3. To withdraw immediately the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 and its application within the state;
4. To prohibit immediately the functioning of Salwa Judum and to conduct an inquiry into the past activities of this group engaging the civil society in India;
5. To engage with the civil society, other concerned citizen groups and the Government of India to find out ways and means to end the culture of violence in the state and;
6. To constitute an independent body to find out the atrocities committed by the state agents and the rebels and to make the findings public and to take appropriate actions against the perpetrators through the means accepted by the Criminal Procedure Code of India.

Yours truly
_________

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Dr. Ram Singh
The Chief Minister
The Chief Minister’s Office
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
INDIA
Email: cmcg@nic.in

2. Mr. Ramvichar Netam
Home Minister
Office of the Home Minister
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
INDIA
Email: hmin.cg@nic.in 

3. Mr. Shivraj Singh
The Chief Secretary
Government of Chhattisgarh
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
INDIA
Email: cs-cg@nic.in & shivraj@nic.in 

4. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders
Room 1-040, OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: + 41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)

5. Dr. Manmohan Singh
The Prime Minister
7, Race Course Road, New Delhi 110011
Fax: + 91 11 23019334
Email: pmosb@pmo.nic.in

6. Mr. Natwar K. Singh
External Affairs Minister
Government of India
172, South Block, New delhi 110011
INDIA
Fax: + 91 11 23793704
Email: eam@mea.nic.in & diream@mea.nic.in
 
7. Mr. Nirupam Sen
The Ambassador – New York Permanent Mission
235 East 43rd St.
New York, NY 10017
Fax. + 212 490 9656
Email: india@un.int & indiaun@prodigy.net

8. Mr. Jayant Prasad
The Ambassador – Geneva Permanent Mission
7 bis, rue du Valais
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Fax. + 41 22 906 86 70
Email: mission.india-cd@ties.itu.int

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)