Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2005 - India
| Publisher | International Federation for Human Rights |
| Publication Date | 22 March 2006 |
| Cite as | International Federation for Human Rights, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2005 - India, 22 March 2006, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48747cbc14.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Arbitrary arrest, release and hindrances to the activities of human rights defenders32
On 11 October 2004, several members of the National Group on NGOs of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had met at the Cuddalore town hall (Tamil Nadu) for a training session in the framework of the Campaign Against Torture – Tamil Nadu (CAT-TN). Members of these organisations had planned to hold a press conference that afternoon on the human rights violations (sexual harassment, arbitrary detention, intimidation, coercion etc.), committed by Mr. Prem Kumar, police superintendent in Cuddalore district. When the training session had been about to start, a group of police officers had burst into the room and interrupted the meeting, under the alleged reason that the press conference was banned. When the defenders had protested, the police had warned them that they would be arrested.
Mr. Henri Tiphagne, executive director of People's Watch-Tamil Nadu (PW-TN), an NGO promoting human rights through monitoring, intervention and education, had been violently brought by deputy superintendent of police, Mr. Payas Ferozkhan, and his men to the police station at the town hall. Thirteen other defenders, amongst them Mr. Nizamudeen, State secretary general of the National Core Group on NGOs, and Mr. Murugappan, regional monitoring associate at PW-TN, had also been arrested and taken to the police station of Cuddalore.
These persons had been held in police custody for more than seven hours, before being released on bail.
By the end of 2005, the criminal proceedings against sixteen participants remained pending before the Cuddalore Second Magistrates Court. They were charged under Articles 147 (rioting), 452 (house trespass and preparation to harm etc.), 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty), 506(1) (criminal intimidation) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Criminal Code.
Moreover, no action was taken on the complaint that was lodged following those events with Mr. Jangrid, general inspector of the police responsible for Cuddalore and the north of Tamil-Nadu, on 13 October 2004, despite two reminders that were sent to him on 3 September and 20 October 2005.
Arrests of defenders of the rights of Dalits33
On 15 August 2005, more than 400 defenders of the Dalits' rights, including Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Mr. Shiek Dawoot, a member of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), an assistance and social protection organisation, Mrs. Kameshwari, a member of the Dalit Women Federation, and numerous members of the Joint Action Committee Against Untouchability ( JAC), which brings together 16 NGOs, movements and political parties, were arrested in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. They were protesting against the obstacles to the political participation of Dalits in the villages of Pappapatti, Keeripatti, Natamangalam and Kottakkatchiyanendal.
These persons were all released on the same day.
Arbitrary arrest of several defenders in Kolkota34
On 9 December 2005, Mr. Kirity Roy, spokesperson and secretary of Manabashikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), a human rights organisation working in India and South Asia, and an Amnesty International national executive member, was arrested by the police in Lal Bazar, Kolkota, West Bengal, along with 21 persons, including Mr. Abhijit Datta, MASUM assistant secretary, Mr. Pradip Mukherjee, MASUM employee, Mr. Nirmal Karmakar, secretary of the Deganga unit of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), Mr. Phanigopal Battacharjee, secretary of the Indo-Japan Steels Workers Union, and Mr. Dipankar Mitra, a member of the Kolkota section of Actionaid International. They were peacefully protesting in front of the Secretariat of the government of West Bengal using banners, in order to denounce cases of human rights violations committed by police officers.
All of these persons were detained at the Lal Bazar police station, before being released three hours later without charges. Furthermore, the police did not issue a "memorandum of arrest", in violation of a decision of the Supreme Court (see D. K. Basu versus State of West Bengal, AIR 1997 SC 610).
[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]
32. See Annual Report 2004.
33. See People's Watch – Tamil Nadu (PW-TN).
34. See Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE).