PVCHR: September 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

INDIA: An acting village head assaults human rights defenders and villagers in a corruption cover up

women, your name is not puny « 寿司王

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Message of Dr. Lenin for rule of law in new nation-state

It is the messgae after the killing of father of a great activist of Bundelkhand Mr. Sanjai Singh.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63542102

Friday, September 25, 2009

Demand to check corruption at govt health centres - Varanasi - City - NEWS - The Times of India

Mai Kaur: The communist in my chair

It is story of Comrade Asish Awasthi from Lucknow

Mai Kaur: The communist in my chair

Thursday, September 24, 2009

INDIA: Ongoing threats and harassment of Human rights defenders

INDIA: Ongoing threats and harassment of Human rights defenders

24^th September, 09
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INDIA: Ongoing threats and harassment of Human rights defenders

ISSUES: Threat; intimidation; right to life; human rights defender; right to expression

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Dear friends,

Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) a local non-government human rights organization working in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh its human rights defenders are receiving ongoing threats and harassment.

Case detail:

On 14^th September, 09 three human rights defenders of the PVCHR Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi, a female human rights defender and Managing Trustee of PVCHR, Ms. Anupam Nagvanshi, a female human rights defender and Member Core Team, PVCHR and Mr. Mangala Prasad a human rights defender, Incharge of PVCHR Pindra Tehsil unit were presented in Community Building, Ahirani Nathaipur, Block – Baragaon under Phulpur Jurisdiction, Varanasi to hear the social audit.

Under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, there is the provision of the participation of the NGOs in the social audit, so using the right of the Act activist were present in the social audit and promoting for the peaceful formulation of social audit.

Social audit of any scheme or program with the community or scheme is known as social audit. In which the description of payment, number of employed labour and uses of the commodities including the audit of the qualitative implementation of the program.

- The social Audit is essential for the transparency in the scheme and knowledge to every body.

- To increase people participation.

- To increase people efficiency for the using their rights.

- Effectiveness of the scheme.

- Social Audit is continuous process

Immediately letter was fax to National Human Rights Commission and Director General of Police and on 15^th September, 09 letter was sent to Prime Minister of India, Commissioner of Varanasi region, District Magistrate. Commissioner of Varanasi region directs District Magistrate of Varanasi for the investigation and appropriate action.

However due to the ongoing threat human rights defenders are unable to generously work in that area and Mr. Mangla a local resident seeking his security is not coming outside of his house as on 27^th October, 07 he was threaten by the same perpetrator for protesting against corruption. Please see the given below URL for further information http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2007/2630/

The Non – Cognizable Report no. 188/09 was lodge as First information report. The verbatim translation of the complaint is as follows, please see the given below URL for detailed information http://www.scribd.com/doc/20060592/NCR-in-case-of-beating-of-Shruti-by-feudal

To,

SHO,

Phulpur

Varanasi.

Sub: In relation to attempt to kill beating and community based attack.

Sir,

I and Anupam Nagvanshi, who are members of PVCHR, went to Ahirani community center for Participation in social audit of NREGA of village panchayat Nathaipur, where NREGA workers already present. Nearly 3:30 PM social audit started under the leadership of BDO (Block Development officer) of Badagaon. In this audit process, village elected head Mrs. Usha Devi was not present. But his husband Lolarak Singh alias Arun Singh came here along with BDO in BDO's vehicle. Husband of village head, Rojagar sevak Mr. Anil Dubey, Village Secretary and ADO (Panchayat) surrounded the BDO, who was reading the muster role to villagers. BDO told that he was going to read muster role related present session's work and Job. Then villagers protested, after that BDO started to read muster role, on that process in between Mr. Lal Ji S/O Mr. Pancham Rajbhar objected that he worked three days, but here mention only for 2 days. After that BDO asked to a worker for witness. Worker told that Lal ji worked only two days. During the discussion, husband of village head Arun Singh started the abusing and to beat the villagers and came out from room along with Rojagar Sevak Anil Dubey and beaten up the people outside the room. Women wanted to stop, then Anil Singh started to beat the women in general, especially to Ms. Chandra Devi W/O Vijay Kumar, He tore her cloth with, her bangle is broken. Her hand cuts and blood came out. In between Arun Singh gave death threat to Mangala Rajbhar & Lal ji Rajbhar. Mahandra Singh S/O Amar Singh P/O Kuwar Kot Ps-Phulpur, Varanasi also involved in beaten to villagers.

Then Arun Singh called the upper caste people for beating to dalit & OBCS. After that, BDO told that Muster role disappeared. Villager told that there are your people; please start the checkup, but he started to go. After the permission of BDo, Shruti along with Lal Ji Rajbhar went with BDO on BDOs' vehicle. When vehicle went ahead than upper cast surrounded the vehicle. They told that please down the Lal Ji from vehicle and want to kill him.BDO pushed down the Lal Ji, and then Shruti went out from vehicle also. After that upper caste surrounded both. Guddu Dubey S/O Phul Chand Dubey started to slap the shruti in very bad way. She fallen down on earth after that villager of OBCs ghetto came, save them & went police station Phulpur. Please take appropriate legal action on above mentioned happing.

14^th September, 09

Applicant

Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi

Managing Trustee, PVCHR

SA 4/2 A Daulatpur, Varanasi

Threatening, intimidating, insulting and creating annoyance to persons is a crime punishable in India under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Section 503 of the Code reads: "Whoever threatens another with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation."

Section 506 of the Code prescribes punishment for criminal intimidation which could extend to imprisonment up to a period of two years or fine or both. However, if the criminal intimidation is to cause death or grievous hurt or to cause destruction of property by fire, the sentence may extend to a term up to seven years, or with fine or both.

According to an amendment applicable to Uttar Pradesh vide notification number 777/VIII 9-4(2)-87 dated 31 July 1989; a crime punishable under Section 506 is cognizable and non-bailable. This means that on receipt of a complaint, the police could arrest the accused without a warrant of arrest issued by a court of law.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Threat and intimidation is not to be taken lightly in Uttar Pradesh. It is one of those states in India where people are abducted and children kidnapped for settling private and political feuds. In some cases the abducted victims are tortured or even murdered if the demands of the criminals are not met. As far as the PVCHR is concerned, it is an apolitical local human rights organisation with limited resources, but with a large work group, including staff and volunteers.

Since 2005 human rights defenders of PVCHR are continuously getting threats from the area of Baragaon block due to the dalit uprising and their continuous struggle for democracy and rule of law. In this context urgent appeal was released by Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Front Line, Ireland an International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Ongoing threats and harassment of Human rights defenders

Name of Victim:

1. Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi, Core Group Member, PVCHR

Ms. Anupam, Core Team Member, PVCHR
Mr. Mangala, PVCHR Activist
Villagers of Ahirani Nathaipur

Name of Alleged Perpetrator:

1. Block Development Officer (BDO), of Baragaon Mr. Atul Mishra

2. Mr. Arun Singh alias Lolarak Singh son of Lallan Singh (husband of current village head Mrs. Usha Singh).

3. Rojgar Sevak Mr. Anil Dubey

4. Unknown person

Date & Place of Incidence: 14^th September, 09 Community Building, Ahirani Nathaipur, Block – Baragaon under Phulpur Jurisdiction, Varanasi

I am writing to express my concern regarding the ongoing threat and harassment of three human rights defender of the PVCHR Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi, a female human rights defender and Managing Trustee of PVCHR, Ms. Anupam Nagvanshi, a female human rights defender and Member Core Team, PVCHR and Mr. Mangala Prasad a human rights defender, Incharge of PVCHR Pindra Tehsil unit were presented in Community Building, Ahirani Nathaipur, Block – Baragaon under Phulpur Jurisdiction, Varanasi to hear the social audit.

I came to know that under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, there is the provision of the participation of the NGOs in the social audit, so using the right of the Act activist were present in the social audit and promoting for the peaceful formulation of social audit

- The social Audit is essential for the transparency in the scheme and knowledge to every body.

- To increase people participation.

- To increase people efficiency for the using their rights.

- Effectiveness of the scheme.

- Social Audit is continuous process

Therefore it is my kind request to take appropriate action/investigation in the above mention case for the protection of human rights organization establishment of rule of law.

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Honorable Governor of Uttar Pradesh
Raj Bhavan, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
E-mail: hgovup@up.nic.in

2. Ms. Mayawati
Chief Minister
Chief Minister's Secretariat
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 522 223 0002 / 223 9234
E-mail: csup@up.nic.in

3. Mr. P Chidambaram
Home Minister
North Block
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA
Fax: + 91 11 23794833

4. Mrs Margaret Sekaggya
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Ben Majekodunmi
Room 1-040
C/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10,
SWITZERLAND
Tel: + 41 22 917 93 88
Fax: + 41 22 917 9006
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

5. Secretary to the Government
Uttar Pradesh State Government
5th Floor ?Lal Bahadur Sastri Bhavan
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA

6. Inspector General of Police
Varanasi Zone
Varanasi District
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
E-mail: igzonevns@up.nic.in

7. Director General of Police
1-Tilak Marg, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 522 220 6120 / 220 6174
E-mail: police@up.nic.in

8. Senior Superintendent of Police
Varanasi, SSP Office, Kachahari
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
E-mail: sspvns@up.nic.in

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals
Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I’m women human rights activist! « 寿司王

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Voice of voiceless: National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi intervention in the case of Ram Lal

Political patronage: a cover story published by Frontline,a leading magzine of India

http://sapf.blogspot.com/2009/06/letter-to-janab-rahul-gandhi-ji.html

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20091009262002700.htm

Vol:26 Iss:20 URL: http://www.flonnet.com/fl2620/stories/20091009262002700.htm

Back

COVER STORY

Political patronage

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN

Most political parties, when in power in the States or at the Centre, have turned a blind eye to extrajudicial killings.

RAJEEV BHATT

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram with Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Home Shakeel Ahmed and National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan at a meeting in New Delhi with Chief Ministers of seven States affected by naxalite extremism.

IF one goes by the proclamations of the mainstream political parties in India, all of them are critical of all forms of extrajudicial killing. Leaders of all parties have time and again raised their voices against encounter killings and custodial deaths. Their declamations become all the more intense when such an incident makes the headlines in a State governed by their political adversaries. The leaderships of the two principal parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have adopted such postures in various States. However, their own track record in the States they have ruled divest them of all moral authority to protest on this issue.

A historical overview of extrajudicial killings in India shows that the Congress has been in the forefront of championing this method of policing in several parts of the country right from the late 1960s, while the Hindutva-oriented BJP has advocated it vigorously since the 1990s when the number of States it governed increased significantly.

The Congress track record started with the so-called anti-naxalite (anti-Maoist) operations in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Later, Congress governments in different States employed this method against a variety of alleged law-breakers and enemies of the State, such as Sikh militants, underworld law-breakers and Islamist jehadi extremists. In the process, Congress governments targeted legitimate political opponents, too, branding them as extremists of one variety or the other. The targets of BJP governments have been, by and large, the so-called Islamist fundamentalist extremists and Maoists.

The record of the Congress has some chapters of vehement repression in West Bengal, where the party reportedly pioneered extrajudicial atrocities in the 1970s. Hundreds of activists of all opposition forces, including the principal opposition, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), were hunted down by the Siddhartha Shankar Ray-led Congress regime, from 1970 to 1977, in the name of tackling the naxalite menace.

The same practice was followed in the southern States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, albeit on a smaller scale. In all three States, encounter killings became the norm during the Emergency (1975-1977). The trial in the Rajan case in Kerala in the late 1970s and the early 1980s and the Vimadlal Commission in Andhra Pradesh exposed the wrongdoings of two senior Congress leaders, K. Karunakaran and J. Vengala Rao respectively. Karunakaran was the Home Minister of Kerala between 1970 and 1977 and Vengala Rao was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from December 1973 to March 1978.

According to the Lucknow-based political analyst Indra Bhushan Singh, a senior advocate who was a human rights activist during the 1970s and the early 1980s, "encounter killing" and "mysterious escape from police custody" became the most common alibis State police forces gave during that period to explain the killing of persons who were then labelled dacoits, naxalites or terrorists, depending on what was politically expedient.

A former senior police officer from Uttar Pradesh observed that many of the worst forms of torture used by the police were perfected during this period. These included the "aeroplane treatment" (tying the hands of the suspect behind his back and then suspending him from a beam, leading to shoulder dislocation) and the cattle prod or roller treatment (rolling a wooden log on the suspect's legs). The officer said rape and sexual humiliation of female prisoners also happened during this period. He added that many of these forms of torture were a part of routine policing even now across the country.

According to Indra Bhushan Singh, in the period immediately following the Emergency years, which witnessed the rout of the Indira Gandhi-led Congress in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections and the ouster of Congress governments in many States, extrajudicial killings had decreased marginally, mainly on account of the intense public focus on the Emergency atrocities.

It was in this climate that India, in 1979, signed on to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR provides that every human being has the inherent right to life and that this right shall be protected by law and that law prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of life under any circumstances.

However, the atrocities of the Emergency years were forgotten with the advent of Sikh extremism and the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. "From then on, what we have witnessed is a series a police and paramilitary operations in Punjab, Manipur, Assam, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir in the name of fighting militancy and extremism," said Indra Bhushan Singh. "Uttar Pradesh, too, is notable for its encounter deaths, which have assumed alarming proportions in recent times," he added.

Jehadis and Maoists

The thrust of most extrajudicial torture and annihilation operations now is on jehadi extremists and Maoists. The former have been and continue to be pursued aggressively by BJP-ruled States. Leading the BJP governments' exercises is the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government, which has been accused of engineering a "mass encounter killing" of Muslims in 2002. The BJP governments in Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand have also been accused periodically of extrajudicial torture, detention and encounter killings.

The track record of CPI(M)-led Left Front governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura has been better in comparison with those of the Congress and the BJP. According to informal estimates by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs), between 1977 and 1987 Left-ruled West Bengal recorded a significant decrease in the number of incidents of extrajudicial torture. However, in later years the government's track record has been criticised by a number of NGOs, including Amnesty International, particularly on account of custodial deaths. In Kerala, too, custodial deaths have happened intermittently during the regimes of both the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front.

The records of other secular parties, such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (S.P.) in Uttar Pradesh, the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), whose leaders held the Home portfolio for many years in Maharashtra, have not been anything to write home about. All these States have a pathetic history of extrajudicial torture and custodial and "encounter" killings.

Human Rights activists such as Lenin Raghuvanshi of the Varanasi-based People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), which has studies the issue for the past 13 years, point out that all mainstream political parties have employed extrajudicial torture and killings at some time or the other.

"Some like the Congress, the BJP, the BSP and the S.P. have used it blatantly and in an unrestrained manner, while others may have done so sparingly. But the fact remains that there is the complicity of State and Central governments in extrajudicial torture and killings. The very fact that governments do not carry out a proper prosecution of the guilty in these cases points to this complicity," said Lenin Raghuvanshi.

He pointed out that bodies such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) were not effective in checking "encounter killings" because NHRC recommendations were not implemented by the State and Central governments. "The guidelines issued by the NHRC in matters regarding encounter killings are rarely followed. Moreover, the governments also reward policemen or paramilitary personnel, which actually encourages such killing," he said. He added that amendments brought to laws such as the Indian Evidence Act, with a view to curbing custodial deaths, had not been effective in terms of implementation.

He is of the view that the glorification of encounter specialists by the media and the establishment has to stop if extrajudicial killings and torture are to end.

Activists such as Raghuvanshi and organisations such as the PVCHR and the NHRC have raised their voices on these lines for long, but they are yet to get a positive response from the political establishment.

Monday, September 21, 2009

I might be a very outspoken Human Rights Activist but I also a speechless women. « 寿司王

Sunday, September 20, 2009

World Forum for Democratization in Asia Third Biennial Conference：Agenda / 9/19 Press Release

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Learning from the Asian Gwangju Folk School organized by May 18 Foundation

"Today I have the most important voice of our generation on behalf of human rights and democracy in the East Timor and around the world after participation in the Asian Folk School organized by May 18 Foundation at Gwangju,South Korea. Naldo Rei is our indispensable hero on all these issues."

Second I again faced circumstances which proves, "Our's truth have obviously been ' a thing contrary to the interest of human that have dominion' in our society .Therefore , we have never lacked for enemies who have been busy refuting, misrepresenting & vulgarizing us over the last many years. But we have suffered equally, perhaps more, at the hands of friends -- they have brought much grist to mills of enemies through their dogmatism, scientism, economism & much else besides."

We are keeping alive an ancient tradition of our ancient land to oppose inequality; exploitation- a tradition pioneered by lord Buddha,Kabeer, Mahavir, Biras Munda and Guru Gobind Singh and other. "Buddhism raised the slogan of revolt and uprising. The Varna (caste) system also is not permanent---- Buddha openly attacked in hundreds of his sermon- Brahamanical tyranny, the Varna system, the monarchy and inequality. When Buddha that announced his mission in life was liberating humanity from suffering it had a great social significance. All the oppressed and downtrodden- the low caste, the women, the poor, the indebted and the slaves looked upon the Buddha as a great liberator." ( Y. Bala Rama Moorthy).

The abandoning of our caste background for the sake of the Dalit Community, we are reminiscent of the path of uprising and decision taken by Buddha 2500 years ago. We are continuing this Indian tradition of challenging Brahmanism and caste system. We have changed our lifestyle limiting to the barest and basic minimum denying ourselves the luxury and comforts so that we can devote ourselves for the cause of the Dalit community.

Peoples' uprising for democracy and human rights is vital part of human development, which is main inculcating learning in folk school. I learn, "Capitalism tears up 'all genuine bonds between human,' and dissolves 'the world of human into a world of atomized individuals, hostile to each other.' It leaves 'no other nexus between man and man (woman and woman) than naked self-interest, than callous "cash payment-- and resolves personal wealth into exchange value.' Every aspect of human life is commodified and the very things which were once 'communicated, but never sold; acquired, but never bought—virtue, love, conviction, knowledge, conscience, etc.--'now become marketable and pass 'into commerce'. The 'divine power of money' overturns and confounds 'all human and natural qualities' in the market place…"

I would like to write a poem by a famous Hindi poet Mr. Gyanendra Pati, chairperson of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Right--

In Golden Jubilee year of Freedom

Freedom means
Freedom to choose in market

And your choice,
Decided by those who have
Body-prowess of gadgets,
Illusion- power of advertisement

They like your freedom
Freedom to be consumer-slave

On summit of mechanical civilization
They've not only made computers
But your mind too, a computer
Whose software they supply
Home delivery , free,
Absolutely free,

You too, think better say " Thanks you" Smiling
Society too, won't beer the weight of a rebel mind

You don't jump in the market one fine day
In these days of global market
By and by alone, the market become your world

And now the mind is handed over to the market
The delicate mind,
Shaped round like dung-cake by market Embossed with the fingerprints
The dung-cake ready to be burnt down
Like the deep dwelling ocenic fire and stomach-born(e) hunger-fire
To keep the fire burning
In the market-womb

Whose ever-consuming appetite is global market
Their shutters are ever open.

Thanks, folk school for giving to opportunity for learning in personal life about anger and frustration management and challenging the manipulation in honest and brave way. I am going to use all learning in my future life and I de- learn my innocence: become more so-called mature in callous globe of neo-colonialism based on fractured life of human.

I am remembering the brief of my grandfather told that when British colonial force killed 30 people in my family and seized all property, then we became more stronger fighter family due to our conviction for democracy and free world. Again, I stand stronger with more clear understanding of contradiction in Asian society in context of patronizing the human life.

Thanks to folk school for opportunity for new learning, friendship and wisdom for art of life.

In un-rest

Lenin Raghuvanshi, India

Please visit:

http://www.kwangju.co.kr/read.php3?aid=1252594800368980028