Human Rights and Atrocities against Dalits

A Research Project Report:
Human Rights and Atrocities against Dalits





By: Lalit P. Khandare






Submitted in partial fulfillment of the course requirement of Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY
BANGLORE


Content Pg. No.


1. NTRODUCTION
2. HISTORY OF OPPRESSION AND CRIME AGAINST SC/ST
3. THE RIGHT TO LIFE AND SECURITY
4. POST-INDEPENDENCE SOCIO-LEGAL INITIATIVES
5. THE EVALUATION OF LEGAL MEASURES
6. SOCIAL REFORMERS FOR ABOLITION OF UNTOUCHABILITY
7. INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTIONS
8. ROLE OF NGOS AND INGOS
9. NEED FOR FURTHER INTERVENTION
10. CONCLUSION
11. REFERENCES


1. Introduction:
There are social economical and political reasons for history of oppression and crime against Dalits and Adivasis. Nowhere in the history of mankind is there any system like as we posses it in India. This caste system alone has created a section of sub-human beings in this country in the form of Dalits, whose human rights have been trampled systematically for ages. Under this mysterious system, these subhuman beings are safe as long as they have to face the eternal war of extermination, which is silently operating in the form of atrocities.

When our national leaders and constitutional makers were occupied with the thoughts of making the new born India a better place to live in, of securing economic and social justice for the various people subjected to centuries of exploitation …they were clear that all this is impossible without ensuring special treatment for the deprived. Article 14 to18 of the Constitution, which effected a fundamental change in the social and legal realm for India. Under Article 17 of our Constitution abolishes the practice of “Untouchability” and punishes the enforcement of any disability arising out of the practice. Thirty -four years after the introduction of the PCR Act, the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rule, 1995 was enacted to bring these other forms of abuses to an end .In the Atrocities Act … the complainant is given more weight. There are also stringent provisions against the police for negligence. The 1989 Act specifies the eighteen types of atrocities for penalty.

Not a day passes when a major incident of atrocities on Dalits in the country does not take place, and brutal and cold-blooded means are employed by the perpetrators of crimes. The Special exclusive Courts envisaged under prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, have not been established so far, disposed of cases is tardy, the witnesses belonging to scheduled castes are being discarded as interested parties and other witnesses are turning hostile. The conviction rate is very poor and the acquittal rate in such cases was as high as 95 percentages.
Organisations like NCDHR, Navsarjan, Manav Hakk Abhiyan, ICHRL and others are working on the cases of Dalit and Adivasi atrocities.

The Untouchability has multiple dimensions for its persistence in today’s society. The strategic micro and macro level initiatives are needed to tackle the crime against Dalits and Adivasis. There is need civic and state initiatives to ensure their basic rights to livelihood, education, land and labour, right to life & security and equality of opportunity

The Indian Government should fully implement the provision of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995.Indian government should enlist the support of the United Nations multilateral financial institutions India’s trading partners and national and international government organisation to the pervasive problem of caste –based abuse. It should also place a priority on strengthening institutional mechanisms aimed at addressing issues of violence and discrimination.

Genuine initiatives are needed to target the root causes of the crime against Dalits and Adivasis .The politicians, social activists, judiciary, executive and media to abolish the Untouchability and problems of Dalits and Adivasis. This will only bring the equality, justice, freedom and fraternity in true sense.

2. History of oppression and crime against SC/ST:

"No where in the history of mankind is there any system like as we posses it in India. This caste system alone has created a section of sub-human beings in this country in the form of Dalits, whose human rights have been trampled systematically for ages. Under this mysterious system, these subhuman beings are safe as long as they have to face the eternal war of extermination which is silently operating in the form of atrocities."[1]
The Hindu religion is based on Caste System with graded inequality, Brahmin (Priest caste) on the top, below comes Kshatriya (ruling caste), below comes Vaishya (business caste), below stands Shudras (menial caste) to serve all 3 masters, and Untouchables are the lowest of the low- the Out-Caste. In this caste hierarchy power is in ascending order and contempt is in descending order. This is like a 5 story building with no stairs to go-water tight compartments. The top 3 castes are the ruling high caste less than 15%, but control 80 % of the power, wealth, police judiciary and 90% media.
In villages Dalits cannot fetch water even from the public well or the well gets polluted as per hindu beliefs. They cannot socialise in village cafe for the fear of pollution. If they dared, there are many cases of beatings, killings by high caste Hindus.
The Hindu religious traditions in certain parts of India force 6 year old female Untouchable child to marry to temple god by coercing her parents-the landless labour, and at puberty they rape her and every year 5000-10,000 these children are secretly auctioned to the brothels of Bombay and other major cities. This system is known as Devdasi or Maidens of God. Other sanctified female child prostitution is called Jogins where a child at puberty is forced to stay with her parents as a BONDED LABOUR and the Hindu masters visit her at her house to have the sexual pleasures. Moreover, the evidence shows that the vast majority (80-98%) of bonded labourers in India come from Dalits and Adivasi communities.

3. The right to life and security:

Rule of Caste over Rule of Law Untouchability- Same as it Ever Was: Despite official assertions and the mass of educated, urban beliefs to the contrary, dozens of forms of untouchability, varying in their degree of inhumanity, persist unabated today in rural areas. A 1996 survey of 69 villages in Gujarat revealed that 46 villages had separate water facilities for Dalits. A 1992-1993 survey of 52 villages in Karnataka revealed that 80% bar Dalits from entering into hotels. 400 villages in Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh, still practice the two-tumbler system for tea and coffee in 1999. The evidence presented by the Black Paper is sufficient to show that these examples are easily multiplied and even include incidents of highly perverted social behavior such as forcing Dalits to drink or eat excreta, dumping carcasses or other waste matter in their premises and polluting their drinking water sources.

The prevalence of the menace of untouchability denies Dalits the ability to live his or her day-to-day existence and carry out mundane activities with even a modicum of human dignity: drawing water, taking tea, moving about freely, wearing clothes of one’s choice, worshiping freely, etc.
Manual Scavenging: What National Pride? Today, even as we march into the 21st century as a nuclear power, there are four to eight lakh Dalits having to manually carry human excreta as part of the sanitation arrangements in various places, including our nation’s capitol. They earn a mere Rs. 50 a month. Rehabilitating less than a million manual scavengers in a population of a thousand million is no gigantic task, especially, when the programme can be concentrated on just four states where 70% of the manual scavengers live. Given that laws banning the practice are in place and crores of rupees have been allocated for their rehabilitation and to build flush latrines, why does this major social evil and blot on national pride continue? Why do our leaders make it so obvious that they have no moral conscience whatsoever?
Atrocities- Caste (read "Mob") Rule: In hundreds of districts and several states, Dalits live today in a constant state of alert and fear due to threats to their life and security from upper-caste militias, sometimes abetted by or tacitly condoned by police. Since it was founded in August 1994, the Ranavir Sena has perpetrated 19 massacres killing 277 persons, almost all of them poor, landless Dalits. Till date, no important member of the Sena has been tried in court.
From 1995 to 1997, a total of 90,925 crimes against Dalits were registered by police, of which 1617 were for murder, 12,591 for hurt, 2824 for rape, and 31,376 for offenses listed under the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. These numbers represent only registered crimes. Either due to intimidation, inaccessibility of police stations, or loss of faith in the law enforcement agencies, many cases go unreported.
There is more than enough data and evidence to show that "untouchability is not an ancient cultural artifact, it is human rights abuse on a vast scale," [2]

4. Post-Independence Socio-Legal Initiatives

When our national leaders and constitutional makers were occupied with the thoughts of making the new born India a better place to live in, of securing economic and social justice for the various people subjected to centuries of exploitation …they were clear that all this is impossible without ensuring special treatment for the deprived. Article 14 to18 of the Constitution, which effected a fundamental change in the social and legal realm for India. Under article 17 of our constitution, ”Untouchability” stood abolished ,and its practice became forbidden, special provision for Affirmative-Action (reservation)contained in Article 15 and 16 and to protect Dalits from Social injustice and all forms of exploitation ,the laws made in that behalf ,namely ,the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities )Act, 1989.These provisions have not resulted in substantial improvement in the status and position of the Dalits even after 55 years of Independence .
Under Article 17 of our Constitution abolishes the practice of “Untouchability” and punishes the enforcement of any disability arising out of the practice. In order to enforce Constitutional provision, the Untouchability (offences) Act, 1955 was passed by the Parliament to make provisions for punishment for offences that amounted to observance of Untouchability in any form .On realization of the of the need to make the law stringent ,the Act was amended and renamed as the Protection of Civil Rights Act,1955 under which the Practice of 'Untouchability ' has been made an offence both cognizable and non cognizable .However ,convictions under this Act have been very few. Even where the cases ended in conviction ,the punishment has been to been too formal .The greatest deficiency of the Protection of Civil Rights Act was the fact that abuses against Dalits were not limited to name calling or denial of entry into public spaces: violence was defining characteristics of the abuse .Thirty -four years after the introduction of the PCR Act ,the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities )Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities )Rule, 1955 was enacted to bring these other forms of abuses to an end .In the Atrocities Act … the complainant is given more weight. There are also stringent provisions against the police for negligence. The 1989 Act specifies the eighteen types of Atrocities for penalty.
The promulgation of this Act itself was an acknowledgement by the central government that abuses, in their most dehumanizing form, continue to take place against Dalits throughout the country.
Not a day passes when a major incident of atrocities on Dalits in the country does not take place ,and brutal and cold-blooded means are employed by the perpetrators of crimes. The Special exclusive Courts envisaged under prevention of Atrocities Act,1989 ,have not been established so far ,disposed of cases is tardy ,the witnesses belonging to scheduled castes are being discarded as interested parties and other witnesses are turning hostile . The conviction rate is very poor and the acquittal rate in such cases was as high as 95 percentages.

The past annual reports of National commission shows that the average number cases registered annually were 480 during the 1950s ,903 during the 1960s ,3240 during the 1970s and 3875 during the 1980s .The incidents of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes ,that on average 30,000 cases of general crimes and atrocities committed against Dalits were registered annually during 1981-97 . During 1981-86 and 1995-97 a total of 2,69,000 cases of crime and atrocities were committed against Dalits .The break -up of the atrocities for the year 1997 shoes 504 cases of murder ,3,462 of grievous hurt ,384 of arson and 1,002 cases of rape ,and 12149 cases of other offences .The data between 1981-1997 showed that on an average annually about 508 Dalit were murdered ,about 2343 were hurt ,847 were subjected to arson ,754 women were raped and about 12000 were subjected to other offences .The violation of civil rights shows that Dalits can not enjoy the liberty and equality in civic and political sphere. In Tamilnadu ,from 1992 to 1997 , some 750 cases of atrocities against Dalits were registered annually by the state police .However , the number of convictions secured by protection of civil rights cells established in each district to implement the Atrocities Act was very low .From 1992 to 1997 only four out of 1500 case led to a conviction ,despite the fact that in 1997 as many as 118 villages were considered by the government to be “atrocities – prone”.[3]

States Incidences of total % contribution to
Cognisable crimes(against Dalits ) All India Total
total

Uttar Pradesh 10963 34.9
Rajestan 6623 21.1
Madhya Pradesh 4075 13.0
Tamilnadu 1812 5.8
Gujarat 1764 5.6
Andhra Pradesh 1629 5.2
Maharashtra 1352 4.3
Karnataka 1089 3.5
Bihar 810 2.6
Kerala 640 2.0
Orissa 486 1.5

(*) This list contains only states having incidences above 100
This list contain only reported crimes[4]



5. Evaluation of Legal Measures
National SC/ST Commission Report (1996-97&1997-98) reflects that the projects conceived for the development of SC/ST are starved of funds. Land ceiling laws have not been enforced & SCs/STs are not accorded priority in the land allotment ,land illegally alienation to the non-SCs/STs are not restored to the original allottees and the ownership of the productive assets is also unequally distributed to the disadvantaged SCs/STs. The quota of reservation is not being filled ,instead the existing privileges and concessions available are being withdrawn by the government and untouchability is prevalent in various forms in the country.
The implementation of Atrocities Act and other legislation, however, depends largely on the ability and willingness of the Police to follow proper procedures and overcome caste biases, economic hurdles and other obstacles.
Police, in, some cases perpetrate atrocities, they use various tactics in order to avoid investigating and/or prosecuting rights violation against Dalits and implementing the SC/ST Act. Police brutality and custodial deaths happen much frequently than they should. The report prepared by the SAKSHI (NGO working in A.P.) documented 14 cases of such human rights violations perpetrated by the very people entrusted to uphold the law and protect the citizens from harm .In many of these cases , the police arrest the victim on false cases or bring them in for questioning in connection with theft cases. In many incidents of custodial death and police brutality, the police are not arrested suspended, unless the press wildly publicizes the incident.
In many cases victim never even get a chance simply because police refuse to register the case . As a result , the are not even arrested. Some times , the police themselves mediate in the conflict , but they usually end up "mediating" on behalf of the perpetrator , rather than being impartial , objective third party . In another attempt to force the Dalit victim to withdraw their complaints or cases, police have been known to foist false cases against Dalit at behest perpetrator and their kith and kin. Cognizant of the fact that the SC/ST Act is a very powerful act with strong punitive and retributive measures , police are often reluctant to register cases of Dalit atrocities under the Act.

Rule 7(1) of the Act stipulates that cases registered under the Act an officer no lower than the rank of Deputy supt. of Police should conduct the investigation. In many cases however ,an officer of rank conducts the investigation and the Deputy Supt. of Police simply sign off on it .There have been instances in the lower courts where the judge has acquitted the accused or squashed an appeal on the grounds that the DSP has not conducted the investigation as per Rule 7(1).This raises the suspicious that police deliberately subvert the rules o Investigation in order to weaken the case in the courts.
The backlog of cases is largely due to lack of special courts and special prosecutors .Pursuant to the Act each revenue district within each state must designate a special court for the trial of such offences .According to lawyers with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Tamilnadu) ,Almost all atrocities Act cases go to regular sessions courts , which are already overburdened with original and appellate jurisdiction over district level civil and original cases .Even if the a case reach the trial level , the local police biases are mirrored at the judicial level.[5]

6. Social reformers for abolition of untouchability:
There were so many leaders who had questioned the existing social system. Among them where Buddha in the ancient period, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Ayotheethas Pandithar, E.V. Ramasamy and Dr.D.R.Ambedkar. Among these Dr. B.R.Ambedkar played a prominent role. He was unhappy to see the oppression and suppression of the so-called “untouchables”. They were denied of their basic rights and were humiliated in all spheres of life. In December 1927 he led a Satyagraha to establish the civic right of the Untouchables to draw water from a public tank, “Chavdar Talav”, at Mahad, district Kolaba (Raigad at present). He was also nominated as a delegate to the three Round Table Conferences. Gandhi opposed his demand for separate electorates for the Untouchables. The communal award on August 1932 conceded separate electorates for the Untouchables. Gandhi went on fast unto death on 20 September 1932 and finally POONA pact was made on 24th September 1932. Later on in 1935 he made a statement that the Untouchables would leave the Hindu fold altogether and accept some other religion as it never recognized the social equality. Finally, on 14th October 1956 he embraced Buddhism and advised his followers to accept the new faith. The most important thing in his career was when he became the Chairman of the Drafting Committee to frame the constitution of India. In 1955 he founded the Bharatiya Buddha Mahasabha for the spread of Buddhism in India.

7. International Interventions
India is a signatory for several United Nations Conventions and so obliged to abide by their provisions. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Human Rights committee (HRC) , monitoring bodies under the United Nations International Conventions on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, respectively , have both expressed concern over the severe social discrimination still practiced against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes. Both committees have also recommended measures that can be taken to ameliorate the situation.

At the UN CERD 61 Session Geneva, Switzerland, 10 August 2002 Historic Decision by UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to draft General Recommendation of Caste based discrimination
This is indeed a historic decision taken by the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) to pass a General Recommendation on the Caste Based Discrimination. This implies that Caste based discrimination will be directly addressed with clear guide lines of monitoring by the states within their respective countries as well as reporting to the CERD in its deliberations. The important spin-off is that Caste based discrimination will be addressed the many UN bodies on its own identity and within the parameters of the discrimination being experienced by the Dalits and similar communities across the world. It will mean that every Charter body or relevant international Conventions like CRC (Convention of Child Rights), CEDAW (Convention of Elimination of Discrimination Against Women), ICCPR (International Convention for Civil and Political Rights), ICSECR (International Convention on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights).
There were statements from Joint Statement from of 26 NGOs (International Dalit Solidarity Network), National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, India, National Federation of Dalit Women, Sakshi-Dalit Human Rights Watch – Andhra Pradesh, Centre for Dalit Human Rights, Rajasthan, AP Jogini Vyvastha Vyathireka Porata Sanghatan, Lutheran World Federation-Geneva, International Movement Against discrimination and Racism – Japan, Buraku Liberation League, Nepalese Dalit NGO Federation, Human Development Organisation – Sri Lanka, National Dalit Commission (Nepal), RADDHO (Senegal ), SAFRAD- Somali Association, Timidria – Niger, Centre Minority Rights Development (Kenya).
National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi, India[6]
This World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia & Related Intolerance holds, in reality, a mirror to the soul of each of us. The Commission is acutely aware that the journey to end discrimination, injustice and inequality will be long and often frustrating. But it is convinced that, in this mission, the Constitution of the Republic has shown the way. Legislative and affirmative action programmes are firmly in place, but unquestionably need to be far better implemented. The Commission is convinced that discrimination on any of the grounds contained in the Constitution of India, and these include race, caste and descent, constitute an unacceptable assault on the dignity and worth of the human person and an egregious violation of human rights. Such discrimination must therefore be eradicated, as must other forms of discrimination covered by United Nations treaties. The Commission holds the view that the instruments of governance in our country, and the energetic and committed non-governmental sector that exists, can unitedly triumph over the historical injustices that have hurt the weakest sections of our country, particularly Dalits and Scheduled Tribes. This is above all a national responsibility and a moral imperative that can and must be honoured.
8. National level NGOs for prevention of crime against dalits and adivasis:

Organisations like NCDHR, NAVSARJAN, MANAV HAKK ABHIYAN, ICHRL and others are working on the cases of Dalit and Adivasis atrocities. They are working with different strategies. Some of the major initiatives of these NGO’s are as follows:
Ø Organisational and Legal support to the effective implementation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and other relevant acts.
Ø Land reforms - implementation of land ceiling act and redistribution of lands.
Ø Conducting Public Hearing at the places of atrocities.
Ø Advocating for policy implementation for abolition of untouchability at national and international level.
9. Need for further intervention:
As we have seen that Untouchability has multiple dimensions for its persistence in today’s society. The micro and macro level initiatives in various field is the need of an hour. So that the issue of crime against Dalits and Adivasis can be tackled to a large extent by assuring them their right to Livelihood, Education, Land & Labour, Life and Security ,equality of opportunity.
Rights to Life and Security:
The Indian Government should fully implement the provision of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995. In particular it should ensure that State constitute and oversee state and district level vigilance and monitoring committee, as required by Rules 16 and17 of the SCs and STs (POA)Rules ,1995 ,for the implementation of the Act .Government take consult with local , NGOs in the in the process of investigation .
Ensure that States establish special courts in every revenue district and appoint special public prosecutors to try cases arising under the Atrocities Act.
Each police station should have a SC/ST Atrocities cell to handle investigation of abuses and alleged violation of Atrocities Act . Each revenue district should also have a special duty superintendent of police challenged with investigating atrocities under the act .The cells should work closely with the vigilance and monitoring committees established under the Atrocities Rules to ensure full enforcement .
Ensure immediate and full compensation by the district administration to victims of atrocities as per the atrocities Rules.
Provide training to district officials charged with enforcing the Atrocities Act.
Statutorily empower the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes to oversee implementation of Atrocities Act in all States.
Strengthen the capacity of the National Human Rights Commission and the National commission for women to operate branch offices in all states with enough financial resources and powers to initiate prosecution of cases.
Implement recommendation made by the National Police Commission in 1980, specifically those that call for a mandatory judicial inquiry in cases of alleged rape, death or grievances injury of people in police custody.
Ensure that each police Station has adequate female police personnel, consistent with adequate female police personnel, consistent with recommendation made by the National Commission for SCs and STs.
Launch a nation wide public awareness campaign regarding the legal prohibition of “untouchability”,”atrocities” and other forms of discrimination and violence against Dalits. The ignorance and indifference to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and other such laws requires radical steps to sensitize the law enforcement offences, in particular the police and the bureaucracy about the urgency and importance of the provision of this Act .The genuine initiatives are needed to target root causes of the problem, involving the politicians, social activists, judiciary, executive and media to abolish the caste system from Indian society and bring justice , equality ,freedom and fraternity to treat a human as human.

Right to Livelihood
To amend Art. 21, Part III, Fundamental Rights, so as to include the following rights for all citizens, but with preferential consideration for SCs and STs: right to a standard of living adequate to their health and well-being in areas such as food, safe drinking water, clothing, housing, public health and medical care, social security and social services; right to free and compulsory education; right to own five acres of cultivable land, or to gainful employment; right to a living wage. To allocate adequate funds in the annual budget of the Centre and States to the tune of 20% of GDP in order to enable the implementation of the policies and programme related to the same amendment of the Constitution. To enact a law in Parliament which would tax 15% of the annual income of the private corporate sector in order to augment the resources necessary for the effective and swift implementation of the policies and programme.

Right to Education
Implement both in letter and spirit compulsory, universal and free education for Dalits. Make the reservation quota mandatory for all private educational institutions at different levels- from primary to technical and professional. Take total responsibility for making Dalit communities literate within a specified period of ten years.


Right to Land & Labour
Bring down the ceiling limit of land ownership in the Land Reforms Act. From the declared surplus land under the Land Ceiling Act distribute a minimum of five acres of cultivable land to each Dalit household within three years. Appoint statutory committees at national and state level, under the purview of the SC/ST Commission, to identify within a specified time-frame all the Panchami Lands; to study the extent of areas occupied by non-Dalits; to assess the quantum of compensation to be paid by the non-Dalits for having utilized the lands; to identify and distribute the lands to the original Dalit owners and their nearest kith and kin.
Right to equal opportunity
Fill all backlog posts meant for Dalits immediately and, that too, only with Dalits. Make reservation mandatory in the private sector in the same proportion as it is in the government institutions. Review the earlier policy of prohibiting reservation to certain areas like judiciary, trustee posts, etc. Ensure, in the light of the Supreme Court verdict- reservation should not exceed more then 50%- that the representation of the forward castes (non-SC/ST/OBC) does not exceed 50%.

10. Conclusion:

Indian government should enlist the support of the United Nations multilateral financial institutions India’s trading partners and national and international government organisation to the pervasive problem of caste –based abuse. It should also place a priority on strengthening institutional mechanisms aimed at addressing issues of violence and discrimination. Genuine initiatives are needed to target the root causes of the crime against Dalits and Adivasis .The politicians, social activists, judiciary, executive and media to abolish the untouchability and problems of Dalits and Adivasis. This will only bring the equality, justice, freedom in true sense.

11. References

Chandra and Pradhan(2001) :Crime against SCs/STs in Rural Areas: a study of causes and remedies, ,Journal of Rural Development,Vol 20(1),Jan-Mar.2001.

Susan Byle(1999):The Cambridge History of India-Caste Society and politics in India, Cambridge University Press.

Chandra,Sailaja, Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principal’, Deep and Deep Publication House, New Delhi.

Thorat Sukhdeo, Oppression and Denial –Dalit Discrimination in the 1990s, Economic and Political Weekly,February,9,2002,

Moon, Vasant (1987): Dr.B.R. Ambedkar:writing and Speeches, Volume3, Government of Maharashtra.

Ghosh,S K, (1987): Law enforcement in tribal areas , Ashidh Publishing House, New Delhi,1987.

National SC/ST Commission,GOI, Report ,1996-97 & 1997-98,p.309 Report(2003)

‘Dalit and Globalisation’ by National Campaign For Dalit Human Rights

Barse,Sheela : Our Children are Gone –an attempt to interpret the Indian Constitution and the international law on indigenous peoples and their children’s rights, NeergauravResearch & Development Foundation, Mumbai.

Prakash Louis: Dalit human rights:Problems and opportunities, Humanscpe-September-2001.
[1] Shri. Kusuma Krishna Murthy, Ineffective Control of violence Against Harijans,Untouchables ! Ed.by Barbara R.Joshi.p.119
[2] As reported by Smita Narula, researcher for the Asia division of Human Rights Watch.
[3] Radha Venkatesan ,”cell to protect SCs flounder in Tamilnadu”, Indian Express (Bombay ),June 15,1997
[4] : National; SC/ST Commission Report ,1996-97 & 1997-98,p.309
[5] Human Rights Watch interview with Sudha Ramalingam, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Madras, February 12,1998

[6] STATEMENT-At the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia & Related intolerance, Durban September, 2001

GUJARAT GENOCIDE, 2002:STATE REPRESSION AND CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

GUJARAT GENOCIDE, 2002:STATE REPRESSION AND CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY


The Muslim minority in India has hardly recovered from the shock of the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the nationwide communal riots that followed. Since then nothing has been done to assuage their feelings and restore their confidence. Sporadic attacks on the places of worship a life and property of the minorities, particularly Christians, has continued since Ayodhya. The nation has witnessed the unending process of judicial inquiry and its non-implementation going on for years. On the top of all this have come the death and destruction in Gujarat State of India. The inferno that started with Godhra on 26th February and then carnage spread up in different places in Gujarat, was the result of the poison consciously injected into Gujarat bloodstream by groups of Hindu and Muslim extremists. The inhuman killings continued without any hindrances from state administration. When September 11 happened, American leaders from George W. Bush down to local officials at once made it plain that hate crimes against Arabs, Afgans or other Muslims living in America would be severely punished. But after Gujarat heard no warning against targeting Muslims. For decades, Gujarat has experiences deep rage- from neighboring Pakistan and also from the so-called Indian heartland. The Hindu extremists were always against minorities’ rights, religious freedom, equality and justice. They had used all possible means to spread communal hatred against Muslim and other minorities. The tribals, dalits or OBC youths were targeted and influenced by intimidation and emotions. The terror squads were trained to spread communal violence immediately after Godhara incidence.

Socio-economic situation of Gujarat state and communal attacks on Muslims:

Gujarat has been a conservative non-progressive state. It has been still following its traditional orthodox societal norms of caste system. The first Sanskrit inscriptions of India are found in Gujarat. During 1st century when Prakrit was predominant of other regions unlike in Gujarat region where Sanskrit was prospering. Sanskrit is identified with the support of Brahminism and varnashram; Prakrit, in most cases meant a support of Buddhism and other shramana religions. Buddhism had very little hold in Gujarat; Jainism had some bases of strength, it rather early became the enclave religion, content to accept the religious hegemony of Brahminism. There were no democratic movements and there was no moral or ideological force for anti-caste social transformation.
In a recent years there is constant power control by the communal forces through various government and non-government machinery. The spread of BJP, and infiltration of RSS into the bureaucracy and police force, grips over the education and media in the region.
Gujarat has gone the rampant unbalanced, inequalitarian and even faltering development Gujarat has undergone in the years of liberalization-rampant commercialization on the one hand and pervasive drought and rural neglect on the other hand.

The Gujarat has been the state of Mahatma Gandhi. The closed gates of the Sabarmati Ashram signal the failure of Gandhism in India. The Gandhi had visualized the “Ram Raj” as a harmonious, morally ordered village-based alternative to what he saw as the evils of western industrial civilization. His philosophical arguments supports looks caste and religion in isolation and strong supporter of Hinduism, where God is ultimate truth and Shastras, Smritis and other religious texts shows the path to follow duties as prescribed by caste in which you are born. It also follows that there is no calling too low and none too high. All are good, lawful and absolutely equal in status. The basic framework of thinking which reflects the ‘Hinduism’ as the national religion, need to be reexamined in this context.
Ambedkar’s argument against him was simple in 1936, he had written, “you must destroy the sacredness and divinity with which caste has become invested. In the last analysis, this means you must destroy the authority of the Shastras and the Vedas.. you must take the stand that Budhha took. You must take the stand, which Gurunank took… You must have the courage to tell Hindus that must have courage to tell the Hindus that what is wrong with them is their religion which has produced in them this notion of the sacredness of caste.” (Ambedkar, 1979;69)

Bhakti saints also challenged caste and Brahman domination, posing new ideals of a society of equality. Ravidas had written:
“ the regal realm with the sorrow-less name,
they call it queen city, a place with no pain,
no taxes or cares, none owns property there,
no wrongdoing, worry, terror, or torture.
Oh my brother, I’ve come to take it as my own,
My distant home, where everything is right.
They do this or that, they walk where they wish,
They stroll through fabled palaces unchallenged.
Oh, says Ravidas, a tanner now set free,
those who walk beside me are my friends.”

Godhra massacre and the patterns of attacks on Muslim minorities:

The activists were returning from Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, where they supported a campaign led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council, VHP) to construct a temple to the Hindu god Ram on the site of a sixteenth century mosque destroyed by Hindu militants in 1992. The Ayodhya campaign continues to raise the spectre of further violence in the country—Hindu-Muslim violence following the destruction of the mosque claimed thousands of lives in the city of Bombay and elsewhere in 1992 and 1993. The VHP claims that the mosque was built on a site that was the birthplace of Ram.

According to Jyoti Punwani(1)[1] and Teesta Setalvad(2)[2] both of who interviewed eyewitnesses and survivors, the Sabarmati Express arrived at Godhra station almost five hours late, at 7.43am instead of its scheduled time of 2.55 am. Some karsevaks had an altercation with Muslim tea vendors at the station over non-pay-ment, and pulled the beard of one such vendor, Siddique Bakr.A 17 year old girl, Sophiya Khan, who was standing on the platform with her mother and sister was pulled towards the train by a karsevak, but ultimately released when she cried out. Less than a km away from the station, someone pulled the chain of the train, which stopped just in front of Signal faliya, a Muslim Ghanchi dominated locality. A mob of anywhere between 500 to 2000 gathered and began to throw stones at the train. One specific compartment S6 was targeted. By 8.30 a.m. S6 had gone up in flames and 58 people were burnt dead, including 26 women and 12 children. 1 died later in hospital, taking the total toll to 59. It is not clear how many of them were karsevaks. (3)[3]

On 6 March the one-member Justice K.G Shah Commission of Inquiry was set up to probe the course of incidents leading up to the Sabarmati Express fire.It was only after public protest that the subsequent violence in the state was added on to this primary brief. On 21 May, the Commission was expanded to include Justice Nanavati.

Initially, the Gujarat government announced a cash compensation of Rs. 2 lakh for the victims of the train attack and Rs. 1 lakh for the victims of subsequent violence. Follow-ing public outcry, compensation was scaled down to a uniform Rs. 1 lakh (Rs. 40,000/- in cash and Rs. 60,000/- in Narmada Sriniddhi Bonds).

Curfew was declared in Godhra within hours of the attack on the train. Between February 28 and March 2, 2002, a three-day retaliatory killing spree by Hindus left hundreds dead and tens of thousands homeless and dispossessed, marking the country’s worst religious bloodletting in a decade. Eight boys aged sixteen and under, were picked up in the swooping midnight arrests of over a hundred members of the minority community on 27th/28th February in Godhra. Of the 62 booked under POTO (Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance), by the Government Railway police (GRP) for the February 27th attack on the Sabarmati Express, at least seven were minors under sixteen. (4)[4]

Indian government officials have acknowledged that since February 27, 2002, more than 850 people have been killed in communal violence in the state of Gujarat, most of them Muslims. Unofficial estimates put the death toll as high as 2,000.(5)[5]

Brutality of Attacks:
In most places, Hindu houses amongst Muslim bastis had been marked out before the attacks using saffron flags, or pictures of Ram and Hanuman, or with crosses.

Apart from the lives of Muslims, several symbols of India’s composite culture were deliberate targets during the carnage in Gujarat. The durgahs (shrines) of Sufi saints that are revered by persons from all communities, especially the oppressed castes, deserve special mention here.

There was no damage whatsoever to the Hindu houses so marked. Months later, saffron flags were still aflutter in many villages of Gujarat and it is evident how the attacks and destruction were carried out so that the Hindu houses were not damaged. In some villages, the adjoining Hindu houses were first sawed away from the Muslim houses before the latter were set on fire. Each attack, therefore, took not just extensive planning but also several hours to execute, which further indicates an abdication of responsibility by the police in its failure to come to the rescue of the targeted community.

“Women and young girls were targeted brutally, as were children. Evidence recorded before us shows how in the macabre dance of death, human beings were quartered and the killing protracted while the terrorised survivors looked on; the persons targeted were dragged or paraded naked through the neighbourhood; victims were urinated upon, before being finally cut to pieces and burnt. Hundreds of testimonies before us show how this manner and method of killing has left an indelible imprint on the minds of the survivors, who saw their near and loved ones killed and, that too, in such a fashion. These are images that have the potential to haunt, traumatise and enrage the survivors.”(6)[6]

Muslim men, women and children were killed by stabbing, in private or police firing, or by burning them alive. Such brutality, which was encouraged or condoned by the government in power, is now cynically being denied. Gujarat, over 1,100 Muslim-owned hotels, the homes of not less that 1,00,000 families, over 15,000 small and big business establishments, around 3,000 larri gallas (handcarts), and over 5,000 vehicles (private cars, trucks, taxis, autorickshaws) were badly damaged or completely destroyed in the attacks. Village-level evidence points to hired mobs, where the hooligans were equipped with trishuls, iron rods and swords, carrying supplies of water, salted beans and peanuts and liquor pouches and paid Rs. 500 per day or Rs.1, 000 per night.(7)[7]

An Assessment of the physical damages:

The Collateral damage as a result of the carnage as recorded by English and Gujarati press
includes:
Rs. 3,000 crore due to close down of shops, industries and commerce.
Rs. 1,000 crore in Surat due to damage to textile mills, handloom mills
More than Rs. 10 crore due to burning down of 60 Opel Astras parked outside GM Motors
Unit at Halol.
More than Rs. 2 crores at the Lucky Film studio nearby
Rs. 4 crore due to burnt Honda City and Accord fleet of cars at Landmark Honda Showroom
at Thaltej, Gandhinagar.
Rs. 600 crore loss to hotel industry at Ahmedabad.
At least 20,000 workers in Hotel industry rendered jobless and many mission.
Rs. 500 crore due to burnt down hotels and restaurants in Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, etc.
20,000 two-wheelers and 4,000 cars were burnt.
Thousands of crores due to arson of thousands of houses, buildings.
The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation estimated a loss of Rs. 12,50 crore and
Transport companies have lost business of Rs. 70 crore.
The Gujarat chambers of Commerce and Industry put the losses at Rs. 2,000 crores.
About 20 masjids and dargahs have been razed to the ground in Ahmedabad alone. The
Archaeological Survey of India and Indian History Congress said that places of considerable
historical and cultural importance have been damaged and destroyed.(8)[8]


Mobilisation of Adivasis, Dalits and Women:

The systematic organisation of tribals by the Sangh Parivar and attacks on Christian missionaries working among the former has been common in western and central India in recent years. Evidence before the Tribunal shows how determinedly the Sangh Parivar had been organising Adivasis over the past few years and how this work had intensified a few months prior to the violence.
The Sewa Bharti sponsored a Hindu Sangam in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh on January 17 and 18, 2002. The Sewa Bharti, which is an outfit of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), had been carried out a drive to install idols of Lord Hanuman in the homes of "Hindu tribals" in Jhabua district in the three months from November 2001 onwards. The RSS chief, K Sudershan, and Sadhvi Rithambara had addressed this gathering.
The mass mobilisation of tribals by the RSS at Jhabua in MP — a gathering of 1,50,000 that was addressed by RSS chief, KS Sudarshan — was an occasion when many utterances were made to relatively innocent tribals, and which the Tribunal views as a deliberate attempt at communalising them. Poisoning the minds of tribals against the minorities and drawing them into the intolerant Hindutva fold, seemed to be the agenda here.
Dalits and members of the denotified tribes like Waghris and Charas were active in the violence in urban areas, especially in the more gruesome instances of rape, killing and bestiality. The tragedy behind this pattern lies in the fact that influential and dominant sections of caste Hindu society have driven a wedge among the oppressed sections, pitting Dalits, Waghris and Charas against the Muslim minority. In urban Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad, Dalits and Muslims live in close proximity. The lower castes were cynically trained to indulge in violence of a kind that dehumanises the perpetrators themselves.

Women, especially from the affluent classes of Hindu society, were visible participants in the violence; in some cases, they even led the assaults and instigated Hindu men to commit sexual crimes against Muslim women.
Rape was used as an instrument for the subjugation and humiliation of a community. A chilling technique, absent in pogroms unleashed hitherto but very much in evidence this time in a large number of cases, was the deliberate destruction of evidence. Barring a few, in most instances of sexual violence, the women victims were stripped and paraded naked, then gang-raped, and thereafter quartered and burnt beyond recognition.

The infamous BEST Bakery incident that occurred in Vadodara on the night of March 1, when 14 persons were quartered and burnt (the attack took place after a jeep of the Vadodara Panigate police had driven past at 9 p.m.) also involved three cases of communally-driven rape.



Role of police, rule of law and Government of Gujarat:

The crimes against humanity that took place in the state of Gujarat.The survivors were rendered destitute. All the homes, schools, cultural and religious places, which have been damaged or destroyed, need to be rebuilt.
The sectarian approach of the government and the inaction on the part of the administration allowed the violence to spread.There was absolute failure of large sections of the Gujarat police to fulfil their constitutional duty and prevent mass massacre, rape and arson — in short, to maintain law and order. Worse still is the evidence of their active connivance and brutality, their indulgence in vulgar and obscene conduct against women and children in full public view. It is as if, instead of being impartial keepers of the rule of law, they were a part of the Hindutva brigade targeting helpless Muslims.
Police action has ranged from active collusion with the mobs to silent inaction in the face of cognizable and serious offences; from state apathy towards formulating and executing preventive measures to the unjustified and frequently biased resort to gunfire. What stands out conspicuously is the total lack of criminal, disciplinary, departmental or any other action against the personnel whose behavior was found to be contrary to established law, service rules or the constitution. Dismissals, suspensions, or even transfers a punitive measure against erring officials has been completely lacking. Officials certainly faced transfers but that seemed to be aimed not at erring against law, but for ‘erring’ against the government in power. Twenty-seven civil servants including 10-IPS officials were transferred on 25 March. These included officers who had taken measures to prevent and curtail the violence in their areas and had won acclaim for it.
Many of the offences were offences under sections 302/307, 295 and 153 of the Indian Penal Code. The prevalent injustice under the system is evident from the fact that mass FIRs were filed, often even panchnamas were not recorded and an investigation of forensic evidence was not undertaken.
Section 164 of the IPC empowers the judge to inform himself/herself about the truth. This is a section that can be, but has not been used in many cases, to get at the truth


Relief Camps, Public Health Rehabilitation:

The government of Gujarat has said that some 98,000 people were displaced by the communal violence and are now living in one hundred make-shift relief camps in different parts of the state.(9)[9] The state government of Gujarat has failed to provide effective and equitable protection and assistance to those displaced by the violence. Security in the camps remains precarious, and there have been serious delays in the delivery of assistance, compensation, and rehabilitation support. The camps continue to lack sufficient medical support and there are reports of discrimination in the delivery of assistance to Muslims, as compared to Hindus affected by the violence.
In responding to the crisis of the displaced, the state government has failed to adhere to the standards laid out in the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal displacement (Guiding Principles) and with international human rights standards(10)[10].
Principle 28 of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement state that it is the responsibility of the authorities to establish the condition and provide the means to allow internally displaced persons to return voluntarily and in safety and dignity to their homes, and to permit the full participation of the internally displaced to plan and manage their return or resettlement. Principle 29 of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement also states that it is the responsibility of the authorities to assist returned or resettled internally displaced persons to recover, or obtain compensation or reparations for their property and possessions that they lost or dispossessed of during displacement.

“Relief camps” present an inhumane living scenario. While, the efforts put by the existing (skeletal) medical team needs to be appreciated, it needs to be pointed out that the health needs in the camps were much more than what can be handled by the existing small team who has been working without any breaks. The camps were an ideal ground for epidemics and with each passing day it is reaching an explosive situations. There have already been reports of measles and water borne diseases. There is no adequate provision of food and nutrients in the camps. The sanitation and public health needs were almost nil. Water supply was not adequate. While almost all of the inmates expressed that they were not willing to return to their places of origin because of the continuing violence and sense of insecurity that prevails, the only option at this stage was step up the public health, ‘Relief camps’ present an inhumane living scenario. While, the efforts put by the existing (skeletal) medical team needs to be appreciated, it needs to be pointed out that the health needs in the camps are much more than what can be handled by the existing small team who has been working without any breaks. The camps were an ideal ground for epidemics and with each passing day it is reaching an explosive situations. There have already been reports of measles and water borne diseases. There was no adequate provision food, nutrition, water, sanitation and a medical need in the campsites itself. Health needs of women were not adequately addressed. The absence of adequate toilets and others were worsening their miseries. Urgent efforts needed to be put to ensure basic sanitation, adequate supply of clean water, survival food needs, medical care, steps up health facilities to take care of the special needs of women.

The following universally accepted UN standards should be used as the indicator:
Clean Water: Minimum Survival allocation- 7 litres / per person / per day, Minimum maintenance allocation- 15-20 litres / per person / per day
Food: Minimum food energy requirement for a Population totally dependant on food aid 2,100 kcal / per person/day
Appropriate shelter: Minimum shelter area - 3.5 sq. m / per person
Minimum total site area Π30.0 sq m / per person

Given the scale of the state-perpetrated violence and given the response of international aid agencies to such carnages in other areas in the past, it was incumbent on the United Nations relief agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as well as international humanitarian organisations, to provide relief and rehabilitation assistance to all those displaced and dispossessed by the communal carnage in Gujarat, without discrimination.
Also the major national newspapers which, during such calamities in the past, have always set up independent relief funds, did not do so in the context of Gujarat 2002, speaks for the silence and complicity that surrounds relief and rehabilitation of the survivors of the Gujarat carnage.

Violation of Religious and Cultural rights:

Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which upholds the fundamental right of every citizen to preach, practise and propagate his/her faith, was utterly and contemptuously violated during the state-sponsored carnage in Gujarat.
The Hague Convention of 1954, the ‘Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict’ stipulates that the preservation of "cultural heritage is of great importance for all peoples of the world" and that "damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind." India is a signatory to this convention. In 1972, a protocol to this Convention was adopted, which identified "cultural heritage" as, among other things, "monuments, architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science." Every State that had acceded to the Hague Convention, it held, recognised that "the duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage situated on its territory, belongs primarily to that State."
At its general conference meeting in 2001, UNESCO adopted a resolution that sought to define the circumstances under which an act could be construed as a "crime against the common heritage of humanity." It reiterated the need for all member-states to accede to and observe the various conventions it had evolved over the years. And it authorised the director-general of the organisation to formulate for the next session of the general conference, a ‘Draft Declaration’ that would define the circumstances under which the "Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage" could be deemed to have taken place.
In this case the government at the centre stands charged with flagrant violation of international conventions to which India is a signatory.



NATIONAL COMMISSIONS:

National Commission on Human Rights (NHRC) Recommendations: (11)[11]
The NHRC found that the ongoing violence in Gujarat has “resulted in the violation of the Fundamental Rights to life, liberty, equality and dignity of citizens of India….”. Significantly, it then considers whether the Godhra tragedy and the resulting violence could have been prevented by the state government and police. In light of the state government’s own admission that Gujarat witnessed over 443 “communal incidents” between 1970 and 2002, the commission faults the state government for a “failure of intelligence and action” with regard to the events “leading to the Godhra tragedy and the subsequent death and destruction that occurred.” The NHRC also expressed concern about the “widespread lack of faith in the integrity of the investigating process and the ability of those conducting investigations.” In particular the NHRC noted that numerous allegations had been made that FIRs were being “distorted or poorly recorded” and that “senior political personalities” sought to “‘influence’” investigations by remaining present in police stations. The commission therefore listed as the first item of its “Recommendations” to the Gujarat government that the Central Bureau of Investigation be entrusted to investigate critical cases so that the “integrity of the process” could be restored. In particular the NHRC recommended that the incidents at Godhra, Gulmarg Society, Naroda Patia, Sardarpura and Best Bakery in Vadodara be entrusted to the CBI.
The commission also recommended that “Special Courts” be created to try these critical cases and that “Special Cells” be constituted with District Magistrates monitoring the progress of the investigation of cases not handled by the CBI.
Adequate compensation should be provided to those who have suffered. The Commission recommends that places of worship that have been destroyed be repaired expeditiously. Assistance should be provided, as appropriate, inter alia by the State. Special efforts will need to be made to identify and assist destitute women and orphans, and those subjected to rape. The Women and Child Development Department, Government of India and concerned international agencies/programmes should be requested to help. Particular care will need to be taken to mobilize psychiatric and counseling services to help the traumatized victims. Special efforts will need to be made to identify and depute competent personnel for this purpose. The media should be requested to cooperate fully in this endeavour, including radio, which is often under-utilized in such circumstances.
Police Reform:The Commission would like to draw attention to the deeper question of Police Reform, on which recommendations of the National Police Commission and of the National Human Rights Commission have been pending despite repeated efforts to have them acted upon. The Commission is of the view that recent events in Gujarat and, indeed, in other States of the country, underline the need to proceed without delay to implement the reforms that have already been recommended in order to preserve the integrity of the investigating process and to insulate it from extraneous influences.

National Commission for Minorities (NCM):( 12)[12]

Like the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Minorities has taken serious issue with the state response to the ongoing violence in Gujarat. the NCM is ‘not satisfied with steps so far taken by the Gujarat administration to protect minorities.’ Similar to the NHRC, the NCM has found that despite government claims to the contrary, “normalcy” has not returned to Gujarat. As a result, the NCM has made public recommendations for the government of Gujarat that it believes will further the protection of human rights in the state. Police operations in Gujarat have come under close scrutiny by the commission.

International Criminal Court

The ICC came into existence from July 1, 2002. India has, however, refused to ratify the treaty. Under the treaty, any person can be tried and punished for crimes against humanity, acts of genocide, etc. before the International Court, irrespective of where the crime is committed. India, not being a ratifying party, cannot be forced to hand over any person charged or convicted to this Court.
The genocide in Gujarat could not have been taken up at the ICC since the Court came into being only on July 1, 2002. However, since it is not the first time that mass crimes of this kind have been allowed and condoned internally, it is vital, as a safeguard for the future, that India ratifies the ICC treaty and subjects itself to international scrutiny, especially in respect of heinous crimes committed by government functionaries. If the carnage in Gujarat had taken place post-July 2002 and India had still not ratified the ICC treaty and acceded to the Court, the issue could have come up through the UN Security Council reference.

A need of law on genocide:

Over the past historical period, a disturbing trend in mass crimes has been the single-handed targeting of vulnerable sections of the population. This includes caste massacres against Dalits or lower castes, and violence against the country’s minorities. On several occasions, responsible persons and Organisations have termed massacres such as the recent one in Gujarat, the one in Delhi in 1984 and those in Hashimpura (Meerut) in May 1987, when PAC personnel killed more than 40 Muslim youth, as genocide killings.

In the wake of the recent carnage in Gujarat it is urgent need to enact special law as it qualify genocide under the convention on prevention and punishment of crime of Genocide, 1948.
In 1946, the UN Central Assembly unanimously affirmed that “genocide is a crime under international law which the civilized would condemns, for the commission of which principals and accomplices, whether private individuals, public officials or statesman, and whether the crime is committed on religious, social, political or any other grounds- are punishable.”(13)[13]
India had participated in the drafting of the Genocide convention in 1948 and made important contribution and in August 29, 1959, India became party to the convention.
The Genocide convention imposes three set of principals as an international crime which it has “undertaken to prevent and punish”(Art.I). Second, it has undertaken to enact “the necessary legislation’s to give effect to the provisions” of the convention” and in particular, provide effective penalties for persons charged with genocide (Art.V). Third, it has a duty to try persons charged with genocide or any of the related acts, through “ a competent tribunal” (Article VI). This duty clearly costs a further obligation to put in place or designate tribunals competent to try such persons.
Art, 51(C) of the Indian constitution requires the state to endevour to foster respect for international law and treaty obligation” keeping this in view, Art. 253 mandates parliament to make any law” for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention.”
Prudence wanted demand that India should enact the necessary enabling legislation before it becomes undertaking of international treaty obligation and their domestic implementation, which called for.
The principles embodied in the convention can readily made operation within the criminal justice system with it need to be prescribed and the “ competent tribunal” to try these offences need to be designated or established.

Conclusion:
Gujarat carnage witnessed the multidimensional effects of the genocide perpetrated by the communal extremist groups against other religious minorities eg. Muslim, Christians, Sikhs, Budhhists, to reestablish the “HinduRashtra” where people could enjoy absolute inequality, injustice, religious intolerance and restrict freedom. It widen the gap between one human beings on the basis of their socio-economic status, in Indian context the purity and impurity in caste and religious occupation. History is replete with such events and cultural wars between the irrational,traditional orthodox Hindu religion, and the quest for reasoning and rationality by social reformers in various periods of Budhha, Kabir, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
There is need to study the core reasons behinds such cruelties and genocide at different places in the world and look into the root causes of the problems. There is immediate need in Gujarat genocide case is to provide justice and relief to victims of violence as per domestic and international standards. The genocidal tendencies of the fanatical groups will need to be urgently tackled at various levels social, political, legal, and even religious. The civil society and peoples of the country has played major role in 2004 election where they voted against the non-secular government at the centre. Now there is need to implement the recommendations given by various national commissions to deliver justice to the affected people and ensure no such episode in future. The long-term goal should be to bring about systemic and cultural reforms for the preservation and realisation of constitution principles of equality, liberty, justice and fraternity to establish universal peace.






References:
[1] The Hindu, April 15, 2002
[2] Communalism Combat, March-April 2002, No. 77- 78
[3] People’s Union for Democratic Rights, “ ‘Maaro! Kaapo! Baalo!’ State, Society, and Communalism in Gujarat”, Delhi, May 2002.
[4] Kavita Panjabi, Krishna Bandopadhya, Bolan Gangopadhyay, “ The next generation: The wake of genocide- a report on the impact of the Gujarat Pogrom on children and the young”, supported by citizen’s initiative, Ahmadabad and Action Aid India, Kolkatta.
[5] Human Rights Watch,“ ‘WE HAVE NO ORDERS TO SAVE YOU’ State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat “, April 2002, Vol. 14, No. 3 (C).
[6] ‘Crime against humanity’- An inquiry into the carnage in Gujarat, Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Vol. II - Gujarat 2002
[7] Ibid
[8] A Humanitarian Crisis- ‘Waiting For Peace, Justice And Relief’, A Humanitarian Needs Assessment Report
by a Multidisciplinary Team, Gujarat Genocide 2002..
[9] Manas Dasgupta, “No plan to close camps – Modi,” Hindu, April 1, 2002.
[10] http://www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/pub/idp_gp/idp.html(accessed May 12,2003)
[11] National Commission on Human Rights Recommendations on Gujarat Report, Proceedings of the NHRC, Suo Motu Case No.1150/.2001-2002, date-31 May 2002
[12] The National Commission for Minorities is an autonomous, statutory body created pursuant to the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
[13] United Nations Resolution-96 (1), December 11,1946

SEMINAR- POLICE AS A PROTECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS

- A REPORT-

SEMINAR ON
“POLICE AS A PROTECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS”

(Date: February 9, 2003 Time: 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.)







Jointly organised by-
Dept. of Criminology Correctional Administration, TISS, Mumbai.
India Centre for Human Rights and Law, Mumbai.
Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, Mumbai.



Faculty Coordinator: Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Reader, Department of Criminology and Correctional Administration, TISS, Mumbai

Convenors: Mr. Lalit Khandare & Ms. Somya Mohapatra, Students of Criminology and Correctional Administration




Department of Criminology and Correctional Administration,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.


CONTENTS

S. No. Topic Page No.

1. Preface 2
Acknowledgements 3
Program Schedule 4
Inaugural session 5
a. Concept note
b. Welcome Note
c. Chief Guest Address
d. Chairman’s Address
5. First Session: 10
Concept of Human Rights and the role of Police Officers in protection of human rights
6. Second Session: 14
Legal powers and responsibilities of police Officers in protection of Human Rights
7.Third Session: 17
Media and Human Rights violation by law enforcement Agencies
8.Valedictory Session 19
9.Recommendations 20
10. List of participants 22
11. Annexure – I & II 23, 25





Preface

This report is a brief description of the presentations made at the seminar on “Police as a Protector of Human Rights”. This seminar was jointly organised by Deptt. of Criminology and Correctional Administration, TISS, India Centre for Human Rights and Law and Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission , on the 9th of February 2003. The seminar aimed at creating a forum for having a clear understanding of Human Rights and the role of the Police in the protection and promotion of human rights of citizens. It discussed the relevance of human rights in Police functioning and the problems faced by the Police in the implementation of human rights at the grassroots level. There was an effort to understand the reasons behind the allegations of Human Rights violations by the Police. Though the seminar covered wide range of discussions on the Criminal Justice System and the role of various Government and Non-government organizations in its functioning, yet this report specifically deals with those issues with the most direct relevance to the role of police in the protection of human rights.

The main participants of the seminar were Police Inspectors of Mumbai Region, Human Rights Activists, Social Workers, and Academicians. The report covers the set of recommendations drown out during the seminar which will help strengthening the role of police in the protection of human rights.

Above all this seminar makes an attempt to understand the role of police as the protector of human rights and bring together the civil society groups like the Lawyers, Human Rights Activists, Media and the Non-Governmental Organizations, to help the Police in the protection, implementation and promotion of human rights. As we all know that Humanitarian welfare demands the involvement of all institutions in the justice delivery system to reinforce each other’s role in a patriotic spirit. This seminar is one small step taken in this direction.




Acknowledgements

We would like to mention our sincere and heartfelt gratitude to all the people who were instrumental in the organization of this seminar and therefore, of its success.

We would like to acknowledge:

¨ Prof. R.R Singh, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
¨ Shri. R.S. Sharma, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai.
¨ Shri. Ahmed Javed, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Mumbai.
¨ Shri. P.M. Bansod, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai.
¨ Dr. D.R. Singh, Professor and Head, Department of Criminology and Correctional Administration, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai
¨ Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Reader, Department of Criminology and Correctional Administration, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai
¨ Mr. Subhash Avate, Special IGP, Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission.
¨ Adv. Mihir Desai, Honorary Director, India Centre for Human Rights and Law.
¨ Ms. Sridevi Goel, Special IGP, Protection of Civil Rights Cell, Mumbai.
¨ Mr. Dilip D' Souza, Freelance Journalist, Mumbai
¨ Dr. Ram Punniyani, Faculty IIT, Mumbai.
¨ Ms. Deepika D’Souza, Executive Director, ICHRL, Mumbai.
¨ Ms. Minu Jose, Deputy Editor, Combat Law
¨ Dr. Nasreen Rustomfram, Head of Dept. Of Extra Mural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
¨ Sr. Police Inspectors and Police Inspectors, Mumbai Police Commissionarate.
¨ Shri. C. Subramanian, Department of CCA, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai





PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Inaugural Session
Chairperson –Prof. R. R. Singh, Director, TISS

10:00AM to 11:55AM

Concept Note Lalit Khandare

Welcome Address
Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Reader, Dept.of CCA, TISS

Directors Speech
Prof.R.R.Singh, Director, TISS

Chief Guest Speech
Shree. P. M. Bansod, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai

Vote of Thanks
Somya Mohapatra

Tea Break
First Session- Concept of Human Rights and the role of police
officers in protection of human rights.

11.15AM to 1:00PM

Keynote Speaker, Mr. Subhash Avate, Special I.G. Police, Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission
Chairperson, Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Dept. of Criminology and Correctional Administration, TISS, Mumbai.

Lunch
Second Session- Legal powers and responsibilities of police officers
in protection of Human Rights

2:00PM to 3:10PM

Presentations of Cases by Students
Sunil Gautam, Shiv Shukla, Prerna Dhingra

Keynote Speaker, Adv. Mihir Desai
Honorary Director, ICHRL, Mumbai
Chairperson, Ms. Shridevi Goel, IPS ,Special IG Police

Third Session- Media and Human Rights violation by law enforcement Agencies.

3:10PM to 4:10PM

Keynote Speaker, Mr. Dilip D'Souza,
Freelance Journalist, Mumbai.
Chairperson, Dr.Ram Punayani, IIT, Mumbai.

Valedictory Session
4:10PM to 4:40PM

Speaker , Mr. Subhash Avate, Special I.G. Police, Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission
Chairperson, Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Dept.of Criminology and Correctional Administration, TISS, Mumbai.

4:40PM to 4:50PM

Vote of Thanks by Ms. Somya Mohapatra




Inaugural Session

Concept Note:
Lalit Khandare MA(TISS)

Ensuring the safety of the life and property of its citizens is one of the basic responsibilities of the government in all societies. It is by establishing and maintaining an efficient and an effective police force that the government provides a feeling of security to its citizens. However collective security enjoyed by the citizens is not enough; in a democratic society, they also want to enjoy their individual freedom and rights, without unwarranted and illegitimate interference by a coercive and an insensitive police force. And the role of the police is to maintain the law and order in the country. In exercising proper control and superintendence over the police, holding them accountable for the various acts of commission and omission and bringing them close to the community, therefore, become issues of utmost importance in a democratic country.

Police work encompasses preventive and protective roles in the course of maintaining law and order. In addition, prevention and protection involve initiating programs to reduce caste and communal tensions, reduce opportunity for criminal victimization and educate the citizens about the crime prevention measures. Secondly, police work also involves many tasks that occur well beyond public notice and that are often time consuming, overly routine, and excessively burdensome.

In general, however, people's ambivalence towards the police and their negative opinions of police work and behavior come mainly from a lack of understanding of the nature of police work and of the social, Organisational and logistic constraints that shape its course. This ambivalence is further fuelled by the allegations of human rights violations by the Police. Because of this, the police have come under severe criticism by public and media and the strict scrutiny of the Courts, National Human Rights Commission and State Human rights Commission.

During the Course of our fieldwork, we, the student social workers placed in State Human Rights Commission and India Center For Human Rights and Law, came to know about various forms of allegations of human rights violations against children, women and marginalized section of society.

We felt that Police have to play a vital role as the protector of Human Rights. But from our fieldwork experiences and cases illustrated in the annual reports of National Human rights Commission it was found that there are a number of allegations of human rights violations leveled against the police. The reasons behind this could be the stress and frustration in the job, complexity involved, and growing criminality, which are not analyzed; and that in turn results in the gross violation of human rights. The people's expectations on Police are high in comparison to other government functionaries and often the police are not able to come up to people’s expectations.

In view of the above the present seminar was aimed at creating a platform for the police officers to share their views and problems faced by them in implementation of human rights jurisprudence at the grassroots level.

Broad Objectives of the Seminar:

1. To discuss the relevance of human rights in police functioning,
2. To discuss the problems, frustration and stress of police officers in the area of human rights, and
3. To explore the ways and means for healthy, police-community relations.



DIRECTOR’S SPEECH:

Prof.R.R.Singh, Director, TISS, Mumbai.

The Inaugural Session began with the Director’ speech. He mentioned that human rights encompass a very wide area including unborn child in the womb. It was stated during his speech that the history of human civilization is human struggle for freedom. The last three hundred years depicts the evolution of political, economical and social rights of the human being.

A lot of emphasis was laid on the role of the police in protection of human rights of the citizen. According to him rights and duties are complimentary to each other and every citizen should fulfill his or her duties to enjoy their rights. It was also pointed out that one should behave as a human being and maintain the sanctity of humanity. In keeping up with the spirit of human rights and their sanctity Prof. R.R.Singh, concluded his speech by saying that, we should work together and ensure human rights violation free zone with indicators in the Field Action Project of the Institute’s initiative. This can be achieved by collaborative efforts of the police, TISS and other stakeholders such as lawyers, human rights activists and the non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights.


THEME PRESENTATION BY DR. ARVIND TIWARI

Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Reader, Department of Criminology and Correctional Administration, TISS

Dr. Arvind Tiwari, introduced the theme of the seminar “Police as a Protector of Human Rights.” He pointed out that police enjoys tremendous legal power regarding the security of life and liberty of the people. He mentioned that more than fifty percent of the complaints registered by the National Human Rights Commission are belong to police. These are complaints pertain to indiscriminate arrests, illegal detention, custodial violence, torture, rapes and deaths in custody. He further added that victims of the police excesses are the downtrodden people like children, women, scheduled castes and tribes. Hence, police should give priority in protecting the rights of the vulnerable section of the society.

He requested the participants (police officers) that this forum was convened to ventilate their grievances and suggestions in protecting the human rights violations in day to day working. The participants were asked to express themselves in any of the languages (Marathi, Hindi or English), as language wouldn’t be considered as a barrier in expressing their ideas.

CHIEF GUEST SPEECH:

Shri. P.M. Bansod, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai

Chief Guest of the Seminar, Shri. P.M. Bansod, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai stressed that we have certain inherent birthrights. These rights have been incorporated in the Constitution of India as the Fundamental Rights. They are also known, as natural rights recognized by the democratic form of the Government in upholding the rule of law and not the rule of tyranny. He further noted that the rule of law offers all citizens equal protection regarding the right to life, liberty, expression and movement. The central point of his speech was that proactive role played by the higher judiciary in protection of human rights of the citizens. He elaborated that in late 1980s, the Indian judiciary adopted Custodial Jurisprudence and awarded compensation to the victims of custodial torture, violence, rapes and deaths.

In Case of Nandni Satpathi vs P L Dani(,AIR 1978 SC 1025), the Supreme Court prohibited police to investigate women at their residence after sunset and before sunrise. In Prem Sankar Sukla vs Delho Administration (AIR 1980 SC 1535) case handcuffing was prohibited to maintain the human dignity.

In crux, he suggested the following points for prevention of violation of human rights by the police:
1. Scientific investigation tools should be adopted in investigation of cases than that of third degree methods.
2. Education of police personnel vis-à-vis civil society in terms of the human rights sensitization programmes.
3. Curb the political Interference in the police functioning.



FIRST SESSION

Concept of Human Rights and the role of Police Officers in protection of Human Rights

Speaker: Shri Subhash Avate, Special I.G.P.,Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission
Chairperson: Dr. Arvind Tiwari, Reader, Dept. of Criminology and Correctional
Administration,TISS,Mumbai.

Mr. Subhash Avate, spoke about the concept of human rights and role of the police in protection of human rights. He mentioned that historically human rights began with natural rights. In the past, the violations committed by rulers, dictators, autocrats on their subjects paved a way for the evolution of etiquette on how a ruler should behave and protect his citizens. This progressed towards the formation of universal laws, and in World War –II the abuse of the right to life, triggered people towards peace. Eventually, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948 came into existence.

He stressed that important U.N Declarations such as International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) should be known to all police officials. The society expects a lot from the police but they have resources to resolve all social issues. But man with proper knowledge, skills, information can prevent violation of human rights to a large extent.

He noted that the definition of human rights according to Section 2(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 is as follows:

“Human rights mean that rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India.”


He further elaborated on the Characteristics of the human rights. He said that human rights by nature are Universal, Inalienable, Undivided, Uniform, Fundamental, Developmental and Progressive.

He then mentioned the role played by the Police could play a positive role in the protection of human rights in the following manner:
1. to contribute to the liberty, equality and fraternity in human affairs;
2. to help and reconcile freedom with security and uphold the rule of law;
3. to uphold and protect human rights of the citizens;
4. to build up faith of the people in their protection of human rights by the state;
5. to investigate, detect and prevent the offence;
6. to deal with the minor child, in crisis, to
7. to accept public service is as a mission;
8. to understand the human rights in true spirit and uphold them.

After the keynote presentation made by Mr. Avate the floor was open for discussion. There were various queries among the participants about the origin and functioning of the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission. Mr. Subhash Avate then mentioned about the role of Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission in protection of human rights. Since its inception (Dt. 2.2.2002) they sought for the participatory role of the police officers. A very important point was raised by one of the police officers who mentioned that, whether the same human rights activists ever go the victims place and understand their situation. It led to a further discussion on the balanced approach wherein all the three parties i.e. the police, victims and the accused are considered. It was suggested that seminars like this should be conducted on regular basis where press, media, public and politicians should also participate and it should not be a clash between the human rights activists, and the police, rather it should be based on mutual interaction and discussion.

The Special I.G.P. of State Human Rights Commission, also stressed on the fact that, there are very few NGOs that are working for the cause of the victims, and he also mentioned that if the NGOs take up initiatives of the victims’ then the police would definitely help them. Thinking about the Human Rights of the victims everybody should come forward to help, the press and media along with social workers for their rehabilitation. Citing an example, he told, when a girl is raped, instead of giving a helping hand to the victim and her family the media publishes her full details in the newspaper, which adds on to the girl’s misery and her whole family. Therefore it is required that, the importance should be on the victim’s rehabilitation and not on publishing her misery in the media .A very few NGOs work on this area and those few who do, work for getting more grants.

Mr. Avate, appreciated work of some of the NGOs, genuinely working in this area and mentioned that the State Human Rights Commission is preparing a list of Such NGOs that are doing good job, with whom they can develop partnership.
There was also a discussion on the inhuman conditions of the police stations and heavy workload on the police officers. The question was raised by the lawyers that, how the police are going to protect Human Rights of people, when their own human rights are violated.

Dr.Toppo,Reader,PMIR Department, TISS, raised two incidences of human rights violations committed by the police.
1. Two years back, at Tapkora (Jharkhand), policemen fired and killed 8 innocent tribals.
2. At midnight, the police had raided on village and arrested the tribals and took away their belongings.

The point raised here was that, if the police have right to fire anywhere on anybody and is it not human rights violations. Mr. Subhash Avate responded that unless and until we go into the facts of the case, we cannot comment and if these are the facts, then of course there was breach of human rights. Every incident should be investigated, and the proper enquiry is to be conducted in such cases and the concerned authority should take just action. The Speaker, here, stressed on the fact that growing numbers of under trails in the jails and those cases not being resolved within a due time is also violation of the human rights of the victims. Thus the system needs to be changed and for this purpose the public, the mass media, the NGOs, Civil Society Groups should come together to work with the police and bring justice to the victims.

The Chairperson Dr.Tiwari summarized the session saying that working hours of the police officers are ofcourse high.Sometimes they work for more than 16-18 hours a day. They also deserve human rights because they are also the citizens of the country.The main problem with the police is that it does not behave properly with the common man. There is fear for the police even among the law abiding Citizens. This is the responsibility not only of police officers, but also at the same time of the academicians, NGOs, and social workers, to improve the relations between the police and the common man. The common man should be convinced that police is there to help them and protect their human rights. Secondly the NGOs should work for the victim and their families. At the same time the police have to work for the protection and promotion of human rights in the day-to-day working.

A feedback form was provided to the participants (police officers) and their responses on each session were taken, at the end of the seminar. Their feedback regarding this session was positive. The participants (police officers) felt that the inputs given in this session were vital for their efficient functioning in protection of human rights of the citizens but due to time constraints the various dimensions could not be discussed at length. So they suggested that these topics should be included as a part of their regular training course so that they can use it in their day-to-day discharge of duties.


SECOND SESSION

Legal Powers and Responsibilities of Police Officers in Protection Of
Human Rights

Speaker: Advocate Mihir Desai, Honorary Director, ICHRL
Chairperson: Ms. Sridevi Goel, IGP, Protection of Civil Rights Cell,
Maharashtra Police.

The session was initiated by Ms. Somya Mohapatra, by the intoduction of both the speaker and the chairperson.This was followed by student presentations on their field experiences regarding human rights violations committed by the police.
Mr. J.Kumaravijayan (PMIR student ) – A case about Gunning Of Dalits in Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and its After Math, 11th July 1997
Mr. Shiv Kumar Shukla (MPSW –Social Work Student): A case of Mohhala Committee and Police in keeping peace and Harmony during communal tension.
Sunil Gautam(URCD Social Work Student) A case of Dalit Atrocity in Jajjar (Haryana) and the role of police in this incidence.
Prerana Dingra(CCA Social Work Student): She presented a case of harassment of children by Railway Police.

Ms. Sridevi Goel, the chairperson of the session spoke on various issues of police violating the human rights and expressed that whatever the students said was from their knowledge from the media, or from one or two witness they have talked to, but that is not the whole thing in its entirety and there are many issues behind that and that was only one side of the story. As it was well said by her that this is not a fault finding session, rather the seminar is to discuss on how the police should be the best protector of Human Rights and what are the problems that hinder their functioning.

In his presentation Advocate Mihir Desai introduced himself as a ‘Human Rights wala’ and expressed his opinion that he wanted to use this opportunity to build bridges between the police and the human rights activists, and not blame the police.

The following issues were discussed after the presentation:

1. The criticism, that people who talk about Human Rights do not understand the problems of the police, just as all other citizens have and the situation in which the police work also have to be looked into, and that should also be given publicity, because having good working conditions is their human rights
2. There is lot of political interference from the top, in the functioning of the police, which the people do not realise. Mr. Mihir Desai expressed his opinion that, though we criticize the police in lot many ways, yet it is to be accepted that today Mumbai is the safest city in the country, and much of the credit for this goes to the police.
3. The people who are working on human rights issues have not given enough attention to the National Police Commission reports, which also focus on the working conditions of the police.
4. Media should also play its role here by highlighting and appreciating good investigation and work done by the police and not point out only the loopholes of the police functioning.
5. Stress was given on the fact that, all police commission reports, right from 1958, says that; general public does not consider police as a friend. There is a difference between respect for the police and fear for the police. What the citizens have for the police today is fear.
6. Women issues do not get adequate attention from the policemen.
7. Another issue was the role played by police in times of communal violence; the general belief among people is that police also act in a biased manner.
8. The issues of Dalits and backward communities do not get adequate attention from the police.

All these issues need to be resolved by efforts from both sides – human rights activists and the police and what is needed is a friendly communication between police and the common man. People come to know about police from media and newspapers, which widens the gap between them and the protectors of law. The people’s representatives should have regular meetings with the police (at least once in a month) and discuss their problems and think of solutions.

Chairperson Ms. Sridevi Goel, summarized all the issues raised by Advocate Mihir Desai and encouraged the participants i.e. the police officers to speak up. At this point many police officers spoke about the various problems they face like long working hours, political pressure, heavy workload etc. There was also discussion on the issue of media exaggerating facts of mishandling of cases by the police in the public and not revealing the other side of the picture.

The session ended with a note that, there is a need to bridge the gap between the police and the common man and this can be done by the combined efforts of the police, the media, the public, the human rights activists and the academicians. At the same time the problems faced by the policemen in discharging their duties should also be taken into consideration.

The response from the police officers in this session was positive in the sense that, they realised that they had lots of legal powers to control the human rights violations and so it is there responsibility to protect human rights without succumbing to any kind of pressures like that of the media, public and the politicians.

THIRD SESSION

Media and Human Rights Violation by Law Enforcement Agencies.

Speaker : Mr. Dilip D’souza
Chairperson: Dr. Ram Punniyani

Mr.Dilip D’souza initiated his speech by highlighting the role of media in prevention of human rights violations. He focused on the following issues, which have concern with the police and their functioning, that are based on the National Police Commission report:
1. Political pressure on the police officers.
2. Frequent threat of transfer by politicians
3. District police taking instructions from Headquarters for every small decision.
4. Lack of leadership in the police.
5. After communal riots, there are always some police officers, against whom action is taken and others go Scot-free.
Some of the important observations made by Higher Judiciary:
1. Supreme court has ruled out that the investigation of police is beyond any interference by executive
2. The police should give all the facts to the press, otherwise the press will report whatever it has.
3. The evidence given by the police should be taken into consideration.

Mr. D’Souza assured the police that they have the support of the media and the people for their human rights and their problems. There was a discussion on how the police system as a whole is condemned because of some individual failures, which the media highlights. There was acknowledgement expressed on the fact that the media will support the cause of the police for the implementations of recommendations made by the National Police Commission.

Dr. Ram Puniyani who chaired the session, said the strengths of Mr. D’Souza’ s speech, was the quotations from the Police Commission’s report. He noted that the aim of this whole exercise or seminar is to come up with suggestions to improve the police system and thereby protection of human rights by them. He further mentioned that how the media could help police to project their position and image in the society among the common man. He encouraged the policemen to express the problems faced by them.

Dr. Toppo, Reader of PMIR Department, TISS, brought this discussion to a constructive way, when he mentioned that the aim of the seminar is, not to blame each other but to come out with possible solutions to improve the relations between the police and the common man and civil society groups like media, human rights activist, and lawyers should help in this process. At the end of the session the Chairperson has given the concluding remarks-
There is need for the police and the civil society groups to come together along with the media, for the promotion of human rights culture in the society.


In this session on media and human rights the participants expressed their views that the media is not giving enough attention to the problems faced by the police, rather, it highlights the cases of violation of human rights by police. The suggestion given by them was that, media should give the authentic information of any incidence or issue. Secondly the media should also bring to the light the positive role played by the police i.e. the success stories of police in protection of human rights.


VALEDICTORY SESSION

Speaker: Mr. Subhash Avate
Chairperson: Dr. Arvind Tiwari

Mr.Subhash Avate, Special IGP, Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, delivered the valedictory address. He said that, the police officer is a multifaceted personality; at home he is a husband and father with submissive thoughts, whereas in office he has to accept all criticisms and lots of thrashing everywhere. Unfortunately the justice delivery system in our country does not have faith in police force. When the police officer’s credentials are doubted then the officer finds it difficult to perform his duties honestly and sincerely.

Mr. Avate stressed on the fact that the present seminar does not aim at bringing solution to all the problems of police. Problems are everywhere and the police have to perform to the best of their capacities with all those difficulties. Outside help for any problem is of much help but rather we need to have introspection. He at the same time said that the workshop is not aimed at criticizing the police force but come out with holistic practical perspective to multidimensional problems.

In a concluding remark, Mr.Avate said that police officer should project himself as an ideal personality; further more, police officer are also the leaders and social workers in the society and so they should work differently, as the police is most closer to the civil society.


RECOMMENDATIONS

Participants expressed their opinion that such seminars on the police and Human Rights and also on the problems of police officers should be conducted as often as possible. It was observed that, police officers had not attended such seminar on Human Rights before.

Most of them wanted to participate in such seminars in future and have opinion on the following issues:
Ø There should be meeting, dialogue or conference amongst police, public and media.
Ø Discussion on organised crime, inequality in Indian society, and criminalization of politics.
Ø Such seminars should be organised at various levels like, District, State and National.
Ø Participation of NGOs on the area of women and children, minorities, disabled and their marginalised section of the society.
Ø Emphasis to be given on public –police relation.
Ø Ways and means to improve the efficiency of the police in protection of Human rights.
Ø More seminars on the interaction of the police with various Government functionaries like judges Department of women & child welfare etc, on various issues.

3. The police expressed, special measures to be taken, to create legal awareness among the public, on issues of right of accused, procedures of bail, FIR, probation, special protection for children, women & weaker sections of the society.

These Special measures shall include in such seminars, campaigns, conferences, and
propaganda by media, promoting Mohalla Committee Meetings etc. Secondly the role
of police is to put up posters &charts outside the police station to comply with the
Right to Information.

4. The police officers expected their willingness to work coordination with local NGOs and civil society Groups.

The overall response about the seminar was positive. There was positive feedback on the seminar from the Police Officers, Judge, Academicians, Advocates, Social Workers, NGOs and other participants. There was a good of participation and discussion. Innovative ideas and constructive suggestions came up during the seminar though it was the first breakthrough in having a seminar like this a police and Human Rights, it should be continued, further for is proper implementation.

List of Participants (Police Officers)
Name,Rank,Police Station

Mr. Uttam Chopane Sr.PI. Crime Branh CID Mumbai.
Mr.Madhave Gaikawad PI KasturbaMarg P.S.
Mr. Keshav Shanker Rane PI Traffic Training Institute Byculla
Mr. Kailash Ghamande PI DN Nagar(Traffic)
Mr. Vilas G.Pandit PI Chembur (Traffic)
Mr.Satish S. Shingte PI LA iv Marol Andheri(E)
Mr.Balasaheb R.Jawalkar API Ghatkopar Police St.
Mr.SamachanR. Dhamedhar PI Jogeshawari.
Mr.Atmaram S. More PSI Shivaji Nagar Police Station
Mr.Prasad M. Dharia API Protection Branch, C.I.D.
Mr. Sanjay A. Khaire PI Trombay Police Station
Mr.Vinayak Maruti Kakade .PI MHB Colony Police Station
Mr.Bhagvan Balaji Dhule Sr.PI Dr Aadarsabeb Police Station.
Mr.Shivaji Dnyanaba Nimhan PI SBI, C.I.D zone V
Mr. Chandrakant Sawant PI Colaba Police Station
Mr. Virendra VKhuje Sr.PI Worli Head Quarter.
Mr.Siddharth Lalu Wagh PI A.P Control, Naigaon.
Mr. V.V. Karkare PI S.B(I) CID
Mr. S.K.Das PI Matunga Traffic.
Mr. Prassana Yogiraj More PI Bhandup Police Station.
Mr. Ashok Tukaram Duraphe PI Kurla chowby Police Station
Mr. Dharamshi P. Padamshi PI Pantnagar Police Station
Mr. B.Y. Janjale PI V.y Dahivallery Marg.
Mr.Shilendra Pande PI B.K.C Police Station
Mr.Ravindra Sawant PI Khar Police Station.
Mr.Janardhan K. Kharat PI Matunga Police Station.
Mr.Raghunath L.Bagul PI Borivili(west) Police Station
Mr. Prakash D.Sawant Sr.PI Wadala Police Station.
Mr. Ravindra KhandaGale PI MRA Marg Police Station.
Mr.Mohd. Javed PI Ambedkar marg Police Station
Mr. Arjun B. Bagadi PI Malvani Police Station
Mr. Vijay More PI Worli Police Station

Annexure - I
Supreme Court Guidelines in DK Basu’s Case

In the Supreme Court decision of D.K. Basu (Supra) the court set out the following requirements to be followed in all cases of arrest of detention “until legal provision are made in that behalf as preventive measures”:

The Police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in the registrar.
That the police officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may either be a member of the family of the arrestee or respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be countersigned by the arrestee and shall contain the time and the date of arrest.
A person who has been arrested or detained and being held in custody in police station or interrogation centre or other lock –up, shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him or having an interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee.
The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aid Organisation in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.
The person arrested must be aware of his right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he put under arrest or detained.
An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.
The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if present on his /her body, must be recorded at the time. The “Inspection Memo” must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.
The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctors appointed by Director, Health services of the State or Union Territory concerned. Director, Health services should prepare such a panel for all tehsils and districts as well.
Copies of all the documents including the memo of the arrest, referred to above, should be sent to the Illaqa Magistrate for his record.
The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.
A police control room should be provided at all district and state headquarters, where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.

The court went on to say that failure to comply, quite apart from rendering the official liable to departmental disciplinary action, would render the defaulter to punishment for contempt of court.

{Source: D.K. Basu V State of West Bengal 1997 SC 610}


Annexure - II
Role of Human Rights Cell: In the State/City police Headquarters

Letters were addressed to all the DGPs/Police Commissioners an Add DGP’s/IGP’s Human Rights on June 1st 1999 inviting their suggestions as to the role and duties that the Human Rights Cell of the State PHQ would undertake and perform. Based on the replies received and interaction with officers, the following guidelines are circulated for effective functioning of Human Rights Cells in the various police Headquarters:-

Human Rights Cell will act as the main link between the NHRC and the State Police Agencies.
All –important cases/complaints referred by the commission to the State Human Rights Cell wherever specifically indicated would be got enquired into by an officer of an appropriate level. Thereafter the recommendations made by the commission are to e followed up to ensure appropriate action against the delinquent officials is initiated and remedial action taken, wherever required to the logical conclusion. However, in the cases where the Human Right Cell feels that an impartial; enquiry may not be possible due to the extraneous consideration, then it may recommend investigation by the State CID or even CBI.
To keep a close watch on the alleged violations of Human Rights by police personnel which come to light through the newspapers/publications/others sources including complaints to different functionaries.
All enquiries /cases relating to police atrocities/harassment/abuse of authority, being sent by the commission to the District Superintendent of police for ascertaining facts and verification, may be monitored by the cell. A copy of all such references will be sent to the Cell, to enable them to monitor timely response from the SP’s. They will also ensure follow up action wherever specific directions have been passed by the Commission by way of compliance.
Human Rights Cells to regularly interact with DSPs on Human Rights petitions/complaints and issue instructions guidelines, so as to minimize and prevent violations of Human Rights by the police.
To conduct surprise visits to police stations, to check cases of illegal detention and abuse of Authority.
To take such other steps as may be necessary for preventing violation and protecting and respecting the Human Rights of the citizens who come in contact with the police functionaries.
To ensure that all police stations in the State display the guidelines given by the Supreme Court in wp No.539 of 1986,in the case of D.K. Base V’s State of West Bengal. These requirements are in addition to the constitutional and statutory safeguards and directions given by the courts from time to time in the connection with safeguarding of the rights and dignity of the arrestee vis a vis the duties of the police. Special care has to be taken to see that women, children and the vulnerable sections of society are not harassed by the police by calling them to the police station, in avoidable circumstances.
9. To co-ordinate with the State Academy and Training Centers to ensure that their in service training curriculum have sufficient elements of Human Rights Jurisprudence for the trainees of all ranks. Such a module should aim at educating and sensitizing on the following matters;-
a} Constitutional provisions relating to the rights of the citizens;
b} Key provisions in the substantive law that provide explicit “Do’s” and Don’ts” in matters of arrest, interrogation, search and seizure etc;
c} Landmark Judgments of the Supreme Court on Human Rights matters; and
d} The implications of fall-outs and non-observance of the Human Rights guidelines/instructions/laws while discharging their duties and responsibilities.

10. Organise interactive sessions/capsule courses of appropriate duration in all training institutions where prominent personalities, lawyers, NGO’s are called for participation.
11.Compilation of the departmental circulars and directions on the human rights mandate, issued by the PHQ from time to time to see that these are re-circulated for re-capitulation.
12. To identify specific areas of societal human rights violence’s in the States and to plan out preventive and re-habilatative schemes in conjunction with the concerned departments {for instance in the field of child rights, sexual abuse and child labor} Gender Justice, Juvenile Justice, on criminal mentally ill lodged in hospital discrimination towards the under privileged, backward, scheduled caste, scheduled tribes in specific areas etc.
13.To Organise one day seminars/workshops on human rights in different cities in association with the State Human Rights Commission {wherever they are constituted}, local universities or colleges, philanthropic organisations like Lions /Rotary Club.
14. Personally monitor investigation of cases relating to custodial deaths/rape and torture/ illegal detention in police custody and take remedial measures/follows up departmental action.
15. Actively promote Human Rights literacy and awareness through publications and media programmes.
16. Publication of quarterly newsletter on “Human Rights in Law Enforcement” for circulation amongst police offices.

{Source: Instructions issued by NHRC on 14th Dec.1993, NHRC Annual Report 1993}