| S.O.S - e - Clarion Of Dalit - Weekly Newspaper On Web Working For The Rights & Survival Of The Oppressed Editor: NAGARAJ.M.R VOL.3 issue. 29 22 / 07 / 2009 Editorial : TORTURE CHAMBERS OF At the outset , e - Voice salutes the few honest police personnel who are
The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just
Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish
There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use
In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals ,
Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose of
Hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
Nowadays , we are seeing reports of corruption by police & judges in the media and are also seeing reports of raids by vigilance authorities seizing crores of wealth from such corrupt police. Some Judges have also amassed crores of wealth. Who gives them money ? it is rich criminals , anti-nationals . By taking bribe & hiding the crimes of criminals , the corrupt police & judges are themselves becoming active parties in the crimes , anti-national activities. Those shameless , corrupt police & judges are nothing but traitors & anti – nationals themselves. When an innocent is subjected to 3rd degree torture to extract truth with justification by investigating agencies that all for the sake of national security , what degree of torture these corrupt , anti-national police & judges qualify for ? what type of aeroplane or helicopter the corrupt police / judges must ride ? ofcourse , for protection of national security. Here also police & judges have double standards , what a shame. We at e – voice are for “Rule of Law” & abhor all type of violence. Truly these police & judges are not building a Ram Rajya of our Mahatma Gandhi’s dream. Jai Hind. Vande Mataram. Your’s sincerely, Nagaraj.M.R. CRIMINALS IN POLICE UNIFORM
The ABC of police force in 1.how many CBI officials & Karnataka state police officials are facing
2.how you are monitoring the ever increasing wealth of corrupt police
3.how many officials from the ranks of constable to DGP have amassed
4.what action you have taken in these cases ? have you got
5.how many policemen have been awarded death penalty & hanged till
6.why DGP of Karnataka is not registering my complaint dt 10/12/2004 , subsequent police complaints ?
7.e - voice is ready to bring to book corrupt police officials subject to
8.how many police personnel are charged with violations of people's
9.how many STF police deployed to nab veerappan were themselves
10.how you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
11.how you are ensuring the medical care , health of prisoners in
12.How you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
TORTURE CHAMBERS OF |
They are our own Gitmos. Where, far away from the eyes of the law, 'enemies of the state' are made to 'sing'. THE WEEK investigates
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Forty secret interrogation cells unveil real face of
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In
By Rama Lakshmi
MEERUT, India -- Rajeev Sharma, a young electrician, was sleeping when police barged into his house a month ago and dragged him out of bed on suspicion of a burglary in the neighborhood, his family recalled.
When his young wife and brother protested, the police, who did not show them an arrest warrant, said they were taking Sharma to the police station for "routine questioning."
"Little did we know that we would lose him forever," said Sunil Sharma, Rajeev's brother, recounting how he died while in police custody. "Their routine questioning proved fatal," he added, sitting beside his brother's grieving widow.
Rajeev Sharma, 28, died at the police station within a day of his detention. Police said he committed suicide, but his family charges that he was beaten and killed.
The case highlights the frequent use of torture and deadly force at local police stations in
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Police records show that, two weeks before his detention, Rajeev Sharma made a electrician's service call at the home of a wealthy businessman. On that day, the man reported that $500 worth of gold jewelry and about $100 in cash were missing, police said.
After Sharma's detention, his brother called the police station and was told that Sharma had confessed to the theft, he said. The brother said he and other family members rushed to the station and were able to see Sharma briefly.
"His eyes were red, his mouth was bleeding and he could hardly walk. They had beaten him very badly. That was the last glimpse we had," said Sunil Sharma, 35. "By the evening, the police informed us that he had committed suicide in the lockup by hanging himself with a blanket. The suicide story is a coverup; my brother died of police torture."
The death in police custody sparked two days of rioting and protests in
Thousands participated in Sharma's funeral procession; protesters demanded an open inquest by a panel of physicians and the immediate arrests of those responsible.
Police conducted an autopsy in private, lawyers close to the case said. But authorities did issue arrest warrants for the man who said he had been robbed and for six police officers, an apparent reaction to the unusual popular outcry, family members and lawyers said. The merchant is in jail, alleged to have participated in beating Sharma, but the police officers apparently have fled, authorities said.
Although the Indian government signed the international Convention Against Torture in 1997, it has not ratified the document. Some members of Parliament have argued against ratification, saying they oppose international scrutiny and asserting that Indian laws have adequate provisions to prevent torture. Human rights advocates said Uttar Pradesh ranks highest among Indian states in the incidence of police torture and custodial deaths.
Some police officers justify the use of torture to extract confessions and instill fear.
"The police in
A senior police officer in
"We call this thing samaj sudharak," the officer said, smiling, using the Hindi phrase for social reformer. "When we hit with this, there are no fractures, no blood, no major peeling of the skin. It is safe for us, as nothing shows up in the postmortem report. But the pain is such that the person can only appeal to God. He will confess to anything."
Last September, in a written ruling in a case of police misconduct, the Supreme Court criticized the use of torture. "The dehumanizing torture, assault and death in custody which have assumed alarming proportions raise serious questions about the credibility of the rule of law and administration of the criminal justice system," the court said. "The cry for justice becomes louder and warrants immediate remedial measure."
In addition, the severity of the torture problem is probably worse than statistics indicate, because victims, fearing reprisals, rarely report cases against the police, human rights advocates said.
"About 40 percent of custodial torture cases are not even reported. They are just grateful for God's mercy that they are alive and free," said Pradeep Kumar, a human rights lawyer who has represented police torture victims in Uttar Pradesh. "Torture sometimes leads to permanent disability, psychological trauma, loss of faculties."
The National Human Rights Commission, led by a retired Supreme Court justice, has faced criticism that it is too dependent on the government and lacks enforcement power.
"We have not been able to build a human rights culture in the police force," said Shankar Sen, a former police officer and an ex-member of the commission. "It is not only individual aberration but a matter of systemic failure."
The commission has ordered that cameras be installed in police stations to monitor and deter police brutality.
"In the past year we have spent about $600,000 to equip most of the police stations in
But critics and families of victims said they had not seen changes. In a much-publicized case in
Nama had been detained on suspicion that he was working with neighborhood gamblers. Four of the police officers were arrested in April, but one remains at large, authorities said. Police officials denied that Nama was tortured, saying he died of a heart attack after he was released from custody.
"My two children are so traumatized that now they run home scared every time they see a policeman on the street," said Nama's wife, Rekha, 29. "They know that danger lurks behind that uniform. They are not policemen, they are wolves."
On the wrong side of law
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Chunchun Kumar's wound is still raw |
For Chunchun Kumar of
But, then something happened that changed his life.
"It was 17 March of this year. There were six of them. When we first saw them, they were beating up the temple priest. He was lying on the ground, they were kicking and punching him," Kumar says.
"Then they started hitting two other men. Then they came into the tea shop and they beat us black and blue. Then they fired at us."
Kumar lifts up his shirt to show a bullet mark on his abdomen. The wound is still oozing.
The perpetrators were no ordinary criminals.
Says Kumar, "They were all policemen. I don't know why they were angry. They were all drunk, they were like drunk elephants, they went on a rampage."
The shocked villagers complained to the police authorities, and the offending policemen were suspended from duty and arrested.
'Very serious'
Additional director general of police in
"Two of the policemen who were inebriated vandalised the tea shop and began firing despite protests from their other colleagues. They were arrested and, although they have been released on bail, they are facing criminal charges."
Kumar's fight for justice recently brought him to the Indian capital, Delhi, where he narrated his story at India's first National People's Tribunal on Torture.
Activists say torture by police is rampant in
"The problem of torture is very serious. Today we have around 1.8 million cases of police torture each year in
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The police are often a law unto themselves, say campaigners |
Mr Tiphagne says the victims mostly are from the poorer sections of society.
"They are generally the (low-caste) Dalits, the tribals and the Muslims. And torture is used by those who are in power, those who possess, the landlords and the companies who put pressure on the police to carry out torture," Mr Tiphagne says.
Mr Anil Sinha says cases of human rights violations involving the police are "exaggerated" by activists.
"It's a kind of stereotype being dished out by the NGOs and activists. And because police have a bad reputation, so people take such allegations to be correct.
"We do not condone any human rights violations by police in any manner, and such cases are rare. We have a mechanism in place to deal with such cases and penalise the guilty," Mr Sinha says.
Shankar Sen, a retired police officer and former member of the human rights commission, says: "The policeman's work is very complex, there are pressure on him to deliver results, the police are exposed to extraneous influences and pressures."
But, he says, that does not condone torture. "It's illegal, and as a policeman I know it doesn't work."
Mr Sen admits that police torture is prevalent. "Torture does take place, it's very common, but it's unacceptable. Some allegations against the police are shocking."
Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch says nearly every police station in
'Arbiter of justice'
In many parts of the country, she says, the situation is so bad that people will not got to a police station to file a case fearing prosecution and retribution.
"There is this pattern of impunity. The fact that police believe they can get away with it has added to the problem," Ms Ganguly says.
"The greater problem is that an average policeman believes himself to be the arbiter of justice. Instead of going to the court, he himself is delivering justice.
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Arun Kumar's mental age has been reduced to one year |
"The policeman is not supposed to punish the criminal, he is supposed to catch the criminal," she says.
For the victims of torture and their families, it is a long haul.
Arun Kumar of the southern city of
Kumar's parents, PP Raju and Lakshmi, say their family home was ransacked, Kumar was taken to the police station where he was beaten up and tortured for days.
Unable to bear the pain and the trauma, Kumar drank pesticides in an attempt to kill himself.
He survived, but his parents say their son's mental age has been reduced to one year - he is on medication and requires constant care.
The guilty policeman was suspended for a week, but reinstated later. The family has a long fight ahead of them.
'Deterrence'
Says Mr Tiphagne, "A case I initiated in 1981 ended in 2007 with the dismissal of the officer. So I have hope in Arun Kumar's case too."
But, he says, this long wait can be a huge deterrence for even the most determined.
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Mr Tiphagne says nearly 2 million cases of torture take place in |
"The torture at the police station ends, but the torture of institutions continues. It's more of a psychological and mental nature, it is very challenging. Most people don't have the courage to withstand that, very few survive that," Mr Tiphagne says.
So while the victims continue to live with the trauma, most of the perpetrators get away.
They are also emboldened by the fact that
The country signed the UN Convention on Torture in 1997, but even 10 years later, it has not ratified it.
"We have to change our culture. We have to create awareness that torture is illegal. The civil society will have to get involved," says Meenakshi Ganguly.
"People will have to get past the fact that torture happens only to other people. And once that happens, it will change," she says.
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The first Prime Minister of
It is apparent that police is the largest agency constituted with the purpose of establishing the rule of law and human rights. One can read into the Indian Penal Code, with certain difficulty, the prohibition against torture. Statements recorded from witnesses under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code are not blindly admissible in a criminal trial. If the law is so, the next obvious question is then why do the police resort to torture?
The main reasons are feudal and colonial structure of police, scarcity of resources in the police department, political intervention and the lack of an independent agency to investigate the crimes committed by the police themselves. Modern investigation is unheard of within the police department. In addition,
The definition of torture as envisaged in the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as an "act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
Section 176 (A) of Cr.P.C. have provisions for the investigation in the each case of custodial death. However, this section is not used in any case in the entire Uttar Pradesh state. Neither have any Magistrates issued search warrants under Section 97 of Cr.P.C. when persons were taken into illegal custody.
The Supreme Court of
There is a provision for interim relief to be awarded as compensation under Section 19 of Human Right Act. Article 21 of Indian Constitution guarantees the right to life with dignity, which is also against torture. But torture continues unabated in the state. Do laws in the country have any meaning then?
If we look at the statistics, it is mostly the poor, the marginalised, the Dalits and the members of the minority and backward communities are subjected to torture. Those who have mafia gangs and known antisocial elements are not victims of this, cruel practice other than some rare occasions. Only the ordinary people are afraid of the police and the torture they practice. So does
Police along with the criminals have established the rule of the lords. Corruption and discrimination are no more mere practices, but the second nature of the police. Rule of law can be established without preventing police torture. Let us come together to enlighten ourselves and fight against torture to stop it and thus establish rule of law.
What you can do?
1) Protest on 26th June against the practice of torture by street plays, organising discussions and sending letters to the Prime Minister, and through press releases in newspapers condemning torture and inform us what you did;
2) Indian Government has signed the UN Convention in 1997 but has failed to ratify it. Send letters to the Prime Minister and the President of India asking them to require the government to accede the convention;
3) In protest of the cases of torture happening right under the nose of the National Human Rights Commission, organise a protest in front of the Commission;
4) Write letters to the editor of publications condemning torture;
5) To sensitize the people about torture and its forms, take down cases that you come across and send it to us so that we could follow it up on your behalf;
6) Write to the Supreme Court asking why its orders and guidelines are not followed;
7) Write to the government urging the government to provide resources to the police to function properly.
Thank you
Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi
Convener - PVCHR
SA 4/2 A, Daulatpur
221002Varanasi
Telephone: +91-9935599333
E-mail: pvchr.india@gmail.com
Guantanamo
INVESTIGATION: US detention centre under suspicion as eerily familiar claims OF torture and rendition flights surface from the airbase on the outskirts of Kabul
NOOR HABIB'S hands shake as he draws a picture of how he says he was abused. He claims that he was taken to a small, darkened cell where his arms were tied to the ceiling and he was made to stand in waist-deep water for six hours at a time.
![[Mohammad Nasim says he was asked if he knew Osama Bin laden.]](file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/GURU/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/02/clip_image009.jpg "mohammadnassim.jpg")
Mohammad Nasim says he was asked if he knew Osama Bin laden.
He says he was beaten, threatened with dogs, and deprived of sleep. He also claims there was nothing unusual about his treatment, "everyone else has the same story".
Habib was an inmate at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, an American military detention center outside
"I didn't think a prison like Bagram ever existed on earth. It is a place that has no rules or law," says Sabrullah, another ex-inmate.
Over a period of more than two months, we tracked down 27 former detainees. There were others, but they were afraid to speak or had been warned not to. Just two said they had been treated well. Many allegations of ill-treatment appear repeatedly in the interviews; physical abuse, the use of stress positions, excessive heat or cold, unbearably loud noise, being forced to remove clothes in front of female soldiers and in four cases, being threatened with death at gunpoint.
The account of an inmate known as Dr Khandan is one of the most harrowing. He says he was kept in isolation for months and treated worse than an animal: "They deprived us of sleep, they put us in a cold room and turned the air conditioning on and would take away the blanket. They poured cold water on you in winter and hot water in summer. They used dogs against us. They put a pistol to your head and threatened you with death. They put some kind of medicine in the water to make you sleepless and then they would interrogate you."
All the men who spoke to us were interviewed in isolation and they were all asked the same questions. They were held at times between 2002 and 2008 and they were all accused of belonging to or helping al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
None of the inmates were charged with any offense or put on trial; some even received apologies when they were released. While none of the allegations can be independently verified, the ill-treatment they describe also appears in an inquiry by US Senators into the handling of detainees in
"The conditions at Bagram were harder than
Most of the inmates are Afghans but some were captured abroad and brought here under a process known as "extraordinary rendition", including at least two Britons. The Obama administration says they are dangerous men and it classifies them as "terrorist suspects" and "enemy combatants" rather than "prisoners of war".
It is a legal classification that critics say deliberately denies inmates access to lawyers or the right to appeal or even complain about their treatment.
The Pentagon has denied the charges and it insists that all inmates are treated humanely. We were not allowed to visit Bagram, nor was anyone made available for an interview. Instead, a spokesman for the
The
But another former inmate, known as Mirwais, said: "They have no respect for human beings. They blame others for violating human rights. You just go and see how they violate human rights."
Since coming to office, president Barack Obama has banned the use of torture and ordered a review of its policy on detainees, which is expected to report next month. But unlike
Tina Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, a legal support group which is bringing a test case in the States to try to win representation for four detainees, says the inmates at Bagram are being kept in "a legal black hole, without access to lawyers or courts".
She is pursuing legal action that, if successful, would grant detainees the same rights as those still being held at
Last summer, the
Foster accuses Obama of abandoning that position and "using the same arguments as the Bush White House".
In its legal submissions, the
Obama has also ruled against an earlier decision to release photos that show abuse of prisoners in
Ex-inmate Esmatullah says he has trouble breathing when he thinks about Bagram, he gets nervous at the very mention of its name. Like many others, he also claims that he was beaten and threatened during interrogation: "The Afghan translator told me he has orders to take out my eyes, break my legs and hands. I said I am not afraid of dying. Then he hit me with a stick so hard that I had severe pains in my back for a month and a half."
Unlike Abu Ghraib and
These revelations come at a time when president Obama is trying to re-set
The reports that appeared yesterday in the Indian media quoting 'informed sources' that the Tamil Nadu state police has decided not to produce detainees in courts exposes the extent to which the justice institutions have broken down in India. According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 it is the statutory duty of the state police to assist the courts in the country for its day-to-day functioning. It is also mandatory for the police to produce the detainees remanded to judicial custody before the courts, as and when required by the courts. Any decision by the police, express or implied, against this official duty must not go unpunished.
The decision of the Tamil Nadu state police is a wilful dereliction of official responsibility, negation of judicial supremacy and the very function of the police in maintaining law and order. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and its sister concern the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have been continuously reporting instances suggesting the systematic breakdown of rule of law in India, particularly concerning the police. The decision by the state police of Tamil Nadu to disregard the provisions of law, substantiates ALRC's position that there are apparent and deep-rooted problems affecting the rule of law in
Lawyers engaged in professional misconduct, judges failing to perform duties and police officers committing crimes, assaulting persons and destroying property have become the defining characters of the justice dispensation system in the country. The structural breakdown is apparent. Yet, instead of gearing up to repair the ruptures, it appears that the government is forcing the people to get used to the reality.
The approval by the Government of
The Government of
In the past two years, there has been an alarming increase in the number of extra-judicial executions reported from
Impunity for the police to murder and the lack of punishment trivialises the practice of custodial torture in the country. The practice of torture is widespread and is accepted as an essential requirement for law enforcement.
On June 15 this year, the Speaker of the
Breach of law by the law enforcement agencies in the country meets no bounds. Corruption, nepotism and the disregard to the law flourish within state agencies, particularly in the police. The society quiver under the writ of fear when the law enforcement agents commit crimes with impunity. In spite of repeated and legitimate requests from national and international human rights groups and the thematic mandates holders of the UN like the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, the Government of India has failed to criminalise the practice of torture or to ratify the Convention against Torture.
In fact, the government has failed in implementing the directives of its own Supreme Court. The directives of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case are yet to be implemented in the country. The implementation of the Court's directives is important for improving the state of policing in India, since half of the issues concerning the police, including the practice of torture and participation in crimes by the police officers, are carried out at the behest of corrupt politicians in the country. Having a law against torture while the ultimate writ above the police entrusted with a corrupt politician will not improve policing in
It is in this context that the protest called in by the Tamil Nadu state police becomes relevant in exposing and addressing the situation of rule of law in
Instead of actively engaging in the situation, the Tamil Nadu state government has allowed the police to continue with their follies. The police action on February 19 inside the compound of
The February 19 incident is the clarion call for intervention by a system, which is left to breakdown and disintegrate. The subsequent protest orchestrated by the state police refusing cooperation to the functioning of the judiciary is a failure of the constitutional machinery that require a legitimate intervention by the Government under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution. The failure of the Government of
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