September 28, 2010
We are extremely pleased to inform you that we had organized a very
successful Independence People's Tribunal on Operation Green Hunt in
Ranchi on 25th and 26th of September, 2010 under the banner of the
Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum with the support of Operation
Green Hunt Virodhi Nagrik Manch, Jharkhand Indigenous People's Forum,
Jharkhand Initiatives Desk, Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan, Jharkhand
Mines Area Coordination Committee and many other groups.
We had the renowned author and activist Ms. Arundhati Roy as a special
observer in the IPT. The esteemed members of the Jury were Retd Judge
of Jharkhand High Court, Justice Vikramaditya Prasad, Sri Prashant
Bhushan Senior Supreme Court advocate, Sri K.S. Subramanian, I.P.S.
and former Director General of Police, Sri C.S. Jha, former CMD of
BCCL and ECL and others. We are sharing the observations and
recommendations of the Jury. We hope it will have a huge impact in the
human rights movement.
INDEPENDENT PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL ON OPERATION GREEN HUNT IN JHARKHAND
(held in Ranchi on 25th and 26th Sept 2010)
Organised by : Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum
Observations of the Jury
The jury heard the testimonies of a number of social Activists working
the Tribals in Jharkhand as well as a number of Tribals themselves who
have been directly affected by Operation Greenhunt over the two days.
The picture which emerges from these testimonies presents a dismal and
indeed alarming picture of Human Rights violations of the adivasis
population of the State which has driven them to unprecedented levels
of desperation where their very survival is being threatened.
Over the last 60 years, more than 20 lakh acres of land has been
acquired directly by the State in the name of various "development"
projects displacing more than 15 lakh Adivasis from their homelands.
This drive for acquisition of their land has become particularly acute
during the last decade when 102 MOUs have been signed with a number of
large private corporations, some of which are for thousands of acres
of land involving the displacement of thousands of tribals in each
case. Most of these MOUs are for mining or for setting up other
polluting industries. These have however met with enormous resistance
from the adivasis who have organized themselves and have so far
successfully resisted the accusations of their land as a result of
which virtually none of these MOUs have so far been operationalised.
All this land acquisition of Adivasi land has however been done
without the consent or even consultation with the Adivasis. The MOUs
were in fact signed in great haste and secrecy with no information at
all to the people who were to be affected. All this is in complete
violation of the PESA Act which provides that all development in the
Scheduled areas would be in consultation (which should mean consent)
of the Gram Sabhas. This has led to a widespread feeling among the
Adivasis that not only is their right of self-rule being flagrantly
violated, but their very identity and existence is being threatened.
Many of them consequently taken up the Gun and joined the Maoists who
have organized them to fight the state.
The government's response to this has been Operation Greenhunt which
uses large sections of Paramilitary forces what they perceive as the
single security threat to the State. Interestingly, Operation
Greenhunt is largely concentrated in the areas where the MOUs have
been signed. The testimonies before us revealed that this Operation
has led to and is causing enormous violations of Human Rights of the
Adivasis in terms of all kinds of excesses by the security forces. A
large number of testimonies before the Tribunal provided a sampling of
the kinds of Human Rights abuses taking place: Arbitrary picking up of
Adivasis and their torture; Arbitrary arrests of Adivasis as well as
of those who to highlight the abuses by the security forces on false
and trumped up charges; people even being killed in fake encounters or
in custody. These abuses are only serving drive more Adivasis to pick
up Guns and join the Maoists.
The Jury noted that the security forces involved in the abuses are
hardly ever brought to justice and enjoy almost complete impunity.
Unfortunately Jharkhand has not set up a State Human Rights
Commissions or even Police Complaints Authority as directed by the
Supreme Court in their judgment on Police Reforms. The Courts too
which are supposed to examine allegations of torture, fake encounters
and malafide arrests on false charges, have abdicated their
responsibility with the result that innocents continue to rot in jails
for years altogether and the guilty police officers are not punished,
even when it is found that they have tortured people, killed them in
fake encounters or arrested them on fabricated evidence. The Supreme
Court's judgement on Arrests, torture and the NHRC's guidelines on
encounter killings are being wantonly flouted and no one is being held
accountable.
The Jury therefore recommends that:
The Government must address the underlying causes of Tribal alienation
by ensuring that PESA Act is strictly complied with and that there is
no involuntary acquisition of Tribal land without the consent of the
Gram sabhas. The Adivasis must be given the effective right to decide
the kind of development which should take place in their areas.
All MOUs entered into by the government which involve the acquisition
of Tribal land must immediately be made public and put on hold.
Operation Greenhunt be withdrawn in a phase but rapid withdrawl of
Para Military forces from Jharkhand.
The government must make a full and complete disclosure of those
killed by the security forces in Operation Greenhunt and those who
have killed detained and arrested under the UAPA.
The police and the Security forces must be made effectively
accountable for their human rights abuses by:
(i) Setting up a State Human Rights Commission in a transparent and
credible manner which should be armed with adequate powers;
(ii) Setting up Police Complaints authorities as directed bye the Supreme Court;
(iii) The NHRCs guidelines regarding encounters, especially an
investigation by an independent police agency and a Magisterial
Enquiry must be strictly followed and the District SSP and DGP of the
State be made jointly liable for non compliance;
(iv) The courts get each complaint of torture and arrest on false and
fabricated charges seriously examined.
1. The SC & ST (Prevention of atrocities) Act 1989 be diligently
applied against security officers committing such abuses on Tribals.
The State Human Rights Commission be charged with monitoring it.
2. A High Level Commission be set up to investigate some of the most
egregious cases of Encounter killings, torture and killing in police
custody and also of arrests on false and fabricated charges.
3. Government of India should ratify UN convention on Torture and
enact a law in tune with the spirit of convention
4. UN code of conduct for law Enforcement Officials, including
prosecutors, Lawyers and Judges should be compulsorily observed.
5. UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms should be
adopted and enforced
6. UN Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
should be adopted and enforced.
7. The international convention on Civil and Political Rights ratified
by Government of India includes prohibition of torture, and obligates
the state to hold detainees in officially recognized places of
detention with names in registers accessible to all concerned.
8. Government of India should issue a standing invitation to Precial
Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, including:
(i) Working group on Arbitrary Detention
(ii) Working group on Enforced & Involuntary Disappearances
(iii) Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executers
(iv) Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment
(v)Most importantly special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples.
9. Compensation and other things for killing or torture or illegal
arrest must be paid as committed by the Govt.
10. The Government should come with a white paper as to the
expenditure made in police vis-�-vis result thereof.
Signed by:
Justice Vikramaditya Prasad (Retd. Judge, Jharkhand High Court)
Mr. K.S. Subramanian (IPS and former DGP, Tripura)
Mr. C.S. Jha (former CMD, ECIL)
Mr. Prashant Bhushan (Lawyer and Covenor, Campaign for Judicial Accountability)
_______________________________________________
info-bureau mailing list
info-bureau@lists.ilps-news.com
http://lists.ilps-news.com/mailman/listinfo/info-bureau
