Summary
Dr.
Binayak Sen, a pediatrician and health activist who has
been working in Chhattisgarh state in India for the past
30 years was arrested on 14 May, 2007 under the
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2006 (CSPSA) and
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 2004 for alleged
links with Naxalism (an informal name given to radical,
often violent, revolutionary communist groups). Both
these laws have been widely criticized for being
extremely vague and subjective on what is deemed unlawful
and for giving arbitrary powers to the state to silence
all dissent.
As a human rights activist, Dr. Sen has helped to
organize fact-finding campaigns into human rights
violations in the state including custodial deaths, fake
confrontations, hunger deaths, dysentery epidemics,
malnutrition and so on. In recent times he has worked
intensively to expose the large-scale massacre and brutal
aggression of the state under the so-called “Salwa
Judum”* in Dantewara District of Chhattisgarh.
Dr. Sen's arrest and continued detention came as a shock
to civil society. The fact that he continues to be
detained, without substantial evidence makes one
suspicious that this is a move aimed at silencing critics
and intimidating those who have been involved in human
rights activism and protested against the government in
Chhattisgarh. Dr. Sen is the General Secretary of the
Chattisgarh People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL)
and also the National Vice-President of PUCL, one of the
oldest civil liberties organizations in India.
Salwa Judum* - literally translated as “Peace
Festival” or “Peace March” are campaigns
taken up by the police to arm and train civilians to form
para-military vigilance units to combat Naxalism.
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Sample
Letter
We are gravely concerned at the
continued detention of Dr. Binayak Sen, General
Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union
for Civil Liberties (PUCL), since 14 May 2007.
Dr. Sen is also the National Vice President of
PUCL, one of the oldest civil liberties
organizations in India.
Dr.Sen epitomizes a dwindling tradition in India
of public health professionals taking health care
to the poorest sections and most underdeveloped
regions of this country. He has, for the past 30
years promoted community rural health care
centers and been involved in pioneering the
'mitanin' programme (community health worker
programme), which has been taken up by the
government for implementation. This programme
has, for the first time, allowed tribals living
in remote areas to get access to primary health
care. He also helped establish the Shaheed
Hospital in Dalli Rajhara, set up and operated by
workers for over 25 years.
As a human rights activist, he has helped to
organize fact-finding campaigns into human rights
violations in the state including custodial
deaths, fake encounters, hunger deaths, dysentery
epidemics, malnutrition and so on. In recent
times he has worked intensively to expose the
large-scale massacre and brutal aggression of the
state under the so-called Salwa Judum in
Dantewara District of Chhattisgarh.
We believe that the arrest of Dr. Sen is a grave
assault on the democratic rights movement in
India and is an attempt to intimidate the PUCL
and other democratic voices that have been
speaking out against human rights violations in
the state. Dr. Sen has been detained under the
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006
and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
2004 on charges that are baseless. Both these
laws have been widely criticized by numerous
civil rights groups for being extremely vague and
subjective on what is deemed unlawful and for
giving arbitrary powers to the state to silence
all matters of dissent. It is feared that these
undemocratic laws have been used to target Dr.
Sen and PUCL Chhattisgarh.
Hence we kindly request that:
• all charges against Dr. Sen be dropped and
that he should be released immediately;
• threats to and harassment of other
activists be stopped immediately;
• Salwa Judum be immediately disbanded; and
• the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security
Act 20006 and the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act be repealed.
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Background
The
arbitrary arrest of human rights activist and General
Secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of the People's Union
for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Dr. Binayak Sen, in the
Indian state of Chhattisgarh took place in the aftermath
of the alleged involvement by the police in the unlawful
killing of 12 adivasis or tribal people. Despite these
allegations being substantiated by a police inquiry, the
state government still refuses to prosecute the
assailants. Leading historian Ramchandra Guha, has
recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court urging its
intervention to stop the 'Salwa Judum' campaign. Several
other members of the PUCL have been subject to similar
harassment and threats of arrest from time to time.
Dr. Sen, is also an active member of the Medico Friend
Circle and the Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan (Peoples Health
Campaign). He completed his post graduation education
from the Christian Medical College, Vellore. From 1976 to
1978, he was a faculty member at the Centre for Social
Medicine and Community Health at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. Later, he left his academic
assignment to work directly with the poor and
disadvantaged in villages of Madhya Pradesh
/Chhattisgarh, where he has lived in the past several
decades.
Dr. Sen was detained at the Tarbahar Police Station,
Bilaspur on the afternoon of 14 May 2007 when he returned
from Kolkotta after a fortnight's trip. He was made a
co-accused in the case of Mr. Piyush Guha, who was
arrested illegally on the evening of 1 May 2007, but
produced before the Magistrate only on 5 May 2007 after
the PUCL issued a statement expressing concern about his
"abduction" by the police. It is alleged that
Dr. Sen had passed on letters to Mr. Piyush Guha written
by the leaders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)
lodged at the Raipur Central Jail. However Dr. Sen met
the inmates with the prior permission of the
Superintendent of Police, Raipur, in the office and
presence of the jailer, Raipur.
Dr. Sen's arrest came immediately after reports of
“fake confrontation”, which took place in
Santoshpur, Bijapur where 12 innocent citizens were
killed by the state police on 31 March 2007. PUCL –
Chhatisgarh later carried out investigations to expose
this fact. It suggests a blatant act of intimidation to
silence those who question the state and expose the truth
behind fake confrontations, disappearances, rapes and
other illegal acts committed by the police and the state
government.
Dr. Sen’s arrest closely followed the arrest of Mr
Arun Fereira, a Mumbai-based social activist who was
arrested in Nagpur on 8 May 2007 under similar draconian
laws alleging links to a Naxalite group. Mr. Fereira was
involved in addressing issues like farmers suicides in
Vidharba and the Special Economic Zones that are
displacing people all over the country. Mr. Fereira was
alleged to have been tortured when in police custody and
was put through “narco-analysis” (Narco
analysis is carried out under the influence of the drug,
sodium pentathol, that is administered to the accused
persons. They become subconscious and answer all the
questions.) and now remains in judicial custody. In
recent days, the targets of state harassment in
Chhattisgarh have widened to include Dr. Ilina Sen (wife
of Dr Binayak) who for years has been active in the
women’s movement, Mr. Gautam Bandopadhyaya of Nadi
Ghati Morcha, PUCL’s activist Ms. Rashmi Dwivedi and
other activists of the PUCL.
A public meeting was organized on 31 May 2007 in Mumbai
to express solidarity with these arrested persons and
demand their release. Several human rights activists and
lawyers spoke up against the draconian laws that are
being used to silence dissent. The issue of the arrest of
Dr. Sen was also been taken up in Britain’s House of
Commons. At a national seminar on ‘Encounter
Killings’ organized by the National Confederation of
Human Rights Organisations and Amnesty International
India on Anti-Torture Day (26 June 2007), Dr. Sen’s
release was re-emphasized in the resolution.
Source:
Local Sources
For more information, please visit http://gyanoprobha.typepad.com and http://www.pucl.org
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