Summary
Dr.
Binayak Sen, a health activist and awardee of the
prestigious R. R. Keithan Gold Medal of the Indian
Academy of Social Sciences, has remained in judicial
remand for more than 10 months since 14 May 2007 and is
reported to be in solitary confinement for over 2 weeks
since March 2008. Local groups are highly concerned with
his situation. Internationally, solitary confinement has
been compared to torture since solitary confinement of
any person carries the risk of serious mental and
physical harm and can amount to cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment.
Dr. Sen was arrested on 14 May 2007 under the
controversial 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 of
Chhattisgarh to silence all dissents.
Dr. Sen's confinement runs against the spirit of sections
73 & 74 of Indian Penal Code, which protect convicted
persons from such confinement. Section 74 states that
"confinement shall in no case exceed fourteen days
at a time, with intervals between the periods of solitary
confinement of not less duration than such periods".
Local groups ridicule that "even convicted persons
are protected by law from such cruel and unusual
punishment. (Dr.) Binayak has not even been tried!"
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Sample
Letter
We are disheartened to know the recent
solitary confinement of Dr. Binayak Sen, General
Secretary and National Vice President of the
Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties
(PUCL), since late March 2008 for over 2 weeks.
Dr. Sen has been detained for more than 10 months
now, yet his arrest is based on the controversial
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2006
(CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act 2004. Many have lamented the charges fail to
substantiate.
Dr. Sen's contribution to the Indian nation is
unquestionable. Being an awardee of the
prestigious R. R. Keithan Gold Medal of the
Indian Academy of Social Science, Dr. Sen's
contribution exceeds his professional boundary.
As a human rights activist, he has helped
organize fact-finding campaigns into human rights
violations in the state of Chhattisgarh,
including custodial deaths, fake encounters,
hunger deaths, dysentery epidemics, malnutrition
and so on. Prior to his arrest he has worked
intensively to expose the large-scale massacre
and brutal aggression in the state of
Chhattisgarh under the so-called Salwa Judum in
Dantewara District of Chhattisgarh. A man of his
caliber should be paid a high honor for his
accomplishments and not put aside in solitary
confinement. Indeed, solitary confinement has
been compared to torture internationally since
such confinement carries the risk of serious
mental and physical harm that can amount to
inhumane and degrading treatment.
We respect India for signing the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), as well
as taking steps to prevent acts of torture. It is
encouraging to find sections 73 & 74 of the
Indian Penal Code set out limitation for solitary
confinement for convicted persons. While these
proof the nations' determination to carry out it
obligation outlined in Article 2 of CAT which
states "state party shall take effective
legislative, administrative, judicial or other
measures to prevent acts of torture in any
territory under its jurisdiction", it is
ridiculed that a non-convicted person like Dr.
Sen is solitarily confined for over 2 weeks time.
It runs directly against Section 74 of Indian
Penal Code which states "confinement shall
in no case exceed fourteen days at a time".
Moreover, India, as an elected member in the UN
Human Right Council, has promised to "uphold
the highest standards of promotion and protection
of human rights."
Hence we kindly request that:
• Dr. Sen be removed from solitary
confinement immediately;
• All charges against Dr. Sen be dropped and
that he should be released immediately;
• Concrete actions are taken to repeal the
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2006 and
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. |
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Background
Arrest
of Dr. Sen
Dr. Sen's outspoken criticism of crimes committed by the
state-backed Salwa Judum i.e. campaigns taken up by the
police to arm and train civilians to form para-military
vigilance units to combat Naxalism, has contributed to
his agony. His arbitrary arrest came immediately after
reports of "fake confrontation", which took
place in Santoshpur, Bijapur where 12 innocent citizens
were killed by the Chhattisgarh state police on 31 March
2007. The reports were confirmed by PUCL –
Chhatisgarh's investigation, which suggests a blatant act
of intimidation to silence those who question the state
Chhattisgarh and expose the truth behind fake
confrontations, disappearances, rapes and other illegal
acts committed by the police and the Chhattisgarh state
government. Despite these allegations being substantiated
by a police inquiry, the Chhattisgarh state government
refuses to prosecute the assailants. 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.
Leading historian Ramchandra Guha, has recently filed a
petition in the Supreme Court urging its intervention to
stop the 'Salwa Judum'. On 31 March 2008, the Supreme
Court of India questioned the establishment and existence
of Salwa Judum and wants an independent assessment of the
militia. Several other members of the PUCL have been
subject to similar harassment and threats of arrest from
time to time.
Despite repeated appeals and PUCL's statement dated 2
November 2007 to urge the Chhattisgarh state authorities
"to refrain from delay tactics", the judge of
District Court trying Dr Sen's case has passed an order
that only one member of his family or friends can remain
present in court during trial.
Since Dr. Sen's arrest, three courts have denied him
bail, most damagingly, the Supreme Court on 10 December
2007. Gopal Subramaniam, Additional Solicitor General of
India and counsel for the Chhattisgarh government, argued
that the Indian State was investigating terrorism in
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and
Dr. Binayak Sen was not only a part of this network of
terrorism, but a key figure in the web. Granting him bail
would jeopardize the health of the nation.
Solitary Confinement in Indian Penal Code
The 2 relevant sections are section 73 and 74, they read
as follows:
Section 73. Solitary confinement
Whenever any person is convicted of an offence for which
under this Code the Court has power to sentence him to
rigorous imprisonment, the Court may, by its sentence,
order that the offender shall be kept in solitary
confinement for any portion or portions of the
imprisonment to which he is sentenced, not exceeding
three months in the whole, according to the following
scale, that is to say-
A time not exceeding one month if the term of
imprisonment shall not exceed six months;
A time not exceeding two months if the term of
imprisonment shall exceed six months and [shall not
exceed one] year;
A time not exceeding three months if the term of
imprisonment shall exceed one year.
Section 74. Limit of solitary confinement
In executing a sentence of solitary confinement, such
confinement shall in no case exceed fourteen days at a
time, with intervals between the periods of solitary
confinement of not less duration than such periods: and
when the imprisonment awarded shall exceed three months,
the solitary confinement shall not exceed seven days in
any one month of the whole imprisonment awarded, with
intervals between the periods of solitary confinement of
not less duration than such periods.
Other Abuses caused by Controversial Acts
This May 2008 will mark one year since Dr. Binayak Sen
has been in prison. This May will also mark one year
since Arun Ferreira, Murali and two other activists were
arrested in Nagpur and have remained in prison since. In
August last year Vernon Gonsalves and Sridhar Srinivasan
were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act and have been held without bail since.
In December last year, a publisher of progressive books,
Anil Mamani, was held in Nagpur, Maharashtra with three
other dalit students, of whom only two of the latter have
been released. The police have used the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act – to keep these persons
in prison indefinitely since bail is almost impossible
under this law. Two months ago, 10 youth were held in
Chandrapur, Maharashtra – they belonged to an
organization called Deshbhakt Yuvak Sangathana and their
activities involved commemorating Einstein's centenary,
and that of Shahid Bhagat Singh. A young activist named
Mallesh from Surat, Gujarat was arrested in some cases a
few years ago. He was eventually acquitted and discharged
in all his cases but the moment he stepped out of Nagpur
Central Jail, he was re-arrested by the police in another
trumped-up case!
More recently, the police in Vidarbha, Maharashtra put
out a list of several organizations that they claimed
were front organizations of the Maoists, which list
included the National Alliance of Peoples' Movements, the
Forum against Oppression of Women and the Pune-based
organisation of rag pickers and sanitation workers led by
Baba Adhav. This led Medha Patkar and Baba Adhav to issue
statements condemning the police for demonizing Maoists
and trying to crush all public support for them. This
kind of police propaganda also exposes the paranoia of
the government forces about any political formation and
activity which exposes the anti-people nature of the
government.
Draconian laws, like The Essential Services Maintenance
Act, 1981 -ESMA, are now being used against workers who
are fighting for their legitimate demands as was seen in
December 2007 against the Reliance Energy contract
workers'
Last week in Delhi, a Committee for the Release of
Political Prisoners was formed of concerned citizens from
every state and every walk of life.
For details of Dr. Binayak Sen's Case: Hotline Asia
Urgent Appeals SUA070706(2).
Source:
Local Sources
Wikipedia
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