Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Messrs. Ghana Diraviam and Anandan and Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha

August 18, 2010

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in India.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by People’s Watch about the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Messrs. Ghana Diraviam and Anandan and Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha, members of the Dalit Foundation[1].

According to the information received, on August 15, 2010 at around 9.30 pm, Messrs. Ghana Diraviam and Anandan, and Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha were arrested and detained at the Veeravanallur Police Station in the Tirunelveli District of State of Tamil Nadu. They had come to visit the mentioned Police Station as part of a fact finding team sent to inquiry on the alleged case of torture inflicted on Mr. Suresh, a Dalit youth from Veeravanallur, by police officials at that station.

The fact finding team is one of the thirteen different teams that were sent in the field experience on “human rights fact finding” in the framework of a training programme co-organised by People’s Watch and the Dalit Foundation from August 11 to 20, 2010 in the city of Madurai’s Pillar House, Tamil Nadu State. Messrs. Ghana Diraviam and Anandan, as well as Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha had arrived at the Police Station at 6.30 pm to gather information in relation to the case but they were told that Sub Inspector of Police was not available. As they were about to leave, Ms. Roswin Savimo, another Sub Inspector of Police who knew Mr. Diraviam, invited them for a coffee so they came back inside the Police Station. While they were waiting for the coffee, the Inspector of Police in charge of the Veeravanallur Police Station, Mr. Murugesan, arrived and started questioning the members of the fact finding team about their mission. Without suspecting anything, they gave him the manual of the training course, which contains the details of the Dalit Foundation and People’s Watch. The Inspector of Police continued questioning them while reading the manual and he also went out of the room to make and receive phone calls.

It was only at around 9.30 pm, when Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha requested to leave, that they were informed of their arrest by the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Ambasamuthran, an adjacent District, who had arrived at the Veeravanallur Police Station. Mr. Diraviam then called one of the training programme assistant to inform him that they had been arrested and that they were detained. Right after this, the Inspector of Police seized their mobile phones and all of them were taken into separate rooms to get their identification details recorded.

The group was held in the Police Station until 11.00 pm, when they were taken before the Judicial Magistrate in Cheranmahadevi, a nearby town. They appeared before the Judicial Magistrate at 11.45 pm and they were accused of “personating a public servant”, “assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty”, “cheating by personating” and “punishment for criminal intimidation”, under sections 170, 353, 416 and 506 (i) of the Indian Penal Code respectively. The Judicial Magistrate then read a complaint filed against them by Sub Inspector of Police Roswin Savimo. It was only at that time that the five defenders were informed of the reasons for their detention. The remand report also refers to Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of People’s Watch, as the “absconding accused”, which means that he could be arrested at any time claiming that he was involved in this case. They were finally remanded to judicial custody at around 2.00 am and subsequently taken to the hospital for medical examination and then the three women were transferred to the Kokaralulam Women Sub Jail while the two men were taken to the Ambasamuthram Sub-Jail, both in the Tirunelveli District. A bail hearing was scheduled for August 18, 2010, but after hearing the defense, the Judicial Magistrate has decided to postpone de decision until August 19, 2010. Mr. Tiphagne has filed an appeal for anticipatory bail before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court and the decision should be taken on August 20, 2010.

It is worth noting that several members of People’s Watch tried to contact the Veeravanallur Police Station after being informed that they had been detained. The phone calls were not picked up and when they did, they were cut off. Furthermore, Mr. Chithirai Selvan, member of People’s Watch Citizens for Human Rights Movement (CHRM), who had been alerted of the arrest and had gone Veervanallur Police Station, was denied access to the members of the fact finding team.

The Observatory condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Messrs. Ghana Diraviam and Anandan, and Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha. The Observatory is also deeply concerned about the inclusion of Mr. Henri Tiphagne in the remand report. The Observatory considers that these acts of harassment seem to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities, and therefore the Observatory urges the Indian authorities to order their immediate and unconditional release, and to guarantee in all circumstances their physical and psychological integrity.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of India, urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Ghana Diraviam, Anandan and Henri Tiphagne, and of Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha as well as all human rights defenders in India;
2. Release Messrs. Ghana Diraviam and Anandan, and Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha immediately and unconditionally since their detention is arbitrary as it only aims at sanctioning his human rights activities;
3. Put an end to any acts of harassment - including at the judicial level - against Messrs. Ghana Diraviam, Anandan and Henri Tiphagne, and against Ms. Bharathi Pillai, Ms. Niharga Priya and Ms. Sudha, and more generally against all human rights defenders in India so that they are able to carry out their work without hindrances;
4. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as with Article 12.2 (“the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”);
5. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by India.

Addresses:

• Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister’s Office, Room number 152, South Block, New Delhi, Fax: + 91 11 2301 6857 E-mal: pmosb@pmo.nic.in
• Dr. P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 104-107 North Block, New Delhi 110 001 India, Fax: +91 11 2309 2979. hm@nic.in
• Justice Kapadia, Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, Fax: +91 11 233 83792, Email: supremecourt@nic.in
• Justice K. G. Balkrishnan, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110 001, Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: covdnhrc@nic.in ; ionhrc@nic.in
• State Human Rights Commission, Thiruvarangam, 143, P.S. Kumarasamy Raja Salai. Fax: +91 44 2495 1484. E-mal: shrc@tn.nic.in
• Dr. Kalaignar M Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Secretariat, Fort George, Chennai 600 009. E-mail: cmcell@tn.gov.in
• Ms. Latika Saran I.P.S., Director General of Police. Office of the DGP, Kamarajar Salai Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. E-mail: letika@vsnl.com
• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Geneva), Rue du Valais 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 906 86 86, Fax: +41 22 906 86 96, Email: mission.india@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of India in Brussels, 217 Chaussée de Vleurgat, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 (0)2 6489638 or +32 (0)2 6451869

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of India in your respective countries.

Geneva-Paris, August 18, 2010

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
• Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
• Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

[1]The Dalit Foundation is the first organisation in India committed exclusively to the eradication of caste discrimination and the empowerment of Dalits and other marginalised communities. It focuses particularly on Dalit women, who occupy the lowest rung of the caste hierarchy. Their current encompasses the issues of caste violence, eradication of manual scavenging, enhancement of Dalit women leadership, rights over natural resources, health and education. The Dalit Foundation also aims to build positive Dalit identity on the foundations of a positive Dalit culture.