Dear Ihrgcian
Requested to all kindly go through the details and and sign the Appeal, informed by AHRC
Regards
Jeblin
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-001-2011
01 January 2011
------------------------- -----------------------------
INDIA: Journalist facing persecution for reporting about a mass grave in Gujarat
ISSUES: Freedom of expression; genocide; mass grave; threats to human rights defenders
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received
information concerning a concocted criminal case registered against a
journalist in India, Mr. Rahul Singh, for reporting a mass grave in
Panderwada village within Panchmahal district of Gujarat. In December
2005, Rahul came to know about the mass grave in Panderwada from the
local human rights activists. The mass grave reportedly had the remains
of 21 victims of the 2002 Gujarat genocide. Rahul reported the news
about the exhumation of human remains by the victims' family members
through Sahara, a TV news channel in December 2005.
The mass grave exposed the criminal nexus between the state
administration led by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the state police
and other fundamentalist Hindu political groups operating in India,
particularly the persons in the state administration who colluded with
the Hindu fundamentalists to carryout the genocide. Eight years later,
the Gujarat State Police have now registered a criminal case against
Rahul accusing him that he has aided the tampering of evidence in a
criminal case and has broadcast reports that could have caused communal
hatred. Mr. J. K. Bhat, who was the Superintendent of Police (SP) of
Panchmahal district when 21 bodies were buried in the mass grave in an
alleged attempt to hide the evidence of genocide, is now the Inspector
General of Police stationed at Vadodhara who is investigating the case
registered against Rahul and five other accused persons, a background
tha t seriously challenges the state police's motives of accusing Rahul
of a crime that he has not committed. Rahul, after leaving Sahara is
now working with Headlines Today in New Delhi.
Rahul's life is at risk from the corrupt Gujarat State Police, an
institution that has thus far proved that their allegiance is not to
serve the rule of law, but to act at the behest of a religiously
fundamentalist political party and its leaders who have thus far
escaped prosecution despite being exposed of having orchestrated a
genocide that has claimed an estimated 1267 lives.
CASE DETAILS:
Rahul Singh is a journalist working with Headlines Today, an English TV
News Channel associated with the media group, India Today. Before
joining Headlines Today, Rahul was working with the Sahara TV. On 29
December, 2010, the Gujarat State Police went to Rahul's house in
Bophal, Madhya Pradesh state, reportedly to serve him a court summons,
issued by a court in Gujarat. The court has issued the summons to Rahul
upon the request of the Gujarat State Police, since the police have
made Rahul a co-accused in a crime registered against four other
persons, including human rights defenders, working in Gujarat state in
an alleged act of vengeance against their involvement in taking up and
reporting cases of genocide and religious violence perpetuated by Hindu
fundamentalist forces operating in Gujarat in collusion with the BJP
led state administration, notorious for orchestrating the 2002 Gujarat
genocide.
Rahul now stays in New Delhi and was not present at his home in Bophal
when the police arrived. The police demanded Rahul's father, Mr. N. K.
Singh, to accept the summons on behalf of Rahul, which Mr. Singh denied
to comply. Then the police ordered Singh to issue a statement, which
also Singh denied. Mr. Singh is the Resident Editor of the Hindustan
Times. The six police officers who came in two vehicles, left from
Rahul's house when other journalists in the city, coming to know about
the incident, came to Rahul's house and questioned the process by which
the summons was sought to be served. Rahul suspects that the purpose of
the police visiting Rahul's house in such large number was for the
police to arrest Rahul and take him to Gujarat state.
The police from one state to execute a court process or even to arrest
a person residing within the jurisdiction of another state, as it is in
this case, have to follow procedures prescribed by the law. In ordinary
circumstances a court summons is served by a police officer or a court
staff to the person concerned, wherein the summons will specify the
time, date and the address of the court in which the person has to be
present. Sections 62 and 67 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
(Cr.P.C) prescribes the procedure to serve a court summons upon a
person. Section 67 prescribes the process by which a summons issued by
a court upon a person residing outside the jurisdiction of the summons
issuing court. It appears that the local police or the court that
issued the summons have not complied with this procedure and the court
has handed over the summons to the police, instead of sending a request
to an executing court having jurisdiction in Bophal to serve the
summons upon Rahul. The number of police officers and their attitude to
Rahul's father when they found that Rahul was not at home reiterates
Rahul's fear that the police had ulterior motives that could have
endangered his safety, or at least to arrest Rahul and taken him to
Gujarat.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In De cember 2005, Rahul was working with Sahara TV. He came to know
about the mass grave in Panderwada village from a local human rights
activist, Mr. Rais Khan, who then worked for a civil rights
organisation called Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). The family
members of 21 persons, whose remains were recovered from the mass
grave, were seeking the whereabouts of their missing relatives with the
state administration at the time. These 21 persons were found missing
after the Gujarat genocide, orchestrated by the BJP that ruled the
state then and is also now holding power in Gujarat. The state
administration and the local police, of which Mr. J. K. Bhat was the SP
at that time, had informed the family members of the missing persons,
that the state police did not have any information about their missing
relatives.
It was at this time that some villagers in Panderwada came to know
about the mass grave in the outskirts of their village. The villagers
came to know about the mass grave when they found dogs scavenging bones
and other decomposed flesh that the villagers suspected to be human
remains. They reportedly informed Khan, who was at the time working for
CJP assisting the victims' families of the 2002 genocide about the
suspected presence of decomposed human remains in the village. Khan
contacted the families who were searching for their missing relatives
and also Rahul and informed them about the possibility of unearthing
the mass grave.
Rahul contacted the then SP of Panchmahal district, Mr. Bhat and
informed him about the suspected mass grave. The officer, in an
interview that was broadcast over TV, informed Rahul that the police
had no information about the grave or about the 21 persons alleged to
be missing and suspected to be buried in the grave. Then, Rahul along
with the camera crew went to the suspected mass grave where the family
members of the missing persons were unearthing the grave. At the site,
the family members unearthed human remains, with dress and other
personal belongings of their missing relatives. Rahul, on behalf of the
Sahara TV, recorded the incident and later broadcast the incident on
TV. The incident revealed the attempt of those who were behind the
Gujarat genocide to hide evidence of mass executions.
The state police and the administration were forced to respond. They
cordoned the area and an official exhumation was conducted. The
recovered remains were sent to the Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad and
the tests conducted revealed that the exhumed remains are that of the
21 persons that the families were claiming to be missing since the
genocide. The state police soon came up with a story that the exhumed
human remains were in fact buried af ter a post-mortem examination of
the dead bodies of unidentified victims of a 'communal violence' in the
state. The state police further claimed that the place from which the
human remains were recovered was in fact a burial ground and not a
hidden mass grave. The fact however is that the place resembles a waste
dumping ground, and the bodies were piled one over the other and were
buried only a few inches below the surface, that dogs were able to dig
up the remains, which led to the disclosure of the mass grave.
The state police also produced post-mortem reports that they claimed to
be relevant to the bodies that were recovered and identified, alleging
that the bodies, before they were buried were examined by a forensic
surgeon. However, the reports of the post-mortem examination of the 21
bodies, all conducted in the same facility and by the same crew, had
the time of post-mortem examination rec orded, in five to ten minutes
intervals, suggesting that the documents were fabricated to fit the
story invented by the state police and the administration, and further
to justify the claim that the bodies were buried after proper
procedures prescribed by the law.
In a recent development, Rais Khan, the human rights activist formerly
working with CJP, fell off with its management and has started making
accusations against the CJP. Based on Khan's allegations the Gujarat
State Police have registered a criminal case against the office bearers
of the CJP, including Khan. The state administration and the state
police that faced severe criticism for participating in the 2002
Gujarat genocide is now allegedly making use of Khan's animosity to CJP
to wreck vengeance against CJP and against everyone who exposed the
despicable and alarming role the state government and the police played
in the genoci de. In that, the state police have made Rahul a co-accused
in a case registered against Khan and the other office bearers of the
CJP on the ground that Rahul, by entering the site of the mass grave
has contaminated forensic evidence and through his TV reports has
incited communal violence.
The fact however is that Rahul has only reported the discovery of a
mass grave, the reaction of the family members who had lost their
relatives in the genocide and their acts when they found the remains of
their missing relatives, which the state administration and the police
until then had refused of having any knowledge of.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The case registered against Rahul once again reiterates the fact that
the Gujarat state administration and its police is continuing their
witch-hunting of everyone who voiced their concern against the
government le d by Mr. Narendra Modi, a senior leader of the BJP and the
present Chief Minister of Gujarat, who actively participated in the
2002 Gujarat genocide. The police action of incorporating Rahul's name
as the fifth co-accused in the crime registered by the Gujarat state
police against four other persons including human rights defenders,
exposes the conspiracy between the state police and the state
administration in seeking out and punishing everyone who exposed the
state administration's and the state police's role in facilitating the
genocide and assisting in hiding or destroying the evidence of state
participation in the horrific event.
The registering of a case against Rahul is also a threat to the free
media in India. Rahul is one of the journalists who were instrumental
in exposing and reporting state government's role in the genocide. The
fraudulent nature of the crime registered against Rahul is exposed
further by the fact that it is the same police officer, Mr. Bhat, who
was once in charge of the area in which the mass grave was discovered,
is now after promotion as the Inspector General of Police,
investigating the crime registered against Rahul and four others.
Section 468 of the Cr.P.C prescribes a time limit for taking cognizance
of offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). While
it is yet to be ascertained the exact provisions of the IPC or other
laws under which the case is registered against Rahul, under ordinary
circumstances the courts in India and the police are barred by the
operation of Section 468 to even initiate a case against Rahul, should
the charges alleged are under Sections 153, 153 A (1) and 297 of the
IPC.
The series of events, from the complaints of the family members of the
21 persons who went missing after the 2002 genoc ide and whose remains
were identified in the mass grave, to the issue of summons against
Rahul raises the following questions:
1. Why did not the police have any information about the 21 persons
reported missing after the 2002 genocide, if the police had conducted
autopsy of these persons and had buried them in a public burial ground?
2. Had the autopsies been actually held, how is it possible to conduct
21 autopsies in one day, by a single team in the same facility, that
too within an interval of five minutes between autopsies?
3. How is it possible that the place where the mass grave was
discovered is a burial ground, if the local people are not aware about
the existence of such a burial ground?
4. If the place is a burial ground, how many other persons are buried
in the same place before and after the discovery of the mass grave?
5. Which government records of wha t time specifies the place as a burial ground?
6. If the police is of the opinion that, Rahul, by reporting the event
has contaminated forensic evidence, how does the police accept the fact
that the place alleged to be now a burial ground is in fact a dumping
ground?
7. Even if the police charge is to be believed, about the contamination
of forensic evidence and incitement of communal violence by reporting
the excavation of human remains, why did not the police register a case
on these charges in 2005 itself?
8. It was the family members of the once believed to be disappeared 21
persons, who undertook the excavation. Why have the police not
registered a crime against the family members who actually undertook
the excavation?
9. The news broadcast was made by Sahara TV, after the News Editor
edited the news. Why has no crime registered against the Editor or
against Sahara TV?
10. Under what law in India is reporting a crime classified as a crime?
11. Has the police undertaken any investigation to indentify and
prosecute those who were responsible for the murder of 21 persons and
their burial in a mass grave?
12. What is the moral, professional and legal rationale for the same
police officer under whose jurisdiction where the mass grave was
discovered, now investigating a crime, registered eight years after the
discovery of the mass grave against those who spoke about it?
13. Why has the state administration not entrusted the investigation of
the case to an independent agency, like the Central Bureau of
Investigation?
14. What action have the state police initiated against those who
incited and executed the 2002 Genocide and also later destroyed the
evidence of genocide?
15. Since when in India has media freedom has become restricted to such
exte nt that the state police can register crimes against those who
speak against a state administration or the political party that runs
the state government?
India has ratified the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide on 27 August 1959. It has also ratified the
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 10
April 1979. While India's obligation under international human rights
law by ratifying the Genocide Convention requires India to prevent
genocide and take actions against those who perpetuate it, Article 19
of the ICCPR mandates India to guarantee freedom of expression and
opinion. These are in addition to the fundamental guarantees and
prohibitions prescribed in the Indian constitution that also guarantees
freedom of expression and opinion.
The 2002 Gujarat genocide has placed India in the list of those
countries where con ditions exist where such a crime against humanity is
possible. The incident has attracted such global condemnation, that
even recent reports, like the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on
freedom of religion or belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, in her report
(A/HRC/10/8/Add.3) to the UN General Assembly dated 26 January 2009, in
paragraphs 34 to 36 has criticised Government of India, in particular
the Government of Gujarat, in taking no responsible and conceivable
actions against those who were responsible for the genocide. The report
in paragraph 36 specifically mentions about the Godhra train burning
incident and the violence that erupted thereafter in Gujarat. The
Rapporteur expresses concern about the demonstrated lack of interest of
the state government in investigating and prosecuting those responsible
for the genocide.
Registering a concocted case against a journalist like Rahul, who
follo wed the events and exposed the culpable nature of the state
administration in Gujarat in actively and passively participating in
the events that led to the genocide, the genocide itself and
thereafter, is further proof to the fact that the allegations and
apprehensions of all those who are concerned about the role played by
the Gujarat state administration in orchestrating what is today more
known as the modern India's shame is not baseless.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities listed below asking them to intervene in the case immediately.
The AHRC is also writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur
on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and
expression seeking an intervention in the case.
To support this appeal, please click here:
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear __________,
INDIA: The concocted case registered against the journalist, Mr. Rahul Singh, must be withdrawn
Name of victim: Mr. Rahul Singh, Journalist, Headlines Today, New Delhi
Name of alleged perpetrators: State government of Gujarat
Date of incident: 29 December, 2010
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the criminal case
registered against Mr. Rahul Singh, a journalist working for Headlines
Today by the Gujarat State Police.
I am informed that on 29 December, 2010, the Gujarat State Police went
to Rahul's house in Bophal, Madhya Pradesh state, reportedly to serve
him a court summons, issued by a court in Gujarat. It is reported that
the court has issued the summons to Rahul upon the request of the
Gujarat state police, since the police have made Rahul a co-accused in
a crime registered against four other persons, including human rights
defenders, working in Gujarat state in an alleged act of vengeance
against their involvement in taking up and reporting cases of genocide
and religious violence perpetuated by Hindu fundamentalist forces
operating in Gujarat in collusion with the BJP-led state
administration, notorious for their orchestrating of the 2002 Gujarat
genocide.
I am aware that Rahul now stays in New Delhi and was not present at his
home in Bophal when the police arrived. It is reported that the police
had demanded Rahul's father, Mr. N. K. Singh, to accept the summons on
behalf of Rahul, which Mr. Singh denied to comply. It is alleged that
the police then ordered Singh to issue a statement, which also Singh
denied. It is reported that the six police officers who came in two
vehicles, left from Rahul's house only when other journalists in the
city, coming to know about the incident, came to Rahul's house and
questioned the process by which the summons was sought to be served.
I am informed that Rahul suspects that the purpose of the police
visiting Rahul's house is for the officers to arrest Rahul and take him
to Gujarat state or even to endanger his safety. I am informed that in
ordinary circumstances a court summons is served by a police officer or
by a court staff, to the person concerned, wherein the summons will
specify the time, date and the address of the court in which the person
has to be present. I am worried that in this case, the police arrived
in full force, as if they were to arrest an absconding criminal, which
in unambiguous terms justifies Rahul's appreh ension that his life might
be at risk in the hands of corrupt officers of the Gujarat State
Police.
I am also informed about the background in which the police have
registered a crime against Rahul. I am aware that in December 2005,
Rahul, on behalf of Sahara TV, had documented and reported the
exhumation of the remains of 21 persons by the family members from a
mass grave in Panderwada village in Gujarat. It was reported that the
mass grave was that of 21 persons, reported missing, after the 2002
Gujarat genocide. I am aware that the report revealed the criminal
attempt of those who were behind the Gujarat genocide to hide the
evidence of mass executions. I am also informed that the Gujarat state
administration since then has been witch-hunting those responsible for
exposing the state administration's role in perpetuating the genocide,
of which I am afraid Rahul is the latest victim.
I am informed that the Gujarat State Police have now incorporated
Rahul's name as the fifth accused in a case registered against those
who exposed the criminal nexus between the Gujarat state
administration, the state police and the Hindu fundamentalist groups
operating in that state, all suspected to be responsible for the 2002
genocide. I am also aware that the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of
religion or belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, in her report to the UN General
Assembly dated 26 January 2009, in paragraphs 34 to 36 has criticised
the Government of India, in particular, the Government of Gujarat, in
taking no responsible and conceivable action against those who were
responsible for the genocide. The report in paragraph 36 specifically
mentions about the Godhra train burning incident and the violence that
erupted thereafter in Gujarat. The Rapporteur expresses concern about
the demonstrated l ack of interest of the state government in
investigating and prosecuting those r esponsible for the genocide.
I am worried that the registering of this concocted case against a
journalist like Rahul, who followed the events and exposed the culpable
nature of the state administration of Gujarat in the genocide, is
further proof to the fact that the allegations and apprehensions of all
those who are concerned about the role played by the state
administration in orchestrating what is today more known as the modern
India's shame is not baseless.
I am informed that the series of events that has now culminated in the
Gujarat State Police's attempt to smother whistle blowers like Rahul
raises a series of questions, including that of the freedom of opinion
and expression in India, which a journalist like Rahul is entitled for
like any other Indian. I am also informed that given the despica ble
track record of the Gujarat State Police in orchestrating fake
encounters and undertaking extrajudicial executions at the behest of
the state government or the political party that rules the state,
Rahul's life is at risk.
I, therefore, urge you to immediately take necessary steps to ensure that:
1. All necessary steps are taken to guarantee the professional and personal freedom and personal safety of Rahul;
2. The discovery of the mass grave in Panderwada village in December
2005 and its background is investigated by an independent agency like
the Central Bureau of Investigation;
3. The case against Rahul Singh is immediately withdrawn.
Yours sincerely,
----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. P. Chidambaram
Home Minister
Griha Mantralaya
Room No. 104, No rth Block
Central Secretariat, New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2301 5750, 2309 3750, 2309 2763
E-mail: hm@nic.in
2. Mr. Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi
Chief Minister
Government of Gujarat
New Sachivalay
Gandhinagar - 382 010,Gujarat
INDIA
Fax: + 91 177 23222101
E-mail: cm@gujaratindia.com
3. Home Minister
Government of Gujrat
Block No.2, 3rd Floor
New Sachivalay
Gandhinagar - 382 010, Gujarat
INDIA
Fax: + 91 177 23250501
E-mail: pshome@gujarat.gov.in
4. Director General of Police
Police Bhawan
Sector 18 Gandhinagar
Gujarat 382 009
INDIA
Fax: + 91 177 23253918
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia) 
International Human Rights Day 2010 - Download our pre-print PDF version of the annual reports here.
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