India
12.03.01
Urgent Interventions
India: construction of the Koel-Karo hydroelectric project: two children killed and one injured in a police firing
CHILD CONCERN
Case IND 090301.CC
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention on the following situation in India.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed, following a fact-finding mission carried out by a reliable source, that on the 1st of February 2001, in the Ranchi district (Jharkhand State) Armit Gudia, a retired man, was severely beaten by the police with lathis and butts of guns.
According to the information received, Armit Gudia saw a police team breaking the barricades that have been erected by the Munda Adivasis (tribal peoples living in the region) to prevent the construction of a dam on the Karo River. As he protested against the destruction of the barricades, the police started to beat him.
It is reported that with the beating of Amrit Guria and the breaking of the barricades by the police, the peoples, mostly Munda Adivasis, decided to go to the police outpost at Tapkara in Ranchi district to demand action. On the 2nd of February the peoples started assembling in front of the police outpost at 8 am in the morning, and by 3.30 in the afternoon they were around 5000 peoples. At this time, as the Adivasis were sitting peacefully, waiting for the resolution of their demands, a contingent of around 40 policemen started to fire from inside the police outpost, firstly in the air and then, almost simultaneously, at the assembly. In response to the firing, people started to throw stones at the police even as they ran to protect themselves.
According to the information received, the police made no announcement or warnings before it started shooting at the crowd. The firing is said to have last for over one hour, with over 150 rounds shot and tear-gas being fired in the midst of this. It is reported that 2 children have been killed and that Raman Guria (8 years old) has been injured in the police firing.
The children killed in the police firing are:
1. Sursan Guria (child, Derang village)
2. Sundar Kandulna, (17 years old Bonai)
The policemen claimed that they had to resort to the firing because the crowd had attacked them with bricks and stones. As evidence they have pointed to the ransacked police outpost, four burnt police jeeps, one dead police man and several injured policeman including the officer in the charge of the Tapkara outpost.
According to the information received, the assembly remained peaceful until the police opened fired: the peoples started throwing stones at the policemen after the firing actually started. It is also reported that the shopkeepers who live near the police outpost saw the police burning its own vehicles. The peoples who were arrested in the aftermath of the firing also reported that at the time of their arrest the police outpost of Tapkara was intact, with no broken window or broken walls. They actually noticed that the place had been ransacked the next morning, when they were released for the room they were locked up in and asked to clean the place.
According to the information received, the Jarkhand governement has taken no concrete and appropriate action to address the events of the first and second of February 2001.
Reminder of the situation in Koel Karo
These events are closely related to the Koel-Karo Hydro-Power Porject of the National Hydro Power Corporation to build two dams on the Karo River, one in Basia (Gumla discrict, Jharkhand State) and one in Lohajimi (Ranchi district, Jharkhand State).
The project was planned in 1955 and needs to acquire 55’000 hectares of land in order to produce 710 MW of electricity. If the project is implemented, it will affect 16’350 families of 250 villages, 90% of whom are Muda Adivasis (tribal peoples).
The government did not think it necessary to consult with the peoples regarding the project’s planning or implementation. The peoples got to know about the Keol-Karo project only when government officials started coming to their villages and when first moves towards land acquisition were made.
It was then that the peoples of the region organised themselves and formed the Jan Sangharsh Samiti in the Gumla district and the Jan Sanyojan in the Ranchi district. In 1975-1976, both organisations united to form the Koel-Karo Jan Sangathan. In the last 26 years, the Sangathan has shifted from a cooperative stance vis-à-vis the Government and the Project to one of uncompromising opposition.
In 1985, the peoples erected a barricade on the kuccha road connecting Tapkara and Lohajimi, approximately 7 km. Away from Tapkara. The barricade is a rudimentary construction built to prevent the National Hydro Power Corporation and government officials from going to Lohajimi where one of the dam on Karo River is planned.
In 1991, the Supreme Court directed the National Hydro Power Corporation to immediately stop the work till the State undertakes complete rehabilitation of the displaced.
In 1995, the government announced its decision to restart the project. The then Prime Minister was to lay the foundation stone of the Project. The people opposed this and in protest, more such barricades were installed on the road leading to the dam sites. All these years a round-the-clock vigil was kept near the barricades to prevent officials and police from entering the area without permission. The Prime Minister had to cancel his programme. These are the barricades that the police destroyed on the 1st of February 2001.
Action Requested
Please write to the Indian authorities urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Raman Guria;
ii. guarantee adequate reparation to the 3 children’s families;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these events, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
H.E. President K.R. Narayanan, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110 004, INDIA Fax: 91-11-301 7290 / 7824
H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India-110 011 Fax: 91-11-3019545 / 91-11-3016857 indun@undp.org
Mr L.K. Advani, Home Minister of India, South Block, New Dehli 110001, India, fax: +91 11 3015750
Justice A. N. Varma, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 11001, India. Fax: 91-11-334 0016
Geneva, March 12, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Case IND 090301.CC
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention on the following situation in India.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed, following a fact-finding mission carried out by a reliable source, that on the 1st of February 2001, in the Ranchi district (Jharkhand State) Armit Gudia, a retired man, was severely beaten by the police with lathis and butts of guns.
According to the information received, Armit Gudia saw a police team breaking the barricades that have been erected by the Munda Adivasis (tribal peoples living in the region) to prevent the construction of a dam on the Karo River. As he protested against the destruction of the barricades, the police started to beat him.
It is reported that with the beating of Amrit Guria and the breaking of the barricades by the police, the peoples, mostly Munda Adivasis, decided to go to the police outpost at Tapkara in Ranchi district to demand action. On the 2nd of February the peoples started assembling in front of the police outpost at 8 am in the morning, and by 3.30 in the afternoon they were around 5000 peoples. At this time, as the Adivasis were sitting peacefully, waiting for the resolution of their demands, a contingent of around 40 policemen started to fire from inside the police outpost, firstly in the air and then, almost simultaneously, at the assembly. In response to the firing, people started to throw stones at the police even as they ran to protect themselves.
According to the information received, the police made no announcement or warnings before it started shooting at the crowd. The firing is said to have last for over one hour, with over 150 rounds shot and tear-gas being fired in the midst of this. It is reported that 2 children have been killed and that Raman Guria (8 years old) has been injured in the police firing.
The children killed in the police firing are:
1. Sursan Guria (child, Derang village)
2. Sundar Kandulna, (17 years old Bonai)
The policemen claimed that they had to resort to the firing because the crowd had attacked them with bricks and stones. As evidence they have pointed to the ransacked police outpost, four burnt police jeeps, one dead police man and several injured policeman including the officer in the charge of the Tapkara outpost.
According to the information received, the assembly remained peaceful until the police opened fired: the peoples started throwing stones at the policemen after the firing actually started. It is also reported that the shopkeepers who live near the police outpost saw the police burning its own vehicles. The peoples who were arrested in the aftermath of the firing also reported that at the time of their arrest the police outpost of Tapkara was intact, with no broken window or broken walls. They actually noticed that the place had been ransacked the next morning, when they were released for the room they were locked up in and asked to clean the place.
According to the information received, the Jarkhand governement has taken no concrete and appropriate action to address the events of the first and second of February 2001.
Reminder of the situation in Koel Karo
These events are closely related to the Koel-Karo Hydro-Power Porject of the National Hydro Power Corporation to build two dams on the Karo River, one in Basia (Gumla discrict, Jharkhand State) and one in Lohajimi (Ranchi district, Jharkhand State).
The project was planned in 1955 and needs to acquire 55’000 hectares of land in order to produce 710 MW of electricity. If the project is implemented, it will affect 16’350 families of 250 villages, 90% of whom are Muda Adivasis (tribal peoples).
The government did not think it necessary to consult with the peoples regarding the project’s planning or implementation. The peoples got to know about the Keol-Karo project only when government officials started coming to their villages and when first moves towards land acquisition were made.
It was then that the peoples of the region organised themselves and formed the Jan Sangharsh Samiti in the Gumla district and the Jan Sanyojan in the Ranchi district. In 1975-1976, both organisations united to form the Koel-Karo Jan Sangathan. In the last 26 years, the Sangathan has shifted from a cooperative stance vis-à-vis the Government and the Project to one of uncompromising opposition.
In 1985, the peoples erected a barricade on the kuccha road connecting Tapkara and Lohajimi, approximately 7 km. Away from Tapkara. The barricade is a rudimentary construction built to prevent the National Hydro Power Corporation and government officials from going to Lohajimi where one of the dam on Karo River is planned.
In 1991, the Supreme Court directed the National Hydro Power Corporation to immediately stop the work till the State undertakes complete rehabilitation of the displaced.
In 1995, the government announced its decision to restart the project. The then Prime Minister was to lay the foundation stone of the Project. The people opposed this and in protest, more such barricades were installed on the road leading to the dam sites. All these years a round-the-clock vigil was kept near the barricades to prevent officials and police from entering the area without permission. The Prime Minister had to cancel his programme. These are the barricades that the police destroyed on the 1st of February 2001.
Action Requested
Please write to the Indian authorities urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Raman Guria;
ii. guarantee adequate reparation to the 3 children’s families;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these events, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
H.E. President K.R. Narayanan, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110 004, INDIA Fax: 91-11-301 7290 / 7824
H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India-110 011 Fax: 91-11-3019545 / 91-11-3016857 indun@undp.org
Mr L.K. Advani, Home Minister of India, South Block, New Dehli 110001, India, fax: +91 11 3015750
Justice A. N. Varma, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 11001, India. Fax: 91-11-334 0016
Geneva, March 12, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.