India
12.10.04
Urgent Interventions
India: Henri Tiphagne and others arbitrarily arrested and then released
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
IND 002/1103/OBS 061.1
New Information
Arbitrary Arrests and Subsequent Release
India
October 12, 2003
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in India.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by People’s Watch - Tamil Nadu (PW-TN) – an NGO that promotes human rights through monitoring, intervention and education – that its Executive Director, Mr. Henri Tiphagne, was arrested in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu on October 11, 2004. Mr. Tiphagne and 15 other members of the National Core Group on NGOs of the National Human Rights Commission, including Mr. Nizamudeen, State Secretary General of FEDCOT (Federation of Consumer Organisations Tamilnadu & Pondicherry) and Mr. Murugappan, Regional Monitoring Associate at PW-TN, were arrested. They were detained on a preventive detention order under section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of India. They were gathered as a Team of Human Rights Activists to conduct a training programme of the Campaign Against Torture. Later on the same day, they were going to organise a Press Conference and would most likely have addressed the human rights violations of Mr. Prem Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Cuddalore district.
Mr. Tiphagne and his colleagues were released the same day.
According to the information received, when the training was about to start at 9:30 a.m., a group of policemen headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Payas Ferozkhan Abdullah forcefully entered the training hall and tried to prevent the programme from going ahead. When the group asked the police for the reason why they entered the venue, they replied that a press briefing should not be held. Mr. Tiphagne then explained that it was just a training program and that a press meeting would be organised only in the afternoon. However, the police continued to interrupt the meeting, and when Mr. Tiphagne and his team voiced slogans condemning their unlawful actions, the police warned that they would be arrested. When Mr. Henri Tiphagne demanded a warrant, the policemen headed by DSP Mr. Payas Ferozkhan demonstrated physical excess on him and carried him to the Town Hall Police Station at Cuddalore.
Furthermore, the Observatory has been informed that Mr. Henri Tiphagne had previously played a key role in having Superintendent of Police Mr. Prem Kumar convicted for human rights violations and made to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000 to the Gandhi Museum for human rights violations in the case of ex-Army Subedhar Mr. Nallakaman, a resident of Vadipatti. This could imply that, besides resulting from Mr. Tiphagne’s general activities in support of the victims of police violent excesses, these events are an expression of personal vengeance.
Background Information:
The Observatory had been informed by People’s Watch - Tamil Nadu (PW-TN), of a raid conducted by the police in its premises at Madurai, on November 5, 2003. Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of PW-TN, was personally intimidated and threatened by senior police officials.
According to the information received, at about 7.30 a.m., several uniformed policemen and women, barring one inspector, Mr. Vellaiyan, without wearing their name badges, made a sudden entry into the PW-TN Office. They stated that they were authorised to search the premises by an order of the Judicial Magistrate, Sivakasi, allegedly for harbouring a criminal. They made unwarranted videographic intervention without any prior notice in the aim of searching a person accused in connection with crime no.129/2003 of M. Puthupatti Police Station within the jurisdiction of Sivakasi Taluk of Viruthunagar District of Tamilnadu. The police videotaped inside and outside of the People's Watch office. They refused to give the copy of the search warrant to Mr. Tiphagne, where he endorsed that no accused was found in the premises of PW-TN. It was also reported that, in the following night, a sub-inspector of police came to the premises of PW-TN and asked for the Director.
The Observatory feared that these events against PW-TN and his Director might be linked to their activities in the recent public hearings conducted by the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the State Commission for Women in Virudhunagar, Madurai on 27th and 28th October, 2003. PW - TN was one of the main human rights organisations which facilitated the deposing of numerous victims of police excesses before the NCW panel. It is reported that, during the hearing, Mr. Tiphagne was personally warned by some police senior officers who were present because PW – TN presented some cases of police excess including sexual abuses, kidnapping of children, of witnesses, etc. They threatened him saying that he and his staff would face serious trouble if they continued such exposure.
Action requested:
Please write to the Indian authorities urging them to:
i. drop all the charges against Mr. Tiphagne and the other members of the National Core Group on NGOs of the National Human Rights Commission;
ii. carry out an independent enquiry into the arrest and, in case it concludes to an illegal arrest, sanction the police officers involved, notably through disciplinary measures;
iii. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Henri Tiphagne and all those arrested along with him, and ensure that an end be put to the threats and other arbitrary acts targeting him and People’s Watch;
iv. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted on the 9th of December 1998, by the U.N. General Assembly, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and article 12(2) which states that “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”;
v. guarantee the application of the Universal declaration on Human Rights and international Conventions ratified by India.
Addresses :
Paris-Geneva, October 12, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken, quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92, E-mail observatoire@iprolink.ch,
Tel : FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39
IND 002/1103/OBS 061.1
New Information
Arbitrary Arrests and Subsequent Release
India
October 12, 2003
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in India.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by People’s Watch - Tamil Nadu (PW-TN) – an NGO that promotes human rights through monitoring, intervention and education – that its Executive Director, Mr. Henri Tiphagne, was arrested in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu on October 11, 2004. Mr. Tiphagne and 15 other members of the National Core Group on NGOs of the National Human Rights Commission, including Mr. Nizamudeen, State Secretary General of FEDCOT (Federation of Consumer Organisations Tamilnadu & Pondicherry) and Mr. Murugappan, Regional Monitoring Associate at PW-TN, were arrested. They were detained on a preventive detention order under section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of India. They were gathered as a Team of Human Rights Activists to conduct a training programme of the Campaign Against Torture. Later on the same day, they were going to organise a Press Conference and would most likely have addressed the human rights violations of Mr. Prem Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Cuddalore district.
Mr. Tiphagne and his colleagues were released the same day.
According to the information received, when the training was about to start at 9:30 a.m., a group of policemen headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Payas Ferozkhan Abdullah forcefully entered the training hall and tried to prevent the programme from going ahead. When the group asked the police for the reason why they entered the venue, they replied that a press briefing should not be held. Mr. Tiphagne then explained that it was just a training program and that a press meeting would be organised only in the afternoon. However, the police continued to interrupt the meeting, and when Mr. Tiphagne and his team voiced slogans condemning their unlawful actions, the police warned that they would be arrested. When Mr. Henri Tiphagne demanded a warrant, the policemen headed by DSP Mr. Payas Ferozkhan demonstrated physical excess on him and carried him to the Town Hall Police Station at Cuddalore.
Furthermore, the Observatory has been informed that Mr. Henri Tiphagne had previously played a key role in having Superintendent of Police Mr. Prem Kumar convicted for human rights violations and made to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000 to the Gandhi Museum for human rights violations in the case of ex-Army Subedhar Mr. Nallakaman, a resident of Vadipatti. This could imply that, besides resulting from Mr. Tiphagne’s general activities in support of the victims of police violent excesses, these events are an expression of personal vengeance.
Background Information:
The Observatory had been informed by People’s Watch - Tamil Nadu (PW-TN), of a raid conducted by the police in its premises at Madurai, on November 5, 2003. Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of PW-TN, was personally intimidated and threatened by senior police officials.
According to the information received, at about 7.30 a.m., several uniformed policemen and women, barring one inspector, Mr. Vellaiyan, without wearing their name badges, made a sudden entry into the PW-TN Office. They stated that they were authorised to search the premises by an order of the Judicial Magistrate, Sivakasi, allegedly for harbouring a criminal. They made unwarranted videographic intervention without any prior notice in the aim of searching a person accused in connection with crime no.129/2003 of M. Puthupatti Police Station within the jurisdiction of Sivakasi Taluk of Viruthunagar District of Tamilnadu. The police videotaped inside and outside of the People's Watch office. They refused to give the copy of the search warrant to Mr. Tiphagne, where he endorsed that no accused was found in the premises of PW-TN. It was also reported that, in the following night, a sub-inspector of police came to the premises of PW-TN and asked for the Director.
The Observatory feared that these events against PW-TN and his Director might be linked to their activities in the recent public hearings conducted by the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the State Commission for Women in Virudhunagar, Madurai on 27th and 28th October, 2003. PW - TN was one of the main human rights organisations which facilitated the deposing of numerous victims of police excesses before the NCW panel. It is reported that, during the hearing, Mr. Tiphagne was personally warned by some police senior officers who were present because PW – TN presented some cases of police excess including sexual abuses, kidnapping of children, of witnesses, etc. They threatened him saying that he and his staff would face serious trouble if they continued such exposure.
Action requested:
Please write to the Indian authorities urging them to:
i. drop all the charges against Mr. Tiphagne and the other members of the National Core Group on NGOs of the National Human Rights Commission;
ii. carry out an independent enquiry into the arrest and, in case it concludes to an illegal arrest, sanction the police officers involved, notably through disciplinary measures;
iii. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Henri Tiphagne and all those arrested along with him, and ensure that an end be put to the threats and other arbitrary acts targeting him and People’s Watch;
iv. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted on the 9th of December 1998, by the U.N. General Assembly, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and article 12(2) which states that “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”;
v. guarantee the application of the Universal declaration on Human Rights and international Conventions ratified by India.
Addresses :
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, President's Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, India, Fax: 91-11-23017290 & 23017824, presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
- Dr. Justice A.S. Anand, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, Sardar Patel Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi, Pin. 110001, India, e. mail. chairnhrc@nic.in; ionhrc@hub.nic.in
- Mr. Sorabjee Soli Jehangir, Attorney General of India, Office of the Attorney General of India, Supreme Court of India, Tilak Marg, New Delhi-110001, India, Fax: 91 + 11 + 23782101, Official Residence: 10 Motilal Nehru Marg, New Delhi-110011, Tel/Fax: 91 + 11 + 23010525/ 23018696, Fax: 91 + 11+ 24354014
- Dr.Radha Krishnan Salai, Director General of Police, Police Head Quarters, Mylapore, Chennai-600 004, Phone No: 044-2844 7777, 2844 7755
Paris-Geneva, October 12, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken, quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92, E-mail observatoire@iprolink.ch,
Tel : FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39