12.03.03
Urgent Interventions
India: ongoing harassment and disappearances of Adivasis
Case IND 280203.1 ESCRC/CC.
Follow-up of Case IND 280203. ESCR
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS/CHILD CONCERN
Right to Life/Disappearances/Harassment/ Violent Attack/Killings/Forced Eviction/Destruction of Property
Geneva, March 10, 2003
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in India.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, of the ongoing harassment of Adivasis (tribal peoples) by the police, along with the fact that an important number of persons have disappeared since February 19th 2003 in the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary located in Wayanad in the southern State of Kerala, India.
According to the information received, the police has been, since February 19th 2003, terrorising and harassing the Adivasis in the region with policemen entering their settlement, arresting the men arbitrarily, beating them and dragging them away.
It is also reported that many Adivasis, including men, small children, women and old peoples have been missing since February 19th 2003, their relatives being unable to locate them and having no idea about their whereabouts. A list of 65 missing Adivasis women and children is attached to this appeal.
In this respect, the police and other government officials involved in the operation of February 19th 2003 have been reportedly secretely disposing the bodies of dead Adivasis in the forest, raising concern that the official number of Adivasis killed in the incident is incorrect.
Moreover, it is reported that journalists and cameramen have been threatened and intimadated by the authorities, while the whole place has been closed to the media during fifteen hours following the incident.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, during the evening of February 19th 2003, the police and the forest protection staff launched a violent gunfire attack against more than 1’000 Adivasis including elderly persons, women and children, to evict them from the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad, a place that they had been occupying since January 4th 2003. The Adivasis, rallied under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), which is the apex organisation of about 35 indigenous communities in Kerala, reportedly resisted this violent move with bows and arrows and other rudimentary weapons.
It is reported that the police fired several rounds of rubber bullets in the morning to evict the Adivasis. Later in the evening, as the AGMS took two forest protection staff members as hostages, hoping to cause the advancing police force to retreat, the police reportedly opened fire indiscriminately against them.
According to the information received, 16 people (15 Adivasis and one policeman) were killed and more than 50 people were seriously injured by the shooting and fighting. A huge contingent of policemen reportedly beat up men, women and children and pulled down and set fire to their makeshift tents made of bamboo, grass and plastic sheets, even as the Adivasis tried to push back the attack with their bare hands and farm implements. It is also reported that the police has been using excavators to bury the dead in the area, which has been made off-limits to the public and the press since the shooting.
Background information
According to the information received, on Jan. 4, 2003, a total of 1,100 Adivasi families entered this area in protest against the failure of the Kerala government to implement its commitment that was based upon an agreement it had reached with the Adivasis on October 16th 2001. On this date, a committee headed by the chief minister agreed that (a) landless Adivasis and those having less than one acre of land would be given five acres of land each, (b) the state government would, by a cabinet resolution, declare all tribal habitations in Kerala as scheduled areas under Article 244, (c) a Supreme Court judgement on the 1999 act would be implemented and (d) a tribal mission would be constituted to implement the agreement.
On the basis of this agreement, the government reportedly identified 22’491 landless Adivasi families and 30’981 families with less than one acre of land. Thus, a total of 53’472 families were identified as being eligible to receive five acres of land each. However, as of January 1, 2002, only a total of 59’452 acres of land had been identified for being handed over to the Adivasis, which amounted to less than 2.2 percent of the total land required for allotment under the agreement.
On the basis of this identification, land allocation started on January 1st 2002. However, according to the information received, less than 600 families were allotted a total of 950 acres of land, meaning that the land they received was less than 30% of their entitlement. Overall, less than 1.6 percent of the land identified for allotment to the Adivasis was actually handed over to them, while land allotment stopped after the initial allotment to handful families.
After having given the government over a year to implement the agreement, the AGMS declared that the Adivasis would implement what the government agreed upon but failed to execute. It is in this context that the Adivasis entered in the Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary on January 4, 2003.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in India urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned persons;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests, killings, disappearances and ongoing harassment of the Advisasi in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. put a stop to the harassment of the Adivasis;
iv. guarantee adequate reparation to all injured people;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses :
Mr. H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi 110 011 India; Fax: +91 11 3016857/3019545 (O), +91 11 3019334 (R); E-mail: vajpayee@sansad.nic.in or http://pmindia.nic.in/writetous.htm
H.E. President Abdul Kalam, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110 004, INDIA Fax: 91-11-301 7290 / 7824; E-mail: Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in
Justice Adarsh Sein Anand., Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHR), Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 11001, India, Fax: 91-11-334 0016; E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in
Shri Dilip Singh Bhuria, Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes, Floor 5, Lok Nayak Bhavan, Khan Market, New Delhi-110003, INDIA, Tel: 91-11-4623959, Fax: 91-11-4625378
Mr. Shri. A. K. Antony, Chief Minister of Kerala, Room No. 141, Third Floor
North Block, Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India; Tel: +91 471 333812 or +91 471 332184; Fax: +91 471 333489; E-mail: chiefminister@kerala.gov.in or cmkerala@vsnl.net
Shri Dilip Singh Judev, Minister of Environment and Forests, Paryavaran Bhavan, C.G.O.Complex, Lodhi Road Institutional Area, New Delhi, India; Tel: +91-11-4361748 or +91 4361727; E-mail: secy@menf.delhi.nic.in
Please also write to the embassies of India in your respective country.
Geneva, March 10, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
List of children and women who have disappeared since February 19th 2003:
Children and women from the Chaligaddha colony in Mananthavady Taluk
1. Bineeth, 3 years old, son of Kali
2. Unnimaya, 4 years old, daughter of Santha
3. Midhuna, 4 years old, daughter of Mathri
4. Manu, 5 years old, son of Mara
5. Bigesh, 5 years old, son of Kali
6. Priya, 6 years old, daughter of Nencha
7. Sivan, 8 years old, son of Nencha
8. Mini, 8 years old, daughter of Mathri
9. Saritha, 26 years old, wife of Maran
10. Mara, 27 years old
11. Mathri, 28 years old, wife of Raju
12. Nani, 29 years old, wife of Raju
13. Utta, 30 years old, wife of Kariyan
14. Gouri, 35 years old, widow
15. Chami, 36 years old, wife of Unni
16. Chomi, 39 years old, wife of Velayudhan
17. Nenchi, 40 years old, wife of Mallan
18. Kali, 50 years old, wife of Maran
Children and women from Mulanthara Colony, near Chaligaddha in Mananthavady Taluk
19. Sarannya, daughter of Basuval
20. Bindhu, wife of Basuval
21. Somy, wife of Late Madhavan
Children and women from Chenmad colony in Manthavady Taluk
22. Mukesh, 6 years old, son of Mara
23. Mara, wife of Late Babu
Children and women from Mechana Colony in Vythiri Taluk
24. Leela, 40 years old, wife of Velli
25. Patta, 55 years old, wife of Plaln
Children and women from Cheloor colony, Kartikulam in Mananthavady Taluk
26. Sruthi, 7 years old, daughter of Santha
27. Suresh, 10 years old, son of Santha
28. Pushpa, 20 years old, wife of Rajeevan
29. Santha, 35 years old, wife of Ramachandran
30. Santha, wife of Mohanan
Children and women from Shinoor colony in Bathery Taluk
31. Bindhu, 10 years old, daughter of Kuliyan
32. Mani, 15 years old, son of Kuliyan
33. Sathaa, daughter of Kuriyan
34. Nanchi, 30 years old, wife of Ngenal
35. Koori, 35 years old, wife of Late Kuliyan
Children and women from Shiruvannor colony in Bathery Taluk
36. -----, 1, Son of Meena
37. ----- , Child of Kaka
38. ----- , Child of Kaka
39. Nisha, 5 years old, daughter of Meena
40. ----- , Child of Valli
41. ----- , Child of Valli
42. Chandran, Son of Kurichi
43. Janu, 18 years old, wife of Veliyan
44. Valli, 20 years old, wife of Sundran
45. Meena, 22 years old, wife of Balan
46. Kaka, 22 years old, wife of Karimban
47. Karuppi, 32 years old, wife of Veliyan
48. Nangi, 35 years old, wife of Late Pulayan
49. Poly, 40 years old, wife of Veruvan
Children and women from Mawadi colony in Bathery Taluk
50. Banu, D/o Balan]
51. Geetha, 2 years old, daughter of Balan
52. Biju, 4 years old, son of Balan
53. Thanka, 30 years old, wife of Raghavan
54. Sharda, 35 years old, wife of Tholan
55. Kali, 35 years old, wife of Raju
56. Kavari, 50 years old, wife of Onan
Children and women from Murikaladi colony in Bathary Taluk
57. Kannan, S/o Usha
58. Indu, 6 years old, daughter of Maria
59. Shreeja, 10 years old, daughter of Bhomman
60. Shreeja, 10 years old, daughter of Maria
61. Mini, 13 years old, daughter of Maria
62. Usha, 15 years old, wife of Suresh
63. Bindhu, 16 years old, daughter of Maria
64. Bindhu, 20 years old, wife of Suresh
65. -----, 45 years old, wife of Bhomman
Follow-up of Case IND 280203. ESCR
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS/CHILD CONCERN
Right to Life/Disappearances/Harassment/ Violent Attack/Killings/Forced Eviction/Destruction of Property
Geneva, March 10, 2003
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in India.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, of the ongoing harassment of Adivasis (tribal peoples) by the police, along with the fact that an important number of persons have disappeared since February 19th 2003 in the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary located in Wayanad in the southern State of Kerala, India.
According to the information received, the police has been, since February 19th 2003, terrorising and harassing the Adivasis in the region with policemen entering their settlement, arresting the men arbitrarily, beating them and dragging them away.
It is also reported that many Adivasis, including men, small children, women and old peoples have been missing since February 19th 2003, their relatives being unable to locate them and having no idea about their whereabouts. A list of 65 missing Adivasis women and children is attached to this appeal.
In this respect, the police and other government officials involved in the operation of February 19th 2003 have been reportedly secretely disposing the bodies of dead Adivasis in the forest, raising concern that the official number of Adivasis killed in the incident is incorrect.
Moreover, it is reported that journalists and cameramen have been threatened and intimadated by the authorities, while the whole place has been closed to the media during fifteen hours following the incident.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, during the evening of February 19th 2003, the police and the forest protection staff launched a violent gunfire attack against more than 1’000 Adivasis including elderly persons, women and children, to evict them from the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad, a place that they had been occupying since January 4th 2003. The Adivasis, rallied under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), which is the apex organisation of about 35 indigenous communities in Kerala, reportedly resisted this violent move with bows and arrows and other rudimentary weapons.
It is reported that the police fired several rounds of rubber bullets in the morning to evict the Adivasis. Later in the evening, as the AGMS took two forest protection staff members as hostages, hoping to cause the advancing police force to retreat, the police reportedly opened fire indiscriminately against them.
According to the information received, 16 people (15 Adivasis and one policeman) were killed and more than 50 people were seriously injured by the shooting and fighting. A huge contingent of policemen reportedly beat up men, women and children and pulled down and set fire to their makeshift tents made of bamboo, grass and plastic sheets, even as the Adivasis tried to push back the attack with their bare hands and farm implements. It is also reported that the police has been using excavators to bury the dead in the area, which has been made off-limits to the public and the press since the shooting.
Background information
According to the information received, on Jan. 4, 2003, a total of 1,100 Adivasi families entered this area in protest against the failure of the Kerala government to implement its commitment that was based upon an agreement it had reached with the Adivasis on October 16th 2001. On this date, a committee headed by the chief minister agreed that (a) landless Adivasis and those having less than one acre of land would be given five acres of land each, (b) the state government would, by a cabinet resolution, declare all tribal habitations in Kerala as scheduled areas under Article 244, (c) a Supreme Court judgement on the 1999 act would be implemented and (d) a tribal mission would be constituted to implement the agreement.
On the basis of this agreement, the government reportedly identified 22’491 landless Adivasi families and 30’981 families with less than one acre of land. Thus, a total of 53’472 families were identified as being eligible to receive five acres of land each. However, as of January 1, 2002, only a total of 59’452 acres of land had been identified for being handed over to the Adivasis, which amounted to less than 2.2 percent of the total land required for allotment under the agreement.
On the basis of this identification, land allocation started on January 1st 2002. However, according to the information received, less than 600 families were allotted a total of 950 acres of land, meaning that the land they received was less than 30% of their entitlement. Overall, less than 1.6 percent of the land identified for allotment to the Adivasis was actually handed over to them, while land allotment stopped after the initial allotment to handful families.
After having given the government over a year to implement the agreement, the AGMS declared that the Adivasis would implement what the government agreed upon but failed to execute. It is in this context that the Adivasis entered in the Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary on January 4, 2003.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in India urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned persons;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests, killings, disappearances and ongoing harassment of the Advisasi in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. put a stop to the harassment of the Adivasis;
iv. guarantee adequate reparation to all injured people;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses :
Mr. H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi 110 011 India; Fax: +91 11 3016857/3019545 (O), +91 11 3019334 (R); E-mail: vajpayee@sansad.nic.in or http://pmindia.nic.in/writetous.htm
H.E. President Abdul Kalam, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110 004, INDIA Fax: 91-11-301 7290 / 7824; E-mail: Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in
Justice Adarsh Sein Anand., Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHR), Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 11001, India, Fax: 91-11-334 0016; E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in
Shri Dilip Singh Bhuria, Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes, Floor 5, Lok Nayak Bhavan, Khan Market, New Delhi-110003, INDIA, Tel: 91-11-4623959, Fax: 91-11-4625378
Mr. Shri. A. K. Antony, Chief Minister of Kerala, Room No. 141, Third Floor
North Block, Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India; Tel: +91 471 333812 or +91 471 332184; Fax: +91 471 333489; E-mail: chiefminister@kerala.gov.in or cmkerala@vsnl.net
Shri Dilip Singh Judev, Minister of Environment and Forests, Paryavaran Bhavan, C.G.O.Complex, Lodhi Road Institutional Area, New Delhi, India; Tel: +91-11-4361748 or +91 4361727; E-mail: secy@menf.delhi.nic.in
Please also write to the embassies of India in your respective country.
Geneva, March 10, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
List of children and women who have disappeared since February 19th 2003:
Children and women from the Chaligaddha colony in Mananthavady Taluk
1. Bineeth, 3 years old, son of Kali
2. Unnimaya, 4 years old, daughter of Santha
3. Midhuna, 4 years old, daughter of Mathri
4. Manu, 5 years old, son of Mara
5. Bigesh, 5 years old, son of Kali
6. Priya, 6 years old, daughter of Nencha
7. Sivan, 8 years old, son of Nencha
8. Mini, 8 years old, daughter of Mathri
9. Saritha, 26 years old, wife of Maran
10. Mara, 27 years old
11. Mathri, 28 years old, wife of Raju
12. Nani, 29 years old, wife of Raju
13. Utta, 30 years old, wife of Kariyan
14. Gouri, 35 years old, widow
15. Chami, 36 years old, wife of Unni
16. Chomi, 39 years old, wife of Velayudhan
17. Nenchi, 40 years old, wife of Mallan
18. Kali, 50 years old, wife of Maran
Children and women from Mulanthara Colony, near Chaligaddha in Mananthavady Taluk
19. Sarannya, daughter of Basuval
20. Bindhu, wife of Basuval
21. Somy, wife of Late Madhavan
Children and women from Chenmad colony in Manthavady Taluk
22. Mukesh, 6 years old, son of Mara
23. Mara, wife of Late Babu
Children and women from Mechana Colony in Vythiri Taluk
24. Leela, 40 years old, wife of Velli
25. Patta, 55 years old, wife of Plaln
Children and women from Cheloor colony, Kartikulam in Mananthavady Taluk
26. Sruthi, 7 years old, daughter of Santha
27. Suresh, 10 years old, son of Santha
28. Pushpa, 20 years old, wife of Rajeevan
29. Santha, 35 years old, wife of Ramachandran
30. Santha, wife of Mohanan
Children and women from Shinoor colony in Bathery Taluk
31. Bindhu, 10 years old, daughter of Kuliyan
32. Mani, 15 years old, son of Kuliyan
33. Sathaa, daughter of Kuriyan
34. Nanchi, 30 years old, wife of Ngenal
35. Koori, 35 years old, wife of Late Kuliyan
Children and women from Shiruvannor colony in Bathery Taluk
36. -----, 1, Son of Meena
37. ----- , Child of Kaka
38. ----- , Child of Kaka
39. Nisha, 5 years old, daughter of Meena
40. ----- , Child of Valli
41. ----- , Child of Valli
42. Chandran, Son of Kurichi
43. Janu, 18 years old, wife of Veliyan
44. Valli, 20 years old, wife of Sundran
45. Meena, 22 years old, wife of Balan
46. Kaka, 22 years old, wife of Karimban
47. Karuppi, 32 years old, wife of Veliyan
48. Nangi, 35 years old, wife of Late Pulayan
49. Poly, 40 years old, wife of Veruvan
Children and women from Mawadi colony in Bathery Taluk
50. Banu, D/o Balan]
51. Geetha, 2 years old, daughter of Balan
52. Biju, 4 years old, son of Balan
53. Thanka, 30 years old, wife of Raghavan
54. Sharda, 35 years old, wife of Tholan
55. Kali, 35 years old, wife of Raju
56. Kavari, 50 years old, wife of Onan
Children and women from Murikaladi colony in Bathary Taluk
57. Kannan, S/o Usha
58. Indu, 6 years old, daughter of Maria
59. Shreeja, 10 years old, daughter of Bhomman
60. Shreeja, 10 years old, daughter of Maria
61. Mini, 13 years old, daughter of Maria
62. Usha, 15 years old, wife of Suresh
63. Bindhu, 16 years old, daughter of Maria
64. Bindhu, 20 years old, wife of Suresh
65. -----, 45 years old, wife of Bhomman