India
25.07.01
Urgent Interventions
India: Police raid against organisations promoting sexual health and preventing HIV/AIDS
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
IND 002 / 0107 / OBS 065
Arbitrary arrest and detention/ Closure of local NGO
INDIA
25 July 2001
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in India.
Brief description of the facts :
The Observatory has been informed by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) of the police raid against organisations promoting sexual health and preventing HIV/AIDS in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
According to the information received on July 7th 2001, the police raided the offices of the Bharosa Trust, a local sexual health organization for gay men, and of the Naz Foundation International (NFI) liaison Office in Lucknow, an international development agency providing technical support for the promotion of male sexual and reproductive health in South Asia. HIV/AIDS information and prevention material that was not intended for the public was reportedly seized during the raid.
The director of the NFI office and executive director of Bharosa Trust, Arif Jafar, as well as four other members of the staff, Mohhamad Shahid, Sudhish Kumar Singh, Parmeshwar Nayar and Pankaj Kumar, were arrested and are still being detained in Lucknow. They are charged with conspiracy to commit unnatural offences based on section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with men, women or animals” ( articles 109b and 120 b). On July 11th, the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow refused their bail and the following day the police presented its report, which did not contain evidence concerning the accusations made against, the members of both organizations. If the charges are retained against them, members of the organisations that were arrested face up to ten years imprisonment. The police reported that only the offices of NFI had been sealed, leaving the possibility for those of Bharosa Trust to be reopened.
The accused applied for bail before the Sessions Court in Lucknow. According to the information received by their lawyer, Aditya Bondyopadhyay, the police issued a case diary in which it alleged that the accused had been arrested for “watching films at television screen showing men sodomy with each other”. On 21th July, an order of the Court refused the bail “on the grounds that they are a group of persons indulging in these activities and are polluting the entire society by encouraging the young persons and abating them to for committing the offence of sodomy”. The applicants have decided to appeal before the High Court.
The Observatory considers that the attitude of the local authorities impairs the work of local activists working for public health, and is in contradiction with the public campaign on HIV awareness undertaken by the various state AIDS societies in collaboration with the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS). The Observatory also condemns police brutality toward gay men, lesbian and bisexual women and calls on the Indian authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment against members of the organisations concerned.
Action requested :
Please write to the Indian authorities urging them to:
i. Drop all charges against Aris Jafar, Mohhamad Shahid, Sudhish Kumar Singh, Parmeshwar Nayar and Pankaj Kumar charged in the framework of this case, in view of the arbitrary character of the judicial proceedings against them;
ii. Immediately take all necessary steps so that the documents confiscated be returned forthwith to the NAZ Foundation and Bharosa Trust and put an end to all forms of harassment of human rights defenders and their organisations, and ensure that they are allowed to carry out their work without obstacles;
iii. Abide by the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1998 (« Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ») and more particularly article 12.2 which provides 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 »).
iv. More generally abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and the international covenants ratified by India.
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 E-mail: indun@undp.org
· Justice Venkatachellaih, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 11001, India. Fax: 91-11-334 0016
· Mr Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Office of the Chief Minister, Secretariat Building, Hyderabad 500 022, Andhra Pradesh, India, Fax: + 91 40 345 7824
· C. Rangarajan, Governor, Andhra Pradesh, Rajya Bhavan, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, Fax: + 91 40 331 1260
· Mr Lal Krishna Advani, Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi 110 001, India.
Geneva-Paris, 25 July 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken, quoting the reference number given above. The Observatory, an 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:
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
IND 002 / 0107 / OBS 065
Arbitrary arrest and detention/ Closure of local NGO
INDIA
25 July 2001
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in India.
Brief description of the facts :
The Observatory has been informed by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) of the police raid against organisations promoting sexual health and preventing HIV/AIDS in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
According to the information received on July 7th 2001, the police raided the offices of the Bharosa Trust, a local sexual health organization for gay men, and of the Naz Foundation International (NFI) liaison Office in Lucknow, an international development agency providing technical support for the promotion of male sexual and reproductive health in South Asia. HIV/AIDS information and prevention material that was not intended for the public was reportedly seized during the raid.
The director of the NFI office and executive director of Bharosa Trust, Arif Jafar, as well as four other members of the staff, Mohhamad Shahid, Sudhish Kumar Singh, Parmeshwar Nayar and Pankaj Kumar, were arrested and are still being detained in Lucknow. They are charged with conspiracy to commit unnatural offences based on section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with men, women or animals” ( articles 109b and 120 b). On July 11th, the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow refused their bail and the following day the police presented its report, which did not contain evidence concerning the accusations made against, the members of both organizations. If the charges are retained against them, members of the organisations that were arrested face up to ten years imprisonment. The police reported that only the offices of NFI had been sealed, leaving the possibility for those of Bharosa Trust to be reopened.
The accused applied for bail before the Sessions Court in Lucknow. According to the information received by their lawyer, Aditya Bondyopadhyay, the police issued a case diary in which it alleged that the accused had been arrested for “watching films at television screen showing men sodomy with each other”. On 21th July, an order of the Court refused the bail “on the grounds that they are a group of persons indulging in these activities and are polluting the entire society by encouraging the young persons and abating them to for committing the offence of sodomy”. The applicants have decided to appeal before the High Court.
The Observatory considers that the attitude of the local authorities impairs the work of local activists working for public health, and is in contradiction with the public campaign on HIV awareness undertaken by the various state AIDS societies in collaboration with the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS). The Observatory also condemns police brutality toward gay men, lesbian and bisexual women and calls on the Indian authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment against members of the organisations concerned.
Action requested :
Please write to the Indian authorities urging them to:
i. Drop all charges against Aris Jafar, Mohhamad Shahid, Sudhish Kumar Singh, Parmeshwar Nayar and Pankaj Kumar charged in the framework of this case, in view of the arbitrary character of the judicial proceedings against them;
ii. Immediately take all necessary steps so that the documents confiscated be returned forthwith to the NAZ Foundation and Bharosa Trust and put an end to all forms of harassment of human rights defenders and their organisations, and ensure that they are allowed to carry out their work without obstacles;
iii. Abide by the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1998 (« Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ») and more particularly article 12.2 which provides 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 »).
iv. More generally abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and the international covenants ratified by India.
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 E-mail: indun@undp.org
· Justice Venkatachellaih, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 11001, India. Fax: 91-11-334 0016
· Mr Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Office of the Chief Minister, Secretariat Building, Hyderabad 500 022, Andhra Pradesh, India, Fax: + 91 40 345 7824
· C. Rangarajan, Governor, Andhra Pradesh, Rajya Bhavan, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, Fax: + 91 40 331 1260
· Mr Lal Krishna Advani, Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi 110 001, India.
Geneva-Paris, 25 July 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken, quoting the reference number given above. The Observatory, an 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:
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch