Torture of Corrupt Police & Judges

[e-clarion of dalit]

S.O.S e - Clarion Of Dalit - Weekly Newspaper On Web
Working For The Rights & Survival Of The Oppressed
Editor: NAGARAJA.M.R… VOL.6 issue.26…… 27/06/2012


“There is a higher court than the court of justice and that is the
court of conscience It super cedes all other courts. ”

- Mahatma Gandhi







Editorial : Legal prosecution of cruel & inhuman STF police personnel
- An appeal to H.E.HONOURABLE GOVERNOR OF KARNATAKA



During “catch forest brigand veerappan operation” , Special Task
Force
police personnel , illegally arrested , detained , tortured &
murdered innocent tribal people of both tamil nadu & Karnataka
states.
NHRC has clearly noted the crimes of STF personnel & ordered both
Karnataka & tamil nadu governments to pay compensation to victims of
police atrocities. However still some of these victims are not yet
paid compensation by these governments , why ? also , the government
instead of legally prosecuting guilty police officers on murder
charges , has given awards & promotion to guilty inhuman police
officers. Is the government sending a message that 3rd degree torture
& murders in lock-up / fake encounters is acceptable & legal ? is it
equitable justice ? is there one set of law for police & another for
common people ?

Hereby , we do once again request your kindself , to dismiss guilty
police officials from police service , to withhold their pension
benefits , to legally prosecute them on charges of murders of
innocent tribal people & on charges of attempt to murder innocent
tribal people by 3rd degree torture methods. Hereby , we also request
you to make public JUSTICE A.J. SADA SHIVA COMMISSION’s findings
about atrocities by STF personnel.

To order the prison authorities to subject the four convicts,
accomplices of Veerappan to Narco analysis & Bran mapping tests in a
fair manner with unbiased questionnaire.


So that truth will come out about Ex-Minister Nagappa's Murder
case, Amount of Ransoms paid during all kidnap episodes including
Movie star Raj Kumar's kidnap episode. Truth will come out about the
Minister M.L.As. M.Ps. Police & Forest Officials who have stacked away
riches by helping him. Truth will come about Granite quarry owners
who helped him. Truth will come out about traders, merchants who
traded in goods , sandal wood , Ivory supplied by forest brigand
Veerappan.


To order the Govt of Karnataka , to make public the Justice A J
Sadashiva's commission's final report & complete proceedings . Then
the truth will come out, how the STF personnel, police tortured tribal
people at a place called WORK SHOP IN M M HILLS how they gang raped
tribal women repeatedly for days together, how they burnt their
breasts, how they pushed sticks smeared with chilli sambar powder into
their anus. How the police tied men folk upside down from the
ceiling . How many died, unable to bear the shame & torture ? Are not
these brutal inhuman STF police personnel fit to be hanged till death,
along with four accomplices of Veerappan ?


To order the National Human Rights Commission to make public the
findings of its independent enquiry conducted about the police torture
on tribal people. Violations of human rights of tribal people in the
forest brigand veerappan's Territory i.e. M M Hills.



Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.



Your’s Sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.



The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
– 26 June is held annually on 26 June to speak out against the crime
of torture and to honour and support victims and survivors throughout
the world.

“

This is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured
the unimaginable. This is an occasion for the world to speak up
against the unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to
remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture
around the world.

”

—Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan[1]



“

At a time when the legitimate aspirations of people in many regions of
the world for greater freedom, dignity and a better life are too often
met with violence and repression, I urge States to respect the
fundamental rights of all people. Torture and other forms of cruel,
degrading and inhuman treatment and punishment, wherever they occur
and whatever the circumstances, can never be justified.

”

—United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 2011[2]



Contents





International Torture day in Support of Torture Victims- 26th June


United Nations has designated 26thJune as the International Day
Against Torture to emphasize the importance of the right to personal
dignity and security of all individuals around the world, guaranteed
within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is the anniversary of a landmark event in the fight for human
rights. It is meant to commemorate the adoption of the Convention
Against Torture by the United Nations General Assembly. In India June
26 has a special significance as in 1975 on this day the dreaded
EMERGENCY was declared.

In October 1997, the Government of India signed the Convention Against
Torture (CAT) making the following statement: "The Convention
corresponds to the ethos of Indian democracy, rule of law, individual
freedom, personal liberty and security enshrined in Indian polity.
Signature of the Convention Against Torture by India is an important
milestone in the process of India's continued commitment to
fundamental and human rights of all persons and directive principles
of national policy. Ratification of the Convention is to follow." Yet,
torture continues to be a part of the administrative system in many
parts of our country. Over the last decade, there has been mounting
evidence that torture has become an institutionalised practice within
India.

Center for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), commemorated
the International day in support of torture victims by staging company
theatre's play ' voices' in the University campus, kalina in Mumbai.
The play depicted various forms of torture. After the play, a
discussion was held on the issue of torture and human rights. Students
largely felt that India should ratify the Convention against Torture
(CAT) Snaps of the play

This convention bans torture under all circumstances and establishes
the UN Committee against Torture. In particular, it defines torture,
requires states to take effective legal and other measures to prevent
torture, declares that no state of emergency, other external threats,
nor orders from a superior officer or authority may be invoked to
justify torture. It forbids countries to return a refugee to his
country if there is reason to believe he/she will be tortured, and
requires host countries to consider the human rights record of the
person's native country in making this decision.

The CAT requires states to make torture illegal and provide
appropriate punishment for those who commit torture. It requires
states to assert jurisdiction when torture is committed within their
jurisdiction, either investigate and prosecute themselves, or upon
proper request extradite suspects to face trial before another
competent court. It also requires states to cooperate with any civil
proceedings against accused torturers.

Each state is obliged to provide training to law enforcement and
military on torture prevention, keep its interrogation methods under
review, and promptly investigate any allegations that its officials
have committed torture in the course of their official duties. It must
ensure that individuals who allege that someone has committed torture
against them are permitted to make and official complaint and have it
investigated, and, if the complaint is proven, receive compensation,
including full medical treatment and payments to survivors if the
victim dies as a result of torture. It forbids states to admit into
evidence during a trial any confession or statement made during or as
a result of torture. It also forbids activities which do not rise to
the level of torture, but which constitute cruel or degrading
treatment. The second part of the Convention establishes the Committee
Against Torture, and sets out the rules on its membership and
activities.

CEHAT strongly believes that Toture is a health and Human rights
issue. It is a slow process that is designed to render its victim
helpless, dependent and devoid of all human qualities. Torture
destroys the sense of self; it confuses right and wrong; any belief in
the stability of the world is taken away; "truth" becomes a word
without meaning. Methods of torture are limited only by the fiendish
fantasies of those whose business it is to break others down. Physical
methods include beating, electric shock (especially to the genitals),
stretching (as on a rack), asphyxiation techniques such as submersion
in contaminated water and smothering with plastic, burning, blows to
the ears, forced standing or forms of suspension, sexual assault of
men and women, sometimes with trained dogs. Psychological methods
include sensory deprivation, anonymity and dehumanizing experiences,
exposure to the sounds/sight of others being tortured. Physical
effects are both acute and chronic. Physicians may see survivors with
symptoms and disabilities related to their torture experiences. Some
typical debilitating symptoms include: sleeplessness, headache,
fatigue, chronic musculoskeletal pains, gastrointestinal problems,
neurologic disorders, and sexual dysfunction. The long-term
psychological effects of torture may be manifested by symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and alcohol/substance
abuse.

India is signatory to the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and while
it is yet to ratify the instrument, the signature implies an intention
to eventually incorporate the provisions of the Convention into
domestic law. The Convention specifically prohibits the use of
torture, obliging every State Party to “take effective legal,
administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture
in any territory under its jurisdiction.”

Article 21 of the Constitution of India provides that “[n]o person
shall be deprived of his life and liberty except according to
procedure established by law”. The right to life in Article 21 of the
Constitution of India does not mean mere survival or existence. It
encompasses the right to live with dignity. Torture is inflicted with
the aim of degrading a person and involves the violation of dignity.
It therefore falls within the ambit of Article 21. Further safeguards
are provided under other articles of the Constitution. Under Article
20(3), no person accused of any offence can be compelled to be a
witness against himself. Article 22 (1) and (2) provide that a person
who is arrested must be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of
his arrest. The person also has the right to consult a lawyer of his
choice. An arrested person must be produced before the nearest
magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) also requires the production of
accused before court within 24 hours. Section 54 of the CrPC gives the
arrestee the right to be medically examined. No statement of a witness
recorded by a police officer, according to Section 162 of the CrPC,
can be used for any purpose other than contradicting such a statement.
Thus admission of guilt before a police officer is not admissible in a
court of law. Section 164 of the CrPC requires that the magistrate
must ensure that a confession by the accused is voluntary. Sections
330 and 331 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) make it a penal offence to
cause hurt to a person in order to extract a confession.

A victim of torture by the police is entitled to move the Supreme
Court of India under Article 32 of the Constitution or the concerned
High Court under Article 226. The Supreme Court and different High
Courts have entertained various writ petitions alleging police torture
of prisoners. According to the Supreme Court, any form of torture or
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment fall within the ambit of Article
21 of the Constitution – whether be it during interrogation,
investigation or otherwise. A person does not shed his fundamental
right to life when he is arrested. Article 21 cannot be denied to
arrested persons or prisoners in custody (D K Basu v State of West
Bengal).

On this day CEHAT demanded that INDIA RATIFIES THE
CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND MEETS ALL STATE OBLIGATIONS AS
MANDATED IN THE CONVENTION







Prosecute Chief Justice of India

http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/prosecute-chief-justice-of-india
,





AEROPLANE RIDES FOR CORRUPT POLICE & CORRUPT JUDGES OF
INDIA



TORTURE CHAMBERS OF INDIA - 3RD DEGREE TORTURE PERPETRATED BY POLICE
IN INDIA - Gross violations of human rights by police

We condemn the cruel practices , murders committed by Naxalites &
Terrorists. The Cruelty by Naxalites , Terrorists does not legally
authorize law enforcing agencies to commit cruelty , murders in
retaliation , an eye for an eye. We are a democratic republic.

It is utter shame , that a suspected female maoist person was
tortured by police inspite of strictures issued by the presiding
judge. Refer the LAWS OF JUNGLE in The Week dated 01.01.2012. Here
the presiding judge of the court failed to ensure the safety of a
suspect inspite of her repeated appeals to the court. The Police
showed utter contempt to the orders of the court & subjected the
suspect to third degree torture. The Judge & Police in the said case
attempted to murder the suspect by way of third degree torture . If
the suspect is convicted by the court about her crimes , let the
court punish her as per legal provisions. Who are police to punish
her ? is it not the duty of presiding judge of a case to ensure
safety of both parties & witnesses thereof ? Why not the legal
prosecution of guilty judge & police for above crimes ? Why not third
degree torture , aero-plane rides for the guilty judge & police ?


Aeroplane is the most cruelest form of 3rd degree torture perpetrated
by police on suspects. Many innocent people have confessed to crimes
hey have not at all committed unable to bear the torture , pain.
Many
innocents have been murdered in lock-ups by police during these type
of 3rd degree torture. Even if we go by the logic of police that
criminals only sing under torture & they rightly deserve it , when
a
petty criminal stealing Rs.10000 is fit for "AEROPLANE TORTURE" ,
what about criminals stealing crores of rupees , what about corrupt
police who aid tens of such big time criminals by filing B-report ,
by putting weak case of prosecution , by delaying tactics allowing
for destruction of evidences , etc , what about judges who acquits
big
time criminals , who give judicial orders while they are in a drunken
state , who acquit big criminals by conducting hearings even on
dates
of government holidays (concocted). ARE NOT THESE CORRUPT POLICE &
JUDGES FIT FOR "BUSINESS CLASS AEROPLANE RIDE TORTURE as per the
same logic of police.



Why not 3rd degree torture of Chief Justice of India , Union Home
Secretary and DG & IG of Police for Karnataka who are NOT
ANSWERING our RTI questions ?




At the outset , e - Voice salutes the few honest police personnel who
are
silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent
transfers ,
promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are
silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we
salute
them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few honest
to catch their corrupt colleagues.

The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just
holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate
like
"Sherlock holmes" and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays , when
police are under various pressures , stresses - they are frequently
using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there are 3
reasons for this :
1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of
Sherlock
holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree torture
on
innocents.
2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to
frame
innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree
torture
is used on innocents.
3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the
higher-ups need very quick results - under work stress I.O uses 3rd
degree torture on innocents.

Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish
let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects.
Only
the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even
the judiciary doesn't have the right to punish the accussed /
suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture
unabetted.
Even during encounters , police only have the legal right , authority
to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to kill
them.

There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use
of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is
false
& biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100's
of crores of public money - like stock scam , fodder scam , etc
involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don't police use 3rd
degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public
money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a
pick-pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by
police.

In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in
league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials
bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder
innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don't police use 3rd
degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding
criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.

All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents ,
tribals ,
dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas , before
rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like scarecrows
before rich crooks.

Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose
of
investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools
must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.

Hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd
degree
torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of encounter
killings.
2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service
and to
forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity , pension ,
etc.
3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching
government
contribution as compensation to family of the victim's of 3rd degree
torture & encounter killings.
4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted
from
innocents by 3rd degree torture.
5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in
whose
jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.
6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide
a
torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his
court.
7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to
forest
brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj
kumar.
8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva's report on "torture of
tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA".
9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of
investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.
10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher
training of police personnel.
11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude
&
knack for investigations.
12) To insulate police from interference from politicians &
superiors.
13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body
instead
of
political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all
service
matters of police.
14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a
humane
manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then
on
a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.
15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of
biggies
& must be put on detective , investigative works.



Nowadays , we are seeing reports of corruption by police & judges in
the media and are also seeing reports of raids by vigilance
authorities seizing crores of wealth from such corrupt police. Some
Judges have also amassed crores of wealth. Who gives them money ? it
is rich criminals , anti-nationals . By taking bribe & hiding the
crimes of criminals , the corrupt police & judges are themselves
becoming active parties in the crimes , anti-national activities.
Those shameless , corrupt police & judges are nothing but traitors &
anti – nationals themselves. When an innocent is subjected to 3rd
degree torture to extract truth with justification by investigating
agencies that all for the sake of national security , what degree of
torture these corrupt , anti-national police & judges qualify for ?
what type of aeroplane or helicopter the corrupt police / judges must
ride ? ofcourse , for protection of national security. Here also
police & judges have double standards , what a shame.



We at e – voice are for "Rule of Law" & abhor all type of violence.
Truly these police & judges are not building a Ram Rajya of our
Mahatma Gandhi's dream.

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.



Your's sincerely,

Nagaraj.M.R.



CRIMINALS IN POLICE UNIFORM
- An appeal to union home minister & Karnataka state home minister



The ABC of police force in India is apathy ,
brutality & corruption . in India, police are not impartially
enforcing
law instead are working as hand maidens of rich & mighty. The
corrupt
police officers are collecting protection money from criminals ,
collecting money to go slow on investigations , to file B- reports ,
to
fix innocents in fake cases , to murder innocents in lock-up /
encounters . they are hand in league with land mafia , today C.M of
Karnataka himself issued a warning to police officials about this.
Even in lock-ups , jails, the rich inmates bribe
officials get better food from outside , mobile phones , drugs ,
drinks
, cigareetes , etc. they get spacious cells & get best private
medical
care . where as the poor inmates are even denied food , health care ,
living space as per the provisions of law. The corrupt jail officials
instigate rowdy elements in the jails to assault poor inmates & to
toe
their line. More corrupt the police more wealthier he is. Even CBI
officials are no different. The only beacon of hope is still there
are
few honest people left in the police force.
Hereby , e-voice urges you to make public the
following
information in the interest of justice.

1.how many CBI officials & Karnataka state police officials are
facing
charges of corruption , 3rd degree torture , lock-up/encounter
deaths
, rapes , fake cases , etc ?

2.how you are monitoring the ever increasing wealth of corrupt police
officials?

3.how many officials from the ranks of constable to DGP have amassed
illegal wealth?

4.what action you have taken in these cases ? have you got
reinvestigated all the cases handled by tainted police?

5.how many policemen have been awarded death penalty & hanged till
death , for cold blooded murders in the form of lock-up deaths /
encounter deaths ?

6.why DGP of Karnataka is not registering my complaint dt
10/12/2004 ,
subsequent police complaints ?
is it because rich & mighty are involved ?

7.e - voice is ready to bring to book corrupt police officials
subject
to
conditions, are you ready ?

8.how many police personnel are charged with violations of people's
human rights & fundamental rights ?

9.how many STF police deployed to nab veerappan were themselves
charged with theft of forest wealth?

10.how you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in jails?

11.how you are ensuring the medical care , health of prisoners in
hospitals & mental asylums?

12.How you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in juvenile homes ?



India’s secret torture chambers

by syednazakat

They are our own Gitmos. Where, far away from the prying eyes of the
law, ‘enemies of the state’ are made to ‘sing’. Life inside India’s
joint interrogation cells can scar people for life. THE WEEK
investigates

By Syed Nazakat

Little Terrorist, as the intelligence sleuths came to call him, turned
out to be a hard nut to crack. No amount of torture would work on 20-
year-old Mohammed Issa, who was picked up from Delhi on February 5,
2006. The Delhi Police believed that he had a hotline to Lashkar-e-
Toiba deputy chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhwi, who later masterminded the
26/11 attack on Mumbai. At a secret detention centre in Delhi, the
police and intelligence officers tried every single torture method in
their arsenal—from electric shock to sleep deprivation—to make Issa
sing. He stuck to his original line: that he had come from Nepal to
visit a relative in Delhi. Only, they refused believe him.

According to the police, the youth from Uttar Pradesh, who had moved
to Nepal in 2000 along with his family after his father, Irfan Ahmed,
was accused in a terrorism case, returned to India to set up Lashkar
modules in the national capital. More than six months after he was
picked up, the police announced his arrest on August 14. He has since
been shifted to the Tihar jail. His lawyer N.D. Pancholi said Issa was
kept in illegal custody for months. If not, let the police say where
he was between February 5 and August 15, he challenged.

Issa could have been detained in any of Delhi’s joint interrogation
centres, used by the police and intelligence agencies to extract
precious information from the detainees using methods frowned upon by
the law. As one top police officer told THE WEEK in the course of our
investigation, these torture chambers spread across the country are
our “precious assets”. They are our own little Guantanamo Bays or
Gitmos (where the US tortures terror suspects from Afghanistan and
elsewhere for information).

Not many admit their existence, because doing so could result in human
rights activists knocking at their doors and bad press for the smartly
dressed intelligence men. It is a murky and dangerous world, according
to K.S. Subramanian, Tripura’s former director-general of police, who
has also served in the Intelligence Bureau. “Such sites exist and are
being used to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists and it has
been going on for a long time,” he told THE WEEK. “Even senior police
officers are reluctant to talk about the system.” So are people who
have been to these virtual hells that officially do not exist.

THE WEEK has identified 15 such secret interrogation centres—three
each in Mumbai, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, two each in Kolkata and
Gujarat and one each in Rajasthan and Assam. (One detention centre
that is shared by all security and law enforcement agencies is the one
in Palanpur, close to the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan.) Their
locations have been arrived at after speaking to serving and retired
top officers who had helped set up some of these facilities. Those who
have spent time in these places had no idea where they are. They were
taken blindfolded and were allowed no visitors. The only faces they
got to see were those of the interrogators, day in and day out.

The biggest of the three detention centres in Mumbai, the Aarey Colony
facility in Goregaon, has four rooms. The Anti-Terrorism Squad
questioned Saeed Khan (name changed), one of the accused in the
Malegaon blasts of September 2006, here. He was served food at
irregular intervals (led to temporary disorientation) and was denied
sleep. Another secret detention centre maintained in the city by the
ATS at Kalachowky has a sound-proof room. Sohail Shaikh, accused in
the July 2006 train bombings, was held here for close to two months.
“He was kept in isolation for days together,” said an officer. “He
crumbled after being subjected to hostile sessions. Intentional
infliction of suffering does not always yield immediate results.
Sometimes you have to wait for many days for the detainee to break. It
is a tedious process.” The smallest of the three facilities at Chembur
has just two rooms.

Parvez Ahmed Radoo, 30, of Baramula district in Kashmir, was illegally
detained in Delhi for over a month for allegedly trying to plot mass
murder in the national capital on behalf of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The
Delhi Police’s chargesheet says he was arrested from the Azadpur fruit
market in Delhi on October 14, 2006. But according to Parvez’s flight
itinerary, he travelled from Srinagar to Delhi on September 12 on
Spice Jet flight 850. The flight landed at Delhi airport at 12.10 p.m.
He had to catch another flight at 1.30 p.m. (Spice Jet flight 217) to
Pune, where, according to his parents, he was going to pursue his
Ph.D. But he never boarded the Pune flight as he disappeared from the
Delhi airport.

Parvez wrote an open letter from the Tihar jail, where he is currently
held, in which he said he was arrested from the airport on September
12 and kept in custody for a month. Apparently, he was first taken to
the Lodhi Colony police station and then to an apartment in Dwarka,
where electrodes were attached to his genitals and power was switched
on. (Delhi’s secret detention centres are located at Dwarka in south-
west Delhi, the Interstate Cell of the Crime Branch in Chanakyapuri in
central Delhi, and the Lodhi Colony police station in south Delhi.)

“After my arrest on September 12, I was taken to Pune, where I was
shown pictures of many Kashmiri boys,” Parvez said in the letter,
which is in the possession of THE WEEK. “They wanted me to identify
them. As I didn’t know any one of them, they brought me to Delhi again
and threw me into the torture chamber of Lodhi Road [sic] police
station. They took off my clothes and started beating me like an
animal, so ruthlessly that my feet and fingers started bleeding. I was
later forced to clean the blood-stained floor with my underwear. They
gave me electric shocks and stretched my legs to extreme limits,
resulting in internal haemorrhage. I started passing blood with my
urine and stool. Later I was shifted to one flat in Dwarka. From the
adjacent flats, voices of crying and screaming had been coming,
indicating presence of other persons being tortured.”

Throughout his detention, wrote Parvez, he was asked to lie to his
parents that everything was fine. In the letter he also gave the
mobile number from which the calls were made—9960565152. His family is
trying to collect the call site details of the number to prove his
illegal detention.

Delhi-based journalist Iftikhar Geelani, who spent nine days in the
Lodhi Colony police station after his arrest in 2002 on spying
charges, is yet to get over the traumatic experience. “There are lock-
ups with such low ceilings that a person will not be able to stand,”
he said. “There is an interrogation centre within the police station
where people are brutally tortured with cables, and some are
completely undressed and abused. They also have a facility to raise
the temperature of the cell to a point where it is unbearable and then
suddenly bring it down to freezing cold.”

Assistant Commissioner Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for the Delhi Police,
denied the existence of such facilities. “Nobody ever asked me the
question [about secret detention centres],” he said. “We don’t operate
any such facility in our police stations.”

But Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint director of the IB, confirmed the
existence of secret detention centres in Delhi and other parts of the
country. He was convinced that detention outside the police station
and torture are an inevitable part of the war on terrorism. “Now I
would never dream of doing the things I did when I was in charge,”
said Dhar. “But security agencies need such facilities.” Interrogating
suspected terrorists at secret detention centres, he said, is the most
effective way to gather intelligence. “If you produce a suspect before
court, he will never give you anything after that,” he said. In other
words, once you record the arrest you are within the realm of the law
and you have to acknowledge the rights of the accused-arrested and
contend with his lawyer.

An officer who worked in one of the detention centres admitted that
extreme physical and psychological torture, based loosely on the
regime in Guantanamo Bay, is used to extract information from the
detainees. It includes assault on the senses (pounding the ear with
loud and disturbing music) and sleep deprivation, keeping prisoners
naked to degrade and humiliate them, and forcibly administering drugs
through the rectum to further break down their dignity. “The
interrogators isolate key operatives so that the interrogator is the
only person they see each day,” he said. “In extreme cases we use
pethidine injections. It will make a person crazy.”

Molvi Iqbal from Uttar Pradesh, a suspected member of the Harkat-ul-
Jihadi-Islami who is currently lodged in Tihar, was held at a secret
detention centre for two months according to his relatives. They
alleged that during interrogation a chip was implanted under his skin
so that his movements could be tracked if he tried to escape. “He
fears that the chip is still inside his skin,” said one of his
relatives. “That has shattered him.”

Kolkata has its own Gitmos in Bhabani Bhawan, the headquarters of the
Criminal Investigation Department, and the Alipore Retreat in
Tollygunj, a large bungalow that is said to have 20 rooms. They were
bursting at the seams at the height of the Naxalite movement, but are
more or less quiet now. “A large number of innocent people, as well as
suspected terrorists, have disappeared after being taken to such
secret detention centres,” said Kirity Roy, a Kolkata-based human
rights lawyer. “Their bodies would later be found, if at all, in the
fields.”

That was how militancy was tackled, first in Punjab and then in
Kashmir. Today no secret prison exists in Kashmir officially after the
notorious Papa-2 interrogation centre was closed down. But secret
torture cells thrive across the state. The most notorious ones are the
Cargo Special Operation Group (SOG) camp in Haftchinar area in
Srinagar and Humhama in Budgam district. Then there are the joint
interrogation centres in Khanabal area of Anantnag district and Talab
Tillo and Poonch areas in Jammu region. Detentions at JICs could last
months. Lawyers in Kashmir have filed 15,000 petitions since 1990
seeking the whereabouts of the detainees and the charges against them
without avail.

The most recent victim of the torture regime was Manzoor Ahmed Beigh,
40, who was picked by the SOG from Alucha Bagh area in Srinagar on May
18. His family alleged that he was chained up, hung upside down from
the ceiling and ruthlessly beaten up. He died the same night.
Following public outrage, the officer in charge of the camp was
dismissed from the service in June.

Maqbool Sahil, a Srinagar-based photojournalist who was held at
Hariniwas interrogation centre for 15 days, says it is a miracle that
he is alive today. “If you tell them [interrogators] you are innocent,
they will torture you so ruthlessly that you will break down and
confess to anything,” he says.

Human rights organisations are understandably concerned. Navaz Kotwal,
coordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said that
there should be an open debate on the illegal detention centres. “The
US had a debate on the Gitmos. Our government should come forward and
respond to these allegations,” he said.

No one wants to compromise the nation’s safety, but the torture
becomes unbearable, and questionable, when innocent people like the 14-
year-old boy Irfan suffer (see box on page ). The security of the
country and its people is important and terrorism should be crushed at
all cost. But the largest democracy in the world should also ensure
that human rights are not violated.

Dhar defended the secret prison system, arguing that the successful
defence of the country required that the security establishment be
empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as
necessary and without restrictions imposed by the legal system. “The
primary mission of the agencies is to save the nation both by overt
and covert means from any terrorist threat,” he said. “But to keep the
programme secret is a horrible burden.”



with Anupam Dasgupta

(The Week, July 12, 2009)

INTERVIEW//K.S. Subramanian, former director general of police,
Tripura

“It is a murky business”

By Syed Nazakat



Former director general of police, Tripura, Dr K.S. Subramanian, can
be called an insider. He has served in the Intelligence Bureau, worked
as director in the research and policy division of the home ministry
and has been chief of intelligence in the troubled northeast. In an
interview with THE WEEK, he shares his knowledge about the illegal
detention centres in India. He is frustrated over the shadowy work of
some police officers and over incidents like the killing of 59
innocent people, which the police called a naxal encounter. He recalls
how a senior IPS officer shouted at ‘naxalites’ in a conference and
said, “When I hear you people talk, I wish I had brought my revolver!”
Excerpts.

There are allegations that suspected terrorists are being detained
illegally in and out of police stations and tortured.

Unfortunately, priority is given to peace and order at the cost of law
and justice, which might have led to the emergence of such facilities.

Have you come across such facilities during your service?

It is likely that such sites do exist and are used to detain and
interrogate suspected terrorists. Perhaps they have existed for long.
However, the Union home ministry is handicapped with regard to the
information it receives on many issues of internal security. The IB,
manned entirely by the IPS at the top, and the state police agencies
are its main source of information. Often, their reports are biased
and inadequate for policy formulation. I can cite many instances. In
terrorist-related cases, the police may feel an incentive to describe
people as terrorists and kill them for professional reasons and career
advancement.

Who controls these illegal detention centres? What was your experience
in the home ministry?

It is a murky business. Senior police officers would be hesitant to
talk about the system in operation. The ministry of home affairs does
not directly handle such operations; they are the task of agencies
like the RAW and the IB. Public awareness about such activities can
help check such illegalities, but you know that recently even agencies
of advanced democracies such as the US have come to adverse notice for
running such centres. President Obama has been courageous about
admitting the unethical nature of such facilities in the US and trying
to close them down. There is scope for a healthy debate on such issues
in a vibrant democracy such as ours.

Many die inside these torture chambers.

Last year, the NGO People’s Watch brought out a disturbing report on
police torture, which showed, after an extensive study in several
states, that about 1.8 million people, most of them belonging to SC/ST
communities, minorities and women, are victim to police torture every
year in India. Shockingly, there has been no official refutation of
this important report so far. I remember when I was director in the
Union ministry of home affairs [between 1980 and 1985], there was a
series of incidents in a north Indian state in which, according to the
press, a large number of so called naxalites were killed in police
action. There was uproar in Parliament. The state police and the
central IB maintained that only 12 people were killed, and that all of
them were naxalites.

However, when the state chief secretary was asked to come to the Union
home ministry for a discussion, he frankly admitted that no less than
59 people were killed in these incidents and that none of them was a
naxalite! Most of those killed were members of a local peasant
organisation fighting for social justice under the Constitution and
other laws of the land.

Many argue that to ensure peace, the country requires that the
security establishment be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected
terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed
by the legal system. Do you agree?

I know there is the fear of terrorism, and it’s a different world. But
maintaining our moral compass during these difficult times, and the
integrity of who we are as people, is enormously critical. So to me,
this isn’t just about illegal detention. It’s about the policies still
in place that can contribute to establishment of our Gitmos.

How can the police deal with terrorism and at the same time uphold
rule of law and human rights?

There are set rules for the police to follow. But the problem is that
there is a tendency among some officers to believe that while dealing
with suspected terrorists, they are not obliged to follow
constitutional methods. Our leaders may say we don’t believe in
torture, but many in our intelligence and police agencies think there
is a place for torture in the investigation of cases, especially
terrorist related. There is a need for attitudinal change in many
police officers.



(The Week, July 12, 2009)

Little Terrorist

By Syed Nazakat in Delhi



The playful spark of a 14-year-old is missing in Irfan’s eyes. Instead
there is helplessness, pain, horror and a lurking fear. The dark
shades could make him anything—a crusader, a criminal or plain timid.
The training ground was a forlorn torture chamber somewhere in
Gujarat.
The boy was picked up on May 25 last year allegedly by the Gujarat
Police, who were in fact looking for his father, Mohammed Azhar. Irfan
still remembers the white Tavera (GCIG-4522) that screeched to a halt
in front of him as he was trying to cross the road outside his shop in
Seelampur. Two men got out, held a pistol to his head and pushed him
into the car. Later, they pinned him down with their feet, kicked him
in the torso and slapped him several times. And when he tried to
speak, he got a sharp jab in the ribs.
Lying on the floor of the car, the boy had no idea where he was being
taken. His captors drove whole day and night and finally he was pulled
out from the car into a detention centre, which had two black cells.
He was dumped into one of them. There were no windows in the cell, yet
from the honking of the vehicles and the occasional noise of a crowd,
he guessed the place to be not far from the city.
The detention was almost a Guantanamo or an Abu Ghraib from his
narration. His interrogators wore civilian dress, but were near
cannibals in attitude. Irfan was interrogated by a tall person, whose
name he doesn’t remember. “The man would brutally beat me up and tell
me, ‘As long as your father does not surrender, we will not let you
go’.”

Back home, Irfan’s mother, Tasleema, was frantically searching for
him. Fortunately, his friends had seen the number plate of the Tavera.
The family complained to the Seelampur police station, and three days
later, Tasleema was told that her son was in the custody of Gujarat
Police in Ahmedabad.She then filed a habeas corpus petition before the
Delhi High Court, which directed the police to release the boy. Thus,
after 10 days of detention, Irfan was brought back and released. On
the court’s direction, the Seelampur police have lodged an FIR against
the Gujarat Police.

Irfan’s tiny body is now a shambles. His mother says she was shattered
when she heard about the torture her son had to bear. “Since his
release, he is being treated for abdominal pain and discomfort,” she
says. The boy’s ordeal has not ended yet. His family gets threat calls
from the Gujarat Police, warning them not to appear before the court.
Irfan’s father hasn’t yet returned home, making his family prone to
more police harassment.
A day before the last hearing in the case, the police raided his home
at 3 a.m. “We have lodged a report against the Gujarat Police,”
Tasleema says. The Seelampur police station refused to comment on the
case, but confirmed that an FIR has been filed against the Gujarat
Police.
We got to know of the depth of Irfan’s fear only when we got up to
leave. With tears in his eyes, he pleaded for our help. “Please save
me from the police,” he says. He fears they might any day return for
him.
(Name of the boy has been changed to protect identity)



(THE WEEK, July12, 2009)

Fifteen days of horror

By Maqbool Sahil




Once I was inside my cell, I wondered aloud: Where am I? A voice
filtering through the slit in the steel door told me that I was in the
Hariniwas interrogation chamber in Kashmir. I was picked up on
September 16, 2006, by the Counter Insurgency Kashmir [a special wing
of J&K Police that deals with terrorism-related cases] which accused
me of spying for Pakistan. My family was not informed about my arrest.
When the interrogation started, I was least prepared for the ordeal.
They bombarded me with questions: Who else is working with you for
Pakistan? To whom are you sending pictures from Kashmir [he is a photo-
journalist]? When they did not get the answers they wanted, the
torture intensified. I was subjected to sleep deprivation and was
denied food for the first three days. I was kicked and beaten with a
rubber baton. They then chained my hands and left me hanging from the
top of a door. They told me in no uncertain terms that unless I
confessed that I was spying for Pakistan, I would not see my family
again. I cried often. Sometimes I thought I would die in that dark
torture cell and no one would ever know about it.
On the fifth day, my feet were manacled and I was ruthlessly beaten
up. I then heard somebody outside say, “Don’t worry, I will make him
speak.” I peered through the slit in the door and found that it was
Senior Superintendent of Police Ashkhoor Wani, who headed the CIK. As
a journalist I knew him for years. He was notorious but I had never
imagined that one day I would become his prey.
The torture started afresh. My hands were tied behind with a rope, one
end of which was rolled over a metal pipe fixed to the ceiling. They
pulled the rope and I was hanging in mid-air. It was very painful. I
felt as if my brain was going to burst. Every time I was subjected to
this torture, I collapsed and lost consciousness. The torture would
then stop, only to restart when I regained consciousness. When they
tired of it, they stretched my legs wide and the balls of the joints
were displaced. I could not walk properly for six months after that.
There were over 30 people detained there. I didn’t know where they
were from. But they all were terrified and silent. After 15 days, the
CIK prepared a dossier on me and I was detained under the Public
Safety Act for over three years. I was released in January after the
police failed to press charges against me in court.

The detention facility has since been shifted to Humhama area in
Budgam district.
As told to Syed Nazakat



What Kind Of System Needs To Torture Prisoners?

By Li Onesto

01 August, 2011
Revcom.us



The courageous struggle of the prisoners at Pelican Bay should make
many more people sit up and take notice and ask—and find the answers to
—some important questions about the U.S. prison system.

Why does the U.S. , which has 5% of the world's population, have 25%
of its prisoners?

Why has the number of prisoners in the U.S. gone from half a million
in 1980 to over 2.3 million in the last three decades?

Why are so many of those incarcerated in the U.S. people of color?

And why does the U.S. routinely carry out torture in its prisons?

The truth of the matter—and the bigger context for the inhumane
conditions in maximum security units like the Pelican Bay Prison SHU—
is that this system, with its police, laws, courts, and prisons is
using mass incarceration to enforce oppressive economic and social
relations, especially in terms of the systematic subjugation of Black
people as a people. And I really encourage people to read the special
Revolution issue on prisons, “From the Hellholes of Incarceration to a
Future of Emancipation,” which provides a deep analysis of mass
incarceration in the United States.

This system of U.S. capitalism, from its very inception , has, in
large part, been built on and developed by carrying out the most
brutal oppression of Native Americans, Black people and other people
of color.

This oppression has been woven into the whole fabric of U.S. society,
from the days of slavery until today. It has been and is an integral
part of the economic and social structure in this country. White
supremacy has and continues to maintain Black people in a subjugated
position in every aspect of society. And all this has created, and
today still maintains a “master class” of white people and a “pariah
class” of Black people.

In this way, the systematic oppression of Black and other people of
color has been, and continues to be, part of the very glue that holds
U.S. society together—even as it has gone through different changes
and been enforced in different ways. The outright ownership of Black
people under slavery gave way to Jim Crow segregation and Ku Klux Klan
terror. And now we have what has been called “the new Jim Crow” of
police brutality and murder and the mass incarceration of hundreds of
thousands of Black people.

The subjugation of Black people is a pillar of this system—a part of
the economic and social relations in society, and white supremacy is a
key element in the dominant ideology. And this is why this system
cannot get rid of the oppression of Black people—because to do so
would mean tearing up and undermining the whole economic, social and
ideological/culture basis of U.S. society.

Why has there been such a drastic increase in the U.S. prison
population? This has never been in response to crime—crime rates have
actually gone down over the last three decades. This has been about
control and suppression. It started in response to the mass upsurges
among Black people in the '60s—which shook the system and had a huge
impact throughout society. At the same time, globalization and de-
industrialization had devastated the inner cities and millions of
Black people, especially the youth, who could no longer be profitably
employed, were seen by this system as an unwanted, volatile “surplus”
that had to be controlled. Concessions from the system, like programs
that were supposed to address poverty and inequality, were being
snatched back, leading to further impoverishment.

As the special Revolution issue on the oppression of Black people
said, “Two things were at work: the needs of capital, which continued
to gain advantage from racist discrimination and ghetto-ization of
millions of African-Americans; and the necessity of the capitalists to
not disrupt—and in fact to reassert and reinforce with a vengeance —
the social glue of white supremacy—the ways in which the lie of the
‘master class' were so integral to so many people's understanding of
‘being American.'” (“The Oppression of Black People, The Crimes of
This System and the Revolution We Need.”)

U.S. imperialism needed the subjugation of Black people more than
ever, but could no longer do this in the naked, openly racist forms it
had in the old Jim Crow. It is in this context that in 1969, H.R.
Haldeman, President Nixon's top assistant, wrote in his diary that
“[Nixon] emphasized that you have to face the fact that the whole
problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that
recognizes this while not appearing to.” It is in this context that
the “war on drugs” was launched—which has been the biggest factor
behind the exponential rise in mass incarceration.

Why are prisoners routinely tortured in U.S. prisons? The kind of
extreme torture being carried out in places like the Pelican Bay SHU
is a function of the whole way this system has criminalized, demonized
and dehumanized a whole section of society. It has to do with
repressing those who this system fears; those this system sees have
the potential to rise up against their conditions of oppression in a
way that would really challenge their rule. The kind of torture being
carried out in the Pelican Bay SHU serves as a brutal way to control
those in prison. And it has a broader effect of mass terror against
Black people throughout society.

The terror carried out by KKK lynch mobs in the South meant that any
Black person had to walk in fear. Today, police brutality and murder,
the practice of racial profiling and random “stop and frisk”; and mass
incarceration targeting Black people and all the terror that entails—
means that today any Black person has to walk in fear.

Today, mass incarceration is the leading edge of the oppression of
Black people. This continues to have a devastating impact on those who
are imprisoned: Many lives are ruined; many youth are literally thrown
away, their potential wasted. It is almost impossible for those this
system has branded a “felon” to make any kind of life for themselves
if they ever get out of prison. Having a criminal record means you
will face legal discrimination in things like employment and housing
for the rest of your life. All this is not only horrible for the
individuals involved—it is a terrible thing for society. And all this
has a broader devastating effect on mothers, fathers, spouses,
children, and other loved ones; on the Black community as a whole. The
“war on drugs”—and all it means in terms of taking away the rights and
ability of Black people to get jobs, decent housing, etc.—is a way to
continue the oppression of Black people, but with the veneer and
appearance of equality.

The United States goes around claiming it is the “leader of the free
world” and protector of democracy and human rights. But the prisoners'
hunger strike has objectively exposed the complete illegitimacy and
hypocrisy of this system. This system is responsible for the torture
of prisoners. The very needs and workings of this system have led to
the mass incarceration of so many Black and Latino people. And getting
rid of this system is the only way we can get to a whole different
kind of society where there will no longer be the living hell of mass
incarceration and the people as a whole can be truly liberated.

Revolution #241, July 31, 2011 ( revcom.us )

Li Onesto is the author of Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal
and a writer for Revolution newspaper ( www.revcom.us ). She can be
contacted at: lion...@gmail.com




Police reform and guide lines of National Human Right Commission

The police does not have right to take the life of any person. If by
his act, the policeman kills a person, he commits an offence of
culpable homicide or culpable homicide amounting to murder unless such
killing is not an offence under the law. Under the criminal law
prevailing in India, nothing is an offence which is done in exercise
of right of private defence (section 96-106 of Indian Penal Code). But
the right given under these sections of Indian Penal Code is not
absolute right and they can be exercised under the restriction given
in section 99 and 104 of same Act.

Section 46 of criminal procedure code empowers the police officer to
use reasonable force, even extending up to causing death, if found
necessary to arrest the person accused of an offence punishable with
death or imprisonment of life. Thus, it is evident that death caused
in an encounter, if not justify, would amount to an offence of
culpable homicide.

So causing death of any person without reasons can not be justified.
India is a welfare state and our constitution provides right to life
and personal liberty. It includes living with human dignity. It is the
duty of state to ensure the fundamental rights for every person.

However the torture of police has been increasing very rapidly from
the last decade. The police encounter, custodial death, custodial
rape, and the atrocities of police are day to day news. To reduce
these events the Janta Party Govenmenat set up Soli Sorabji Panel, but
before submission of the report the government fell down and the
report had not been enforced and the arbitrariness of police had been
promoted in every state. Recently Times of India news paper published
that largest number of custodial death was registered in UP.

On 22nd September, 2006 the Supreme Court of India in case of Prakash
Singh vs
Union of India in its historical decision ordered wide reformation in
police organization.
Due to its impact the police organization would be able to work
without political influential and adequate reformation can be made in
law and order. It would help in reducing atrocities. Faced with
Supreme Court directives to implement the much delayed police
reforms, union government has set in motion the process to bring a new
police act, incorporating the suggestion of the Soli Sorabji Panel.
The report has called for drastic changes in the 145 year old police
act to introduce fixed two year tenure for police officers down the
line from DGP to SHO, as well as separation of maintenance of law and
order from crime investigation, duties.

Police law is continuing from the period of British which is based on
police regulation Act, 1861. The object of police administration was
to quash the Indian before independence and to maintain the English
rule, but today the police administration is the part of India as a
welfare state. So there is need to do basic change in Indian police
system. The ‘police’ are the subject comes under state list of seventh
schedule. Its provision is given in art. 245. So it is the subject of
state and it is the responsibility of state to reform the police
system. Following are the main points under police reformation:

•
The main objects of these reformations are to establish the
accountability and sensitivity of police towards people which should
be conducted through rule of law.

•
The second object of these reformations is to fix the tenure of police
officers. Their tenure is fixed for two year.
•
The selection procedure of DGP should be transparent and
recommendation of their promotion should be made by Board of Public
Services Commission (BPSC).

•
The State Government has been ordered to establish a state security
commission, so that the State Government may not pressurize the
police. This commission will ensure that the police will work
according to constitution and law of country.

•
There shall be a Police Establishment Board in each state which shall
decide all transfers, postions, promotions and other services related
matters of officers of and below the rank of Dy.S.P. The State
Government may interfere with the decision of the Board in exceptional
cases, only after recording its reasons for doing so.

•
There shall be Police Complaint Authority at district level to look
into the
complaints against police officer of and up to the rank of Dy.S.P.
Similarly there should be another Police Complaints Authority at the
state level to look into complaints against officers of the rank of
S.P. and above. The district level authority may be headed by retired
district judge and the state level authority is headed by retired
judge of High Court.

•
The National Government shall also set up a national level commission
at the union level to prepare a panel for being placed before the
appropriate appointing authority for selection and placement of chief
of central police organization, who should be given a minimum tenure
of two years.

As per the amendment made in criminal procedure code, section 176
makes the provision that if any dies or disappear or rape is alleged
to have been committed on any women, when such person or women is in
the custody of police or in any other custody authorized by magistrate
or court under this code in addition to the inquiry or investigation
held by police , any inquiry shall be held by Judicial Magistrate or
Metropolitan Magistrate as the case may be within whose jurisdiction
the offence has been committed. The Judicial Magistrate or
Metropolitan Magistrate or Executive Magistrate or police officer
holding an inquiry or investigation shall within 24 hours of death of
such person, forward the body of deceased with a view to its being
examined to the nearest civil surgeon or other qualified medical
person appointed in this behalf by the state government unless it is
not possible to so for reasons to be recorded in writing.

Apart from this, National Human Right Commission issued guide lines to
all chief secretaries of state and administration of union territories
in dealing with death occurring in encounters with police on
29/03/1997 and on 2/12/2003 a revised guidelines have been issued and
it was emphasized that state must send information to the commission
of all cases of death arising out of police encounters. Following are
the revised guidelines:

•
When the police officer in charge o f a police station receives
information about the death in an encounter between the police party
and others, he shall enter that information in the appropriate
register.

•
Where the police officer belonging to the same police station are
members of the encounter party, whose action resulted in death, it is
desirable that such cases are made over for investigation to some
other independent investigating agency, such as State CBCID. •

Whenever a specific complaint is made against the police alleging
commission of a criminal act on their part, which makes out a
cognizable case of culpable homicide, am FIR to this effect must be
registered under appropriate sections of the IPC. Such case shall
invariably be investigated by State CBCID.

•
A magisterial inquiry must invariably be held in all cases of death
which occur in the course of police action. The next of kin of the
deceased must invariably be associated in such inquiry.

•
Prompt prosecution and disciplinary action must be initiated against
all delinquent officers found guilty in the magisterial enquiry/
police investigation.

•
Question of granting compensation to the dependents of the deceased
would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case.
•
No out of turn promotion or instant gallantry rewards shall be
bestowed on the concerned officers soon after the occurrence. It must
be ensured at all costs that such reward are given / recommended only
when the gallantry of the concerned officers is established beyond
doubt.

•
A six monthly statement of all case of death in police action in the
State shall be sent by the Director General of Police to the
Commission so as to reach its office by the 15th of January and July
respectively. The statement may be sent in the following format along
with the postmortem reports and inquest reports wherever available and
also the inquiry reports:

1. Date and place of occurrence
2. Police station and district
3. Circumstances leading to deaths
i. Self defence in encounter.
ii. In the course of dispersal of unlawful assembly.
iii.In the course of effecting arrest.

4. Brief facts of the incident
5. Criminal case no.
6. Finding of the magisterial inquiry by senior officers

a. disclosing in particular names and designation of police
officials, if found responsible for the death; and
b. whether use of force was justified and action taken was
lawful.
Along with above guidelines the then CJI send their request to all the
state and territories
to adhere these guidelines in letter and spirit both.
National projects on torture in India: demands that
•
Ratified the un convention against torture and its optional protocol
•
Enact legislation to prevent corporal punishment in schools.
•
Enact a domestic legislation that makes torture a punishable offence
and provides
for the protection and care of victims and witnesses.
•
Enforce strict implementation of the Preventation Of Atrocities Act,
1989
•
Establish District Human Right Courts under the protection of Human
Right Act,
1993
Now the time has come to reform the entire police system to prevent
the police torture of innocent people. The constitution of India
establishes the India as a welfare state, which can be achieved only
after following the police reformation and implement the ruling of the
apex court. The police should be people friendly. The efforts should
be made at every level and the parliament should pass the law and new
Police Act should be made by parliamentarians. This will be helpful in
reducing the police torture and it will fulfill the real sense of
policing.







Veerappan's wife seeks CBI probe into STF atrocities



The wife of slain forest brigand Veerappan, V Muthulakshmi, has sought
a detailed CBI probe into alleged atrocities committed on tribals and
villagers in MM Hills by personnel of the Special Task Force
constituted to nab her husband in the 1990s.

Muthulakshmi welcomed the recent Karnataka high court order striking
down Shankar M Bidari's appointment as DG&IG. "But there is still need
for a CBI probe into STF atrocities; he was a commandant of that
force," she said on Friday.

She alleged Bidari and his team had tortured women, who had no
connection with Veerappan, including her. "He administered electric
shocks to parts of my body which I cannot even explain. Many women
took their lives, orphaning their children," she said.

Muthulakshmi alleged that the film being made on her husband's life -
'Attahasa' (in Kannada) and 'Vamayudham' (Tamil version) - by
filmmaker MR Ramesh, is full of lies. She has approached Madras high
court seeking a stay on its making. "The film infringes on my right to
privacy," she added.

'He was a good man'

"Avar Nallavar (He was a nice man)," Muthulakshmi said about her
husband, brigand Veerappan, eight years after he was killed in police
action.

"It is politicians and police who spoiled him. I know those netas but
do not want to take their names," she told TOI. "I am not saying he
was faultless. He had shot a few elephants for ivory and axed some
sandalwood trees. But he also planted sandalwood saplings, saying the
forest shouldn't be emptied," she said.



Shankar Bidari worse than Saddam Hussain, Gaddafi: HC



In a scathing verdict, Karnataka High Court today struck down
appointment of Shankar Bidari as state DGP and IG, describing him as
"worse than Saddam Hussain or Muammar Gaddafi" for alleged atrocities
committed by the STF led by him during the hunt to nab forest brigand
Veerappan.
Dismissing as "without merit and substance", petitions by the
government and Bidari, challenging the CAT order, the division bench
headed by Justice N Kumar held his empanelment by UPSC and consequent
appointment as "void and illegal."

Upholding the verdict of Central Administrative Tribunal the court
said "in the facts of the case, we cannot find any infirmity in the
said decision. It is just".

It struck down Bidari's contentions "absolving himself of the
responsibility" of atrocities by stating he was only Deputy Commander
of the Joint Task Force of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to nab Veerappan
and not "omnipresent and omnipotent like Saddam Hussain or Muammar
Gaddafi."

"Though he was not one of them, if what the two women (tribals) have
said in their affidavit is true, he is worse than them" (Saddam
Hussain and Muamar Gadaffi),the court said in its acerbic
observations.

The court directed the government should relieve Bidari forthwith and
appoint A R Infant in his place. "Otherwise they are answerable to the
public of the state".

The court dismissed the memo filed by the government seeking a one
week stay of the order. It observed "if the state government has any
respect for the rule of law, womanhood, human rights, concern for the
downtrodden, tribals, and socially backward communities of the state,
they should relieve the third respondent (Bidari) forthwith and
appoint the applicant (A R Infant) in that place."

On March 16, CAT had set aside Bidari's appointment as DGP and IG and
ruled that Infant should be appointed ad hoc police chief till the
government decides on the new appointment.

CAT said government should prepare a fresh list of senior IPS officers
and send it to UPSC, which would suggest three names for the top post.

On the court verdict, Infant told PTI "I am lucky that my case was
tried by judges with great conviction, both at CAT and High Court. I
admire their courage of conviction".

Observing that Chief Minister should have used his discretion while
exercising his absolute power in selecting Bidari for the post, the
court stated "......but such discretionary power must be exercised
with great caution.....the Chief Minister before exercising his power
did not see the police records".

Quoting extracts from the National Human Rights Commission report,
which was not placed before the Union Public Service Commission before
empanelment as it was not considered "relevant", the court stated that
NHRC concluded that one woman was a victim of rape and repeated
torture, three women were subjected electric currents through
different parts of their body, seven subjected to illegal detention
and assault, three suffered permanent disability, 11 stripped naked
and given electric shocks, 12 unlawfully detained, one was taken into
custody but never returned and 60 were killed in encounters out of 36
were killed in "false encounters".

Referring to the affidavits filed by tribal women Erammal and Nagi
before an NGO which was produced before the court and indicted Bidari,
the court stated "Erammal was taken to Dimbam police camp, beaten with
a lathi as a result of which she lost sight in her right eye, She was
then taken Mahadeshwara camp where she was stripped naked, beaten and
given electric shocks in different parts of her body in front of
Bidari".

The court then cited the instance of Nagi who taken to the M M Hills
camp, was blindfolded and interrogated by Bidari who passed currents
through different parts of her body and then she was gang raped.

The court observed that though the then governments accepted the
recommendations of the NHRC accorded compensation to the victims and
then DG and IG (Achutha Rao) promised to initiate action against the
perpetrators, no action was initiated. Probably they (the then CMs)
lacked the "political will and courage" to direct action against these
acts.

Taking a swipe at the present day politics, the court observed "people
who are in opposition party preach values, criticise the acts of the
ruling party. Gullible public believe them and they are voted to
power, but when they come to power they realise it is very difficult
to practice what they preach and when they are seated in super power
(ruling party) all these values evaporate. They succumb to corruption.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Therefore it is immaterial, the court observed which party comes to
power, what ideology they believe in, what principles they preach.
Once they come to power, they become the ruling party. This is the
democracy which is in practice.

It appears that the present day state government and Bidari after
occupying the present position seems to have forgotten was was said 15
years back, the court observed. "By characterising this report as "one
without jurisdiction, giving the impression that it was not a document
of any importance.....government of the day and Bidari are afraid of
truth....we are convinced that the report of the Sadashiv Panel, NHRC
was deliberately kept back", the court obseved.

There is no disputing the fact, the court stated, that the record of
Bidari during his tenure in STF of Karnataka and his bio-data which
was prepared by himself wherein he stated the exemplary service that
he rendered that won him the gallantry award and a cash prize of Rs
1.68 crore, was placed before the UPSC. "This is the positive side of
the story that was placed before the UPSC".

What is clear from the report, the court observed is there were
allegations against STF personnel of Karnataka that they committed
atrocities on innocent villagers of 48 villages, committed murder,
false encounters, rape and torture and 20 written complaints were
filed before the NHRC.

On Bidari's contention that he was not personally indicted by NHRC,
the court observed that the NHRC has categorically stated that it has
not indicted any one as it has been unable to identify the
perpetrators of the acts. "This only shows the fairness and
application of judicial mind".

The court observed "from the report, it is clear that atrocities were
committed by police on the instructions of R3 and while the state and
the police assured of action against the culprits, no action has been
till date.

What is to be considered, the court observed is whether such a person
who has "no concern for women, her rights, her safety and that of the
poor tribals, downtrodden and socially backward classes. A person with
such a bent of mind can head the state police force to maintain law
and order, whether their (public) interests are safe in such hands.

These are the facts which UPSC and the state Chief Minister should
have considered while exercising the power conferred on him and it is
these factual findings of the Sadashiva panel and the NHRC which the
government should have placed before the UPSC. "In the absence of such
material, the assessment by the UPSC and state government is
vitiated", the court said.

Reflecting on the mindset of Bidari, who wants to absolve himself from
the responsibility stating that he was only acting under the
supervision and control of Walter Davaram, the commander of the STF,
the court observed "even after 15 years, there is no remorse, he is
not prepared to accept the responsibility........whatever may the
provocation, we cannot tolerate for a second rape...... as a means of
investigation by the police".

Finally, in an message to the Chief Minister, the court stated "it is
not a legal issue but a moral issue. As a head of the state, what are
the various concerns, what is the message he is sending has to be kept
in mind. Even now it is not too late to keep the interests of the
public in mind and assure that previous dispensation would not be
repeated and appropriate action taken".





AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT

AI Index: ASA 20/002/2008
(Public)
Date: 18 January 2008



India: Many adivasi victims of Special Task Force (STF) operations
yet
to get justice and compensation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu



Amnesty International is concerned that several adivasi (indigenous
and marginalized communities) victims of the decade-long Special Task
Force (STF) operations against Veerappan, who was killed by the STF
after being outlawed for sandalwood smuggling, are yet to receive
justice and compensation for the human rights violations perpetrated
against them. Human rights violations perpetrated in the course of
operations against Veerappan included unlawful killings; arbitrary
detention; and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment
or punishment (ill-treatment), including sexual violence.

Amnesty International has learnt that, one year after an official
panel of inquiry led by Justice A. J. Sadashiva ordering the
Government of Karnataka to pay compensation to 51 victims, 13 of them
have yet to receive it. The Government of Tamil Nadu has paid
compensation amounts to 38 victims as directed in the order. In
January 2007, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had
directed
the two governments to pay compensation to 89 victims as per the
recommendations of the panel of inquiry.

Notwithstanding the above order, during the past year, human rights
organizations in the two states have been campaigning to ensure
justice for 104 other victims whose complaints of human rights
violations including arbitrary and indefinite detention, torture,
including to death, other ill-treatment and sexual assault were
reportedly ignored by the panel. The panel also failed to initiate
charges against any of the 39 STF officials named as perpetrators by
the victims during the proceedings, though it concluded that the STF
had perpetrated torture. However, Amnesty International has learnt
that a number of complaints against 39 STF officials have
nevertheless
been filed by the victims in several police stations in Tamil Nadu
and
Karnataka.

In spite of the filed complaints, a number of STF personnel named as
perpetrators in the victims' complaints were given awards and
promotions; furthermore, some of the officials named by the victims
were reportedly present in an official function held to distribute
compensation amounts in Karnataka in March 2007, leading to protests
from the victims.
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, India is obliged to "ensure that any person whose rights or
freedoms... are violated shall have an effective remedy"; to "ensure
that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his right thereto
determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative
authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the
legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of
judicial remedy"; and to "ensure that the competent authorities shall
enforce such remedies when granted."

Amnesty International, therefore, urges
• the Government of Karnataka to immediately distribute
compensation
amounts to the 13 remaining victims as per the January 2007 order;
• the authorities of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to thoroughly
investigate the pending human rights complaints against the 39 STF
officials and bring those suspected of perpetrating violations to
justice, in proceedings which meet international standards of
fairness
and without the imposition of the death penalty;
• immediately suspend the officials named in the complaints from
active duty pending completion of investigations;
and
• the NHRC to participate in the above cases to help to ensure
that
there is justice for the victims.
• the NHRC to re-examine victims' complaints ignored by the
official
panel.

Background

In 1993, the Governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had created the
STF to catch Veerappan and his associates who had remained outlawed
for more than seven years. On 21 October 2004, Veerappan and two of
his associates were killed during the STF operations. In all, 36
persons lost their lives during the STF operations.

In June 1999, the NHRC appointed the official panel, consisting of
Justice Sadashiva and a former Director-General of India's premier
investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The
panel submitted its recommendations in December 2003.



FAKE ENCOUNTERS , LOCK-UP DEATHS & 3RD DEGREE TORTURE BY POLICE IN
INDIA



Recently, it has been reported in the media , how in gujarath state
high ranking police officials took SUPARI to murder & committed the
murders by giving it the name of encounter. Nowadays , it has become
common place that police take law into their own hands , settle
scores , conducts their own courts of justice like compromise
panchayaths at police stations. All these acts of police are
illegal ,
the police must be first thought the lessons of law before enforcing
it. The murderers , criminals in police uniform must be punished at
the earliest.

At the outset , HRW salutes the few honest police personnel who are
silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent
transfers ,
promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are
silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we
salute them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few
honest to catch their corrupt colleagues.

The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just
holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate
like "Sherlock holmes" and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays ,
when police are under various pressures , stresses – they are
frequently using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly
there
are 3 reasons for this :

1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of Sherlock
holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree
torture on innocents.

2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to frame
innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree
torture is used on innocents.

3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the
higher-
ups need very quick results – under work stress I.O uses 3rd degree
torture on innocents.

Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish
let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects.
Only
the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even
the judiciary doesn't have the right to punish the accussed /
suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture
unabetted. Even during encounters , police only have the legal
right ,
authority to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to
kill them.

There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use
of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is false
& biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100's
of crores of public money – like stock scam , fodder scam , etc
involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don't police use 3rd
degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public
money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a pick-
pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by
police.

In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in
league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials
bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder
innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don't police use 3rd
degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding
criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents ,
tribals ,
dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas ,
before rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like
scarecrows before rich crooks.

Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose
of investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools
must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.
hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :

1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd
degree
torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of encounter
killings.

2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service and
to forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity ,
pension ,
etc.

3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government
contribution as compensation to family of the victim's of 3rd degree
torture & encounter killings.

4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted from
innocents by 3rd degree torture.

5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose
jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.

6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a
torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his
court.

7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to forest
brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.

8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva's report on "torture of
tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA".

9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of
investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.

10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher
training of police personnel.

11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude &
knack for investigations.

12) To insulate police from interference from politicians & superiors.

13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead of
political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all
service
matters of police.

14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a humane
manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then
on
a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.

15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of
biggies & must be put on detective , investigative works.





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