UA-22-2001 – Police kill adivasis, arrest activist for protesting rape
INDIA: Attempted rape with impunity, denial of freedom of assembly, murder by police with impunity, detention under false charges.
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On June 25, following the release from custody of a politician suspected of raping a local tribal woman, the tribal (adivasi) community of Puntamba, Ahemednagar district, Maharashtra State, organised an unarmed protest at the police station. The protest was organised spontaneously by the Adivasi Bhoomi Hakka Andolan (Tribal Land Rights Movement) in reaction to the release of the politician on bail and the downgrading of charges against him to ‘molestation’. Not only did the police ignore their demands to re-imprison the suspected rapist, they in fact fired on the tribal protestors, killing two of the movement’s leaders – Pradeep Dushing and Indu Manjare – by shooting them in the back at close range as they ran away. They appear to have been selectively targeted by the police. A further person was killed and 37 others injured as the police fired shots into the 250-300 strong crowd comprised mostly of women and children.
Mr. John Abraham (a man who has worked for the rights and upliftment of this community for almost 10 years but at the time of the incident was 120 km away in Aurangabad) was arrested, along with his wife Reena and 13 co-workers for attempting to kill the local police Assistant Sub-Inspector and conspiring to commit arson. They have apparently been maltreated in custody, with Mr. Abraham even being tied with rope when produced before the magistrate. They remain in custody, and the police responsible for the killings remain unreprimanded and the politician released for the rape charges also remains free.
The three women arrested were apparently remanded to prison on 28 June, while the 12 men were remanded to police custody. Those in police custody are particularly vulnerable to torture.
BACKGROUND (provided by Amnesty International)
There are over 70 million adivasis in India, around eight per cent of the population. After independence in 1947, India made special provisions to protect their rights, enacting special legislation to protect areas of adivasi land from encroachment. However, their traditional community rights have come under pressure from powerful interests in a country where there is intense competition for land and resources. Illegal occupation of land traditionally owned by adivasis is made easier by the fact that adivasis often do not possess land records and much of their land is communally owned.
Tension has been mounting in Kopargaon district because of a dispute over a piece of land owned by the Maharashtra State Farming Corporation (MSFC). Landless adivasis have been living on the part of the land not under MSFC cultivation, and the Maharashtra government had been planning to redistribute this surplus land among landless adivasis. An activist has alleged that the land has now been handed over to a public sector company that was set up by the MSFC to stop the land being handed over to the adivasis. Adivasis have recently increased their campaign for their rights over this land.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Please write to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with a copy to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the Maharashtra Commission on Human Rights calling for:
– the release of Mr. & Mrs. Abraham and their 13 coworkers as the charges are baseless and politically motivated,
– the suspension of the police officers responsible for the killings and injuries, pending a transparent judicial inquiry into the incident and prosecutions
– proper trial of the politician suspected of the initial rape case
SEND LETTERS TO
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Office of the Chief Minister
Mantralaya
Mumbai 400 032
Maharashtra
INDIA
FAX: + 91 22 2029214
SALUTATION: Dear Chief Minister
Smt. Vibha Parthasarathy
Chairperson
National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
c/- The National Human Rights Commission
Sardar Patel Bhavan
Sansad Marg, New Delhi – 110 001
INDIA
FAX: (91 11) 334 0016
EMAIL: nhrc3@alpha.nic.in
SALUTATION: Dear Commissioner
Justice Shri Arivind Sawant
Chairperson
Maharashtra Human Rights Commission
MUMBAI, INDIA
FAX No. 91 22-2885858
SALUTATION: Dear Justice Shri Arivind Sawant
