Dear friends,
Please send a letter to the President of India and Supreme Court of India and ask them to commute the death sentence of Mr. Dhananjoy Chatterjee!
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the steps taken by the West Bengal Government, India for the death penalty in the case of Mr. Dhananjoy Chatterjee. A trial court in West Bengal sentenced Mr. Chatterjee to death in August 1991 for the alleged rape and murder of a minor. His execution was scheduled for 25 June 2004, however, his wife and mother filed a mercy petition to the President of India, who has taken it up for consideration. Separately, his brother has also filed another application before the Supreme Court of India challenging the rejection of the mercy petition by the Governor of West Bengal. The court has stayed the execution for two days and the case is being taken up for hearing today, June 25.
Even though the execution of Mr. Chatterjee was temporarily delayed, there is still great danger that he may be executed in very near future. Your urgent action is required to pressure the Indian government to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:
Mr. Dhananjoy Chatterjee was sentenced to death in August 1991 for the alleged rape and murder of a minor in December 1989, while he was working as the caretaker-cum-liftman of an apartment at Bhowanipore, in West Bengal. His subsequent appeals to the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court of India were dismissed, and the death sentence upheld. Likewise, a petition for a presidential pardon was first dismissed in June 1994. Finally, his application for a stay of execution to the Calcutta High Court was vacated in November 2003, clearing the way for Mr. Chaterjee’s execution, as was a writ petition to the same court, in January 2004.
Finally, Mr. Chaterjee’s execution was scheduled for 25 June 2004, however his wife and mother filed a mercy petition on June 17 to the President of India, Mr. A P J Kalam. This petition is now being taken up for consideration, and the execution stayed until further notification. It is reported that the President of India has referred the petition to the Home Department for advice.
The brother of Mr. Chatterjee has also filed a separate application before the Supreme Court of India challenging the rejection of the mercy petition by the Governor of West Bengal. On June 24, the court issued notice to the Government and has in the meantime stayed the execution of Mr. Chatterjee for two days. The case is being taken up for hearing today, June 25. According to the existing Indian laws, only a presidential pardon can save Mr. Chatterjee from imminent execution at the Alipore Central Jail. The appeal asks for the president to commute Mr. Chatterjee’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
FURTHER COMMENTS ON THE DEATH PENALTY:
AHRC does not underestimate the court decision in this case. However, international human rights standards oppose the death penalty under all circumstances. A criminal justice system implementing the death penalty is uncivilised, and the act altogether uncalled for.
The Indian Penal Code prescribes the death penalty for the offence of murder, but it is used very rarely. It is been decades since the last sentence was carried out in West Bengal. India has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but not ratified its Optional Protocol on prohibition of Capital Punishment (the death sentence). India is also a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture, but has not ratified it.
In an earlier case, known as Chandra Nath Banik’s case, the death penalty was called off because the convict had undergone enough agony after being convicted for death penalty, and there has been a long delay in execution of the sentence. In the present case, 13 years have passed since the first sentence, and since then the convict has been in solitary confinement, a horrendous form of punishment that for a prolonged period such as this violates the provisions of the Convention against Torture.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Your urgent action through intervention could make a difference in this case, as it is currently before the President of India. AHRC requests you to issue a letter of concern to the addresses mentioned below.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ........
Re: Death sentence of Mr. Dhananjoy Chatterjee
I have come to know about the about the case of Mr. Dhananjoy Chatterjee, whose death sentence, scheduled on 25 June 2004, has been temporarily stayed. I am deeply concerned that the Government of West Bengal is determined to execute this man, and urge you to seriously reconsider his plea that the sentence be commuted.
Since his conviction for rape and murder in August of 1991, and despite many appeals on his behalf, this inhumane sentence has not been commuted, nor has any mercy been shown to him. He is reported to have been kept in solitary confinement throughout this period, which is itself a horrendous form of physical and mental punishment that, over prolonged periods, itself amounts to a violation of the UN Convention on Torture, to which India is a signatory.
What is at stake here is the right to life, that most precious and pure of all human rights. The death penalty is no substitute for the life that has already been taken. A criminal justice system implementing the death penalty is uncivilised, and the act altogether uncalled for. A government claiming to stand for the protection and promotion of human rights cannot also stand in favour of killing its citizens, irrespective of their crimes.
Furthermore, there are particular aspects of the Indian situation relevant to this case. First, the view taken in Chandra Nath Banik's case was that his execution should be quashed on the sole ground that too much time had elapsed after the first judgment sentencing him to death. In the present case, 13 years have passed since Mr. Chatterjee was first convicted and sentenced to death. Secondly, the rights guaranteed under the Constitution cannot be applied selectively, and neither can they be randomly denied, including the right to life itself.
I therefore request you to take immediate steps to stay Mr. Chatterjee's death sentence, and so that the sentence be reduced to a lesser punishment in accordance with the spirit of humanity and good conscience. I also urge you to take steps so that India ratifies the Convention against Torture and the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits the death penalty, at the earliest time.
Thanking you
Please send your letters to:
- Shri. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,
President of India,
Rashtrapathi Bhavan,
New Delhi -110001
INIDA
Tel: +91 11 23015321
Fax: + 91 11 23017290 / 23017824
E-mail: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in - Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharyya
Chief Minister and Home Minister of West Bengal
Writers Buildings, Kolkata-1,
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91-33-2214 5480 - Mr. Justice S S Rajendra Babu
Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
