PHA-Exch> Human Rights Watch on Dr Binayak Sen

[Kamayani]

 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH </> India: Fair Trial Doubtful for Honored Rights
Advocate Chhattisgarh Government Should Not Use Naxalite Issue to Silence
Critics

(New York, April 29, 2008) – Criminal charges against award-winning human
rights defender Dr. Binayak Sen raise serous concerns that he will not get a
fair trial in Raipur district court in Chhattisgarh state when hearings
begin on April 30, Human Rights Watch said today.
Chhattisgarh state officials charged Sen in February 2008 with being a
member of a "terrorist organization." Sen has been in custody since May 14,
2007. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.

For over two decades, Sen has provided medical care in remote tribal
villages in Chhattisgarh. He has received numerous awards in recognition of
his work. On April 22, the Global Health Council announced that he won the
2008 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.

"Dr. Sen appears to be a victim of the Chhattisgarh government's attempt to
silence those who criticize its policies and failure to protect human rights
in its fight against Naxalites," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human
Rights Watch. "The court should ensure that this trial is not used by the
state government to cover up its failures by punishing the messenger."

Human Rights Watch said that likely political motivations for the charges
and other fair trial concerns in Chhattisgarh merit the trial's change of
venue to another Indian state. The case against Sen was brought after he
called on the Chhattisgarh government to respect human rights in its
campaign against Maoist armed combatants called Naxalites.

The presiding judge has allowed only one of Sen's supporters to attend the
hearings at a time, despite a provision in international law that trials be
public. A judge may cite public order reasons to restrict the attendance of
the press and public. However, the district court's limit of one supporter
of the defendant at the trial is unnecessarily restrictive and raises
broader concerns about the fairness of the trial.

"The actions of the local authorities and the presiding judge call into
serious question whether Dr. Sen will receive a fair trial," said Adams. "To
ensure fairness, the venue should be moved to another state with no
political axe to grind."

In 2005, the Salwa Judum movement was started with state support in
Chhattisgarh to oppose the Naxalites. With state backing, the Salwa Judum
began committing serious human rights abuses, including killings, beatings
of critics, burning of villages, and forced relocation of villagers into
government camps. As a prominent leader of the human rights group People's
Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Sen called for an end to Salwa Judum
abuses. He also opposed the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act,
criticized human rights violations such as torture, extrajudicial killings
and campaigned for improvements in prison conditions.

Sen was first detained under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act,
2006. Human Rights Watch has criticized this
law<http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/04/27/india13279.htm>because
it could lead to serious abuses. The law allows detention for
"unlawful activities," a term so loosely defined that it can severely
restrict the peaceful activities of individuals and civil society
organizations in violation of the Indian constitution and international
human rights law.

The state's primary evidence produced in court thus far includes letters
from an alleged Maoist leader, Narayan Sanyal, who Sen allegedly smuggled
out of prison. The police say that Sen visited Sanyal in prison a number of
times, and that documents and other materials, including his computer,
confiscated after his arrest, allegedly contain unspecified subversive
materials. Sen has denied all these charges and said that his meetings with
Sanyal were facilitated by jail authorities to provide medical care.

"The laws in Chhattisgarh make it easy for the government to prosecute human
rights defenders like Dr. Sen," said Adams. "The court must fairly decide
whether a real crime has been committed."


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*Related Material*

India: Stop Evicting Displaced
People<http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/14/india18526.htm>
Press Release, April 14, 2008

India: Draconian Response to Naxalite
Violence<http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/04/27/india13279.htm>
Press Release, April 27, 2006

More information on human rights in India<http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=india>
Country Page
------------------------------

From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/29/india18681.htm

(c) Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch    350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor    New
York, NY 10118-3299    USA


-- 
We have to start looking at the world through women's eyes' how are human
rights, peace and development defined from the perspective of the lives of
women? It's also important to look at the world from the perspective of the
lives of diverse women, because there is not single women's view, any more
than there is a single men's view."
-- Charlotte Bunch

Adv Kamayani Bali Mahabal
South Asia Advocacy Coordinator
Women's Health and Rights Advocacy Partnership (WHRAP)
Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre For Women (ARROW)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
website: http://www.arrow.org.my
Mobile-00919820749204
skype:lawyercumactivist
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