PHA-Exch> PRESS RELEASE: International coalition demands repeal of repressive laws on one-year anniversary of Dr. Binayak Sen's unjust incarceration

Wed May 14 11:29:19 PDT 2008

For Photos, Videos of protests go to
www.aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen/media.htm
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
> Association for India's Development
> Friends of South Asia
>  
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2008
> International coalition demands repeal of repressive laws on one-year
> anniversary of Dr. Binayak Sen's unjust incarceration
>  
> San Francisco, CA: Hundreds of Activists from a broad coalition of 48
> international human rights groups that includes Amnesty International and
> SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), Canada, took to the
> streets on two Global days of Action, May 13 & 14, to protest the continued
> incarceration of human rights crusader, Dr. Binayak Sen.  Simultaneous
> protests were held outside the Indian consulates in London, New York,
> Washington D.C., San Francisco and Vancouver, while activists in Paris,
> Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, Houston and many other cities organized vigils,
> talks, and film screenings to raise awareness about the ongoing persecution of
> human rights activists. Over 4000 signatures from individuals around the world
> have been collected on petitions asking for the release of Dr. Sen.
> Internationally acclaimed intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky, Arundhati
> Roy, George Galloway, and Mahashweta Devi have all joined in urging the Indian
> government to free Binayak Sen and stop the harassment of human rights
> activists. Further, in an unprecedented move, twenty-two Nobel Prize winning
> scientists and economists have also appealed to the Indian government to
> release Dr Binayak Sen enabling him to go and receive the 2008 Jonathan Mann
> Award for Health and Human Rights in Washington later this month. All these
> documents were submitted to Indian authorities along with hundreds of faxes by
> individuals demanding the release of Dr.Sen*.
>            
>             Dr. Binayak Sen's case represents an alarming trend where human
> rights defenders that oppose state repression, including extra-judicial
> killings, are being held under draconian laws such the CSPSA (Chhattisgarh
> Special Public Security Act) and the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention
> Act). Ajay T.G, an independent film maker and social activist from
> Chhattisgarh; Lachit Bordoloi, a human rights activist from Assam; Prashant
> Rahi, journalist from Uttarakhand; Govindan Kutty, editor of People's March in
> Kerala; Praful Jha, a journalist from Chhattisgarh; Vernon Gonsalves, an
> activist from Nasik; Arun Ferreira, Ashok Reddy, Dhanendra Bhurule, Naresh
> Bansode, activists from Vidarbha, have all been charged under the UAPA and
> kept under prolonged detention without bail. These draconian laws sanction the
> violation of due process by the state and thus contravene internationally
> accepted norms of jurisprudence as well as democratic governance. As
> Mr.Kannabiran, National President of PUCL, India, argues in his letter to the
> National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the CSPSA and UAPA operate by
> criminalizing the very performance of civil liberties activities, and
> culpability is decided upon not by direct proof, but through guilt by
> association. This is the context in which many activists are questioning the
> charges of sedition brought against Dr.Sen - for example, Ms. Shalini Gera,
> an activist from Friends of South Asia, points out that the "evidence"
> presented by the state about Dr.Sen's "Maoist connections" actually refers to
> Binayak Sen's meetings with Narayan Sanyal, (a jailed 70-year-old Maoist
> leader) that took place with the permission of the jail authorities, and under
> their close supervision, when Dr. Sen, as the vice-president of the People's
> Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), visited Sanyal in the Raipur Central Jail to
> provide medical and legal assistance.
> 
>             As the State Secretary of PUCL of Chhattisgarh, and the national
> Vice President, Dr.Sen has been amongst the most vocal opponents of "Salwa
> Judum", a private militia movement armed by the Chhattisgarh Government to
> combat Maoist insurgency. Dr. Sen earned the ire of the government for
> opposing Salwa Judum which has itself contributed to a spiraling increase in
> violence and displacement of thousands of tribals. The permanent state of war
> created by Salwa Judum has led to large-scale and apparently voluntary
> displacement of indigenous communities, thus freeing up for corporate and
> industrial use, land and natural resources that have historically belonged to
> local communities. According to Mr. Somnath Mukherji, an activist from the
> Association for India's Development, "these protests are not only about the
> violation of the human rights of Dr. Sen- they are also about the ongoing
> assault on the human rights of the people of Chhattisgarh whose lives and
> lands are being mortgaged to a vision of development that is antithetical to
> them".
> 
> 
> 
>                  
> 
> Press Contacts: 
> Mr.Somu Kumar, Association for India's Development; Tel: 703-728-8987,
> somu at aidindia.org
> <http://us.f655.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=somu@aidindia.org>
> Ms.Anu Mandavilli, Friends of South Asia; Tel: 408-480-5805,
> mail at friendsofsouthasia.org
> <http://us.f655.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mail@friendsofsouthasia.org>
> For more information, visit www.aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen
> <http://www.aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen>
> (*Full texts of all the documents are available at  the above website)
>  
> Endorsing Organizations:
> International Organizations:
> · Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, MIT
> (www.alliancesouthasia.org <http://www.alliancesouthasia.org/> )
> · Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, San Francisco (www.asata.org
> <http://www.asata.org/> )
> · Amnesty International, USA (www.amnestyusa.org <http://www.amnestyusa.org/>
> ) 
> · A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism - San Francisco
> (www.answersf.org <http://www.answersf.org/> )
> · Association for India's Development (www.aidindia.org
> <http://www.aidindia.org/> )
> · Association of South Asian Political Activists (ASAPA), Berkeley
> (http://asapa.berkeley.edu <http://asapa.berkeley.edu/> )
> · Asian Law Alliance (www.asianlawalliance.org
> <http://www.asianlawalliance.org/> )
> · Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal (www.boston4bhopal.org
> <http://www.boston4bhopal.org/> )
> · Boston Mobilization ( www.bostonmobilization.org
> <http://www.bostonmobilization.org/> )
> · Birmingham Anti-SEZ Campaign, UK
> · Campaign against Forced Displacement, UK ( http://tinyurl.com/6mgnne
> <http://tinyurl.com/6mgnne> )
> · Campaign to Stop Funding Hate: CSFH (www.stopfundinghate.org
> <http://www.stopfundinghate.org/> )
> · CMC Vellore Alumni Association - UK Branch
> · DEEP - Defenders of the Environment and Ecology of Panjab, UK
> · Dharma Megha, East Lansing, Michigan
> · Friends of South Asia: FOSA ( www.friendsofsouthasia.org
> <http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/> )
> · Gadar Heritage Foundation, Fremont (http://gadar.homestead.com
> <http://gadar.homestead.com/> )
> · Hillingdon Asian Women's Communication Service, UK (
> www.hillingdonwomenscentre.org.uk <http://www.hillingdonwomenscentre.org.uk/>
> ) 
> · India Foundation, East Lansing, Michigan
> · Indian Muslim Council, USA (www.imc-usa.org <http://www.imc-usa.org/> )
> · Indian Workers Association (GB)
> · India Relief and Education Fund, Fremont (http://iref.homestead.com
> <http://iref.homestead.com/> )
> · International Accountability Project ( http://www.accountabilityproject.org
> <http://www.accountabilityproject.org/> )
> · International League of People's Struggles, UK (www.ilps-web.com
> <http://www.ilps-web.com/> )
> · International Service Society, Okemos, Michigan
> · International South Asia Forum: INSAF, NYC (www.insaf.net
> <http://www.insaf.net/> )
> · Massachusetts Global Action (www.MassGlobalAction.org
> <http://www.massglobalaction.org/> )
> · Matahari: Eye of the Day (www.eyeoftheday.org <http://www.eyeoftheday.org/>
> ) 
> · Our Developing World (http://www.magiclink.net/~odw )
> · Peace and Human Rights Trust: UK
> · Peninsula Peace & Justice Center (www.peaceandjustice.org
> <http://www.peaceandjustice.org/> )
> · Peoples Health Movement, USA (www.phmovement.org/cms
> <http://www.phmovement.org/cms> )
> · Sanhati (www.sanhati.com <http://www.sanhati.com/> )
> · San Jose Peace & Justice Center (www.sanjosepeace.org
> <http://www.sanjosepeace.org/> )
> · SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), Vancouver, Canada
> (http://sansad.org/Sansad)
> · Seva International, Okemos, Michigan
> · Sikh American Heritage Organization
> · South Asian Alliance, UK: ( www.southasianalliance.org
> <http://www.southasianalliance.org/> )
> . South Asian Left Democratic Alliance, Canada, (SALDA) ( www.salda.org/
> <http://www.salda.org/> )
> . South Asian Progressive Action Collective, (SAPAC) Chicago ( www.sapac.org/
> <http://www.sapac.org/> )
> · South Asians Stepping in Solidarity, Harvard: SASS
> · South Asia Solidarity Group, UK: ( www.southasiasolidarity.org
> <http://www.southasiasolidarity.org/> )
> · Students for Bhopal (www.studentsforbhopal.org
> <http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/> )
> · The 1857 Committee (http://1857.org.uk <http://1857.org.uk/> )
> · Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, Okemos, Michigan
> · Vedanta Society of East Lansing, Michigan
> · Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) (www.wslfweb.org
> <http://www.wslfweb.org/> )
> · Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - San Jose
> (http://www.wilpf.org/US_WILPF )
> 
> 
> 


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