[PMARC] FW: NHRC - NOTICE - Tp appearbefpore Full Commission on 29th March 2011 - Reply regarding

Dear Colleagues,

Do find enclosed and below the reply to a notice that the NHRC has sent me for asking for them to intervene in the case of Dr. Binayak Sen in the High Court at Bilaspur and now before the SC. Do circulate it far and wide to know the attitude of the NHRC to HRDs and intervention on their behalf in reality.

Henri

 

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Mr. Sunil Arora

Deputy Registrar (Law)

National Human Rights Commission

Faridkot House

Copernicus Marg

New Delhi 110 001.

Dear Mr. Sunil Arora

Ref: Your notice No. NGO/NHRC/2011/FC dated 28.2.2011 summoning me to appear before the Commission on 29th March, 2011 at 11.00 AM – Regarding.

 

I am in receipt of your notice referred above, addressed to myself and 7 others.  I wish to bring to your kind attention that some of the members addressed in this notice, namely,  Mr. Abhay Shukla, Ms. Maja Daruwala along with me, are members of the National Core Group of NGOs of this Honourable Commission. To my knowledge there is nobody called Sri Bharat Chintan and in fact Bharat Chintan is an E.Mail group.  The person referred as Sri Ingrid Shrinath in serial No. 3 of the notice is the Secretary General of CIVICUS and she is actually Ms. Ingrid Shrinath and based in South Africa.  Sri Mohana Sundaram referred serial No. 7 is the Executive Assistant to Ms. Maja Daruwala, the Executive Director of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).

 

I wish to bring to your kind attention that I had addressed a letter to Mr. Money IAS with a copy to the Hon'ble Chairperson and Members of the Commission and copied it to the Members of the National Core Group of NGOs of the NHRC.  I had addressed the Honourable Commission on behalf of the Human Rights Defenders Alert - India of which I am the Honorary National Working Secretary. This was a letter to the Secretary General of the NHRC because the case of Dr. Binayak Sen, a human rights defender of international repute was to be heard on 24th of January, 2011 at Bilaspur in the State of Chattishgargh.

 

I also wish to bring to your kind attention a mail that was received by all of us in the National Core Group of NGOs of the NHRC on the 8th December, 2010 circulated to us by Ms. J.P. Meena, the Joint Secretary of the NHRC containing the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navi Pillay for Human Rights Day. In her letter she has expressed her deepest concern for Human Rights Defenders as follows, and it is important for us to read the same :

 

"We owe the progress we have made to the enormous efforts of hundreds of thousands of largely unsung heroes, known collectively as human rights defenders…..

We can all be human rights defenders, and ~ given how much we owe to others for the rights many of us now take for granted — we all should be human rights defenders. At the very least, we should do our utmost to support those who do defend human rights. Every year, thousands of human rights defenders are harassed, abused, unjustly jailed and murdered. That is why Human Rights Day 2010 is dedicated to Human Rights Defenders and their courageous battle to slop discrimination of all sorts. We need to stand up for their rights as much as they stand up for ours.

Some of those who are unjustly detained become the subject of international efforts to win their freedom. This spotlight can provide them with a significant measure of physical protection, even if it does not always win them a speedy release. But most of those detained by repressive authorities languish largely unnoticed in jails, under house arrest, in 're-education centres.' Often their families are targeted as well.

One important set of statistics is missing: we have no idea how many human rights defenders there are, or how many of them are intimidated, harassed, beaten up, jailed or killed each year. We have also failed to develop ways to measure their successes, which are often credited not to them but to the politicians or governments that finally listen to them or give in to their pressure. We need to do a much better job of defending our defenders.

The 21^st century is witnessing the emergence of new economic and political forces, which, like others before them, will face the responsibility of promoting development at home and abroad while at the same time being held accountable for their actions. Human rights defenders will play a crucial role in this process, by pointing out flaws and benefits in current and future policies and actions. Yet, despite the benefits they bring to society, in some parts of the world they are facing increased harassment, persecution and restrictions on their activities, especially freedom of speech……."

In the last meeting of the National Core Group of NGOs of the NHRC, we the members had made it a point to bring it to the attention of the Honourable Commission of its statutory duty mandated under the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 to intervene before the Courts using the provision of Sec. 12 (b) of the Protection of Human Rights Act. It is this mandatory responsibility on the part of the Honourable Commission of intervening in any proceeding involving any allegation of violation of human rights pending before a Court with the approval of such Court as contained U/S 12(b) of the Protection of Human Rights Act that we were respectfully reminding through our independent letters to this Honourable Commission.  This Honourable Commission, as a duly recognized National Human Rights Institution has, in addition, the duty to protect Human Rights Defenders.  The international and national human rights community have all been agitated that the norms and standards of fair trial that are to be followed in the Criminal Courts were not followed in the Trial Court at Raipur.  It is to be recalled that the members of the National Core Group of NGOs of the NHRC had even at the time of trial in the years 2009 and 2010, reminded the Honourable Commission to undertake certain interventions or trial observation of the trial of this case.  Now the matter is in appeal and it is the appellate Court which is hearing the appeal against the conviction of Dr. Binayak Sen .

 

In addition to the appeal, the Court is also hearing a bail petition that has already been filed.  Since this matter deals with a high profile Human Rights Defender of this country we were seeking the urgent intervention of this Honourable Court in the proceedings to  independently put forth its arguments supporting the release on bail of the Human Rights Defender in question.

 

In case this Honourable Commission is to come to the conclusion that it would not like to intervene before the concerned appellate court, it still could officially nominate its own representative of a very high ranking law officer to officially observe the proceedings in the Court.  This is also an opportunity for this Honourable Commission to demonstrate its commitment to the cause of Human Rights Defenders and hence we had made this appeal. 

 

But it is unfortunate that the appeal that has been made by us in our different capacities only reminding this Honourable Commission of its statutory responsibility, has now been converted into a "complaint" where we are "summoned". We wish the Honourable Commission to only respond to its statutory responsibility mandated under the Protection of Human Rights Act as well as the various mandates by the UN Human Rights Council and other UN bodies reminding National Human Rights Institutions of their role to protect and promote the rights of Human Rights Defenders.

 

In addition on the 29th March, 2011 I will be in Bangkok in a pre-fixed engagement attending the Executive Committee Meeting of Forum Asia, a regional human rights organization and therefore I wish that the Honourable Commission would understand my personal inability to be present before the Commission on that day.

 

I do hope that the matter is not adjourned to another date on the 29^th . On  the contrary, when the matter ( Dr. Binayak Sen's application ) is to be heard now by the Supreme Court in the days to come, that the Honourable NHRC would be there to provide its own considered opinion to the Court.  It is such pro-active steps for the protection of the rights of Human Rights Defenders that the larger Human Rights Defenders Community in this country expects from the Honourable National Human Rights Commission at this juncture. We do hope that no further time is lost in such formalities of notices and responses and that the urgency is understood and Dr. Binayak Sen's  release is secured early and later his case thoroughly analysed and defended by the National Human Rights Commission, independent of his own criminal appeal. Let the country at large know that human rights defenders will also be simultaneously 'defended' by the NHRC of India for the costs they bear.

 

The opportunity to create a new jurisprudence for human rights defenders, a jurisprudence strongly in favor of HRDs, cannot wait any longer than now.  Let this historical opportunity not be missed by this Honourable Commission.

 

We do hope that you will acknowledge the receipt of this letter and ensure that it is formally placed before the Honourable Commission for their due consideration and positive action on the 29th of March, 2011.

Thanks and regards,                                                               

Yours sincerely,

(HENRI TIPHAGNE)

Honorary National Working Secretary, Human Rights Defenders' Alert – India (HRDA – India) ,

Honorary National Working Secretary, All India Network of Individuals and Organizations working with NHRIs (AiNNI),

Member , National Core Group of NGOs of the NHRC and

Executive Director, People's Watch  

 

 

 

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From: yogesh misra [mailto:ycmisra69@gmail.com] 
Sent: 01 March 2011 13:07
To: henri@pwtn.org
Subject: NOTICE

 

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