Archive for July 7, 2008

APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY: ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE ADVOCATE PARVEZ IMROZ

{ July 7, 2008 @ 2:22 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY

Srinagar, Tuesday, 1 July 2008

From: International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir

On Monday, June 30, the state forces attempted to assassinate Advocate Parvez Imroz, co-convener of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir (http://www.kashmirprocess.org). His statement is included below.

Advocate Imroz is co-founder of the Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the Association for Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). He is a distinguished human rights lawyer and recipient of the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize of 2006.

Advocate Mihir Desai, Legal Counsel for the Tribunal, said: “This reflects the legal and political impunity under which the CRPF and the SOG operate in the state”.

Dr. Angana Chatterji, Tribunal co-convener, said: “The attempt to assassinate Advocate Imroz is cowardly and brutal. This act of the police displays the arrogance and the state of exception in place in Indian-administered Kashmir . This attack is an attempt to halt the International People’s Tribunal from continuing its work. Our findings on the mass graves earlier and last week, and the state’s attempts to intimidate and threaten us, evidence the Government of India’s abject disregard for justice”.

Last week the Tribunal’s investigation into mass graves and nameless in Baramulla and Kupwara led to the targeting and harassment of co-conveners Dr. Angana Chatterji and Advocate Imroz, and Tribunal crew. The surveillance by intelligence personnel has escalated: Mr. Khurram Parvez, Tribunal Liaison, has been previously targeted and remains under surveillance, and Dr. Chatterji was again harassed by intelligence and police on June 30 while conducting Tribunal work. Dr. Chatterji, Advocate Imroz, Advocate Desai, and Mr. Parvez and other members of Tribunal met with families who narrated that their sons had been killed by the police in the violence of last week. The Tribunal conducted its work in curfew-like conditions as Srinagar and various parts of Kashmir remains extremely volatile following last week’s events.

This latest attack is an escalation in the forms of state-led intimidation, harassment, and assault aimed at the Tribunal. The attack on Advocate Imroz attempts to make vulnerable the Tribunal and to instil fear in other Tribunal members in an attempt to stop this process. The Tribunal Conveners, Angana Chatterji, Parvez Imroz, Gautam Navlakha, Zaheer-Ud-Din, the Tribunal Legal Counsel, Mihir Desai, and Tribunal Liaison, Khurram Parvez, remain committed to the work on justice and human rights in Indian-administered Kashmir .

Sincerely,

Angana Chatterji, Parvez Imroz, Gautam Navlakha, Zahir-Ud-Din, Mihir Desai, Khurram Parvez

Tribunal Conveners, Legal Counsel, and Liaison

________________________________________

Advocate Parvez Imroz’s Statement:

On 30 June 2008, at 10.10 pm, when Parvez Imroz and his family was about to retire for the evening, Roksana, his wife informed him that there was a knock at the front door. She was extremely afraid, given the two prior assassination attempts on Advocate Imroz’s life. She and Advocate Imroz asked ‘Who are you?’ to those at the front door. They responded aggressively, asking Advocate Imroz by name to open the door. Advocate Imroz was apprehensive after the intimidation of the Tribunal last week when it was undertaking a fact-finding on mass graves in Baramulla and Kupwara. He went to another room at the back of the house and shouted across to his brother, Sheik Mustaq Ahmad, who lived next door. Mr. Ahmad shined a torch at Advocate Imroz’s door and asked the persons at the front door to identify themselves. The persons knocking at the door very aggressively asked Mr. Ahmad to shut off the torch. Meanwhile, Advocate Imroz’s nephew came out of Mr. Ahmad’s house and ran toward Advocate Imroz’s house, fearful, as he stated later, that Advocate Imroz was being taken by the army.

Then, the perpetrators fired one shot in the dark, and it appeared that shot was fired in the direction that Advocate Imroz’s nephew was coming from. The lights down the path had been broken.

After seconds, the perpetrators threw a grenade in Advocate Imroz’s compound outside his front door, which exploded into a fireball. They also threw a tear gas and fired two blank shots while leaving.

The perpetrators left at around approximately 10.30 pm. On the way, the perpetrators beat one male neighbour.

Meanwhile, community members had made an announcement from the village mosque, and people had gathered down the path. The villagers also stated that they had seen one large armoured vehicle and two Gypsy cars, and men in CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) uniform and SOG (Special Operations Group) uniform.

[Note: Advocate Imroz's home is located in Kralpura village approximately 8 kilometres from Srinagar .]

HR groups protest in Delhi against attack on Parvez Imroz

{ July 7, 2008 @ 2:21 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Coordination of Democratic Rights Organizations

We, members of Coordination of Democratic Rights Organizations, condemn the murderous attack, according to the eyewitnesses, by personnel from CRPF and SOG on human rights defender and lawyer Pervez Imroz. On 30 June, 2008 at approximately 10.30 pm these personnel knocked on the door of Pervez’s house. When his wife Ruksana didnot open the door they threw a grenade and then opened fire. On hearing this neighbours and villagers rushed out of their houses. The security personnel then ran away but while retreating they beat up people who had gathered outside. But people were able to recognise them as security force personnel because they were all in uniform. Moreover, when friends and relatives of Pervez Imroz tried to get in touch with the IG and the SSP neither of them took their calls.

The attack on Pervez Imroz comes barely ten days after he and his colleagues were accosted on 20th June 2008 by J&K police when they were returning from Kupwara where they had gone to investigate “unidentified” graves. The fact-finding is part of the effort to unravel the mystery of enforced disappearance of 8-10,000 persons since 1990 in J&K. There is some reason to believe that the answer may be lying buried in the “mass graves” which came to light recently in the Uri sector of J&K and which had been investigated by Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society. We fear that the attempted attack on him could be linked to thwart further investigations into this matter.

This incident is latest instance of a rising graph of attack on human rights defenders across India in which many activists have been incarcerated under trumped up charges. But the physical assault reminds us of the past when Dr Ramanatham, Purushottam, Parag Das, Jalil Andrabi, Jaswant Singh Khalra became victims of assassination.

WE wish to point out that exposing the crimes and misdeeds of security forces and other armed groups, and carrying out fact findings, such as into the matter of “unidentified” graves, is legitimate and forms quintessential part of human rights work. That such work may upset authorities is understandable if they want truth to lie buried. However, it is disturbing trend when security agencies become law unto themselves and engage in activities akin to brigandage. We are concerned that elected governments have shown a propensity to wink at these lawless activities and are unwilling to clamp down on them.

WE urge you to look into this matter and book the culprits responsible for this crime lest such criminal activities, if it goes unpunished, end up digging the grave of constitutional democracy whereas freedom and liberties of the people are always to be protected.

[ C/o PUDR, Dr Moushumi Basu, A-6/1, Aditi Apartments, Pocket D, Janakpuri, New Delhi 110058.]

Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee

Association for Democratic Rights ( Punjab )

Association for Protection of Democratic Rights ( West Bengal )

Bandi Mukti Samiti ( West Bengal )

Committee on Human Rights (Manipur)

Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights ( Maharashtra )

Human Rights Forum (Andhra Pradesh)

Lok Shahi Hakk Sanghtana ( Maharashtra )

Manab Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti ( Assam )

Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (Naga Areas)

Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights (Andhra Pradesh)

People’s Democratic Forum (Karnataka)

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Chattisgarh)

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Jharkhand)

People’s Union for Civil Liberties ( Nagpur )

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Rajasthan)

People’s Union for Democratic Rights ( Delhi )

Public Commission on Human Rights ( Jammu and Kashmir )

Signed on behalf of CDRO members on 4th July, 2008, at New Delhi

Harish Dhawan, Secretary, PUDR ( Delhi )

Ningreichon Tungshang, NPMHR

Endorsed also by Saheli Resource Centre ( New Delhi )

AFAD CONDEMNS THE ATTACK AGAINST PARVEZ IMROZ

{ July 7, 2008 @ 2:12 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , } · { Leave a Comment }

Protect the Rights of Human Rights Defenders!

AFAD Condemns the Threat to the Life of Parvez Imroz

July 2, 2008 – The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), a regional federation of Asian human rights organizations working directly on the issue of enforced disappearances, strongly condemns the latest threat to the life of Attorney Parvez Imroz. Representing the Association of Parents Disappeared Persons (APDP), which is a core group member of AFAD, Parvez Imroz is one of AFAD’s Council members.

Today, the Federation received a report from its member-organization, the APDP about the latest of the series of serious threats to the life of Mr. Imroz. The report vividly recounted that for having co-convened an International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights established in order to investigate the recently discovered mass graves of at least 940 people in Baramula and Kopwara, Parvez Imroz has all the more earned the ire of the violators of human rights.

According to the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, on June 30, 2008 at 10:00 p.m., 4 armed men, believed to be policemen, knocked at the house of Mr. Imroz. When asked of their identity by Mr. Imroz’ wife, Rokhsana, the men were aggressively calling on Mr. Imroz to open the door and come out. The latter, aware of the intimidation he received days earlier because of the work of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights, immediately informed his brother, Sheik Mustaq Ahmad through the backdoor. Mr. Ahmad reportedly shined a torch at Mr. Imroz door and asked the persons in front to identify themselves only to be aggressively ordered to put off the torch. Mr. Imroz nephew came out of Mr. Ahmad’s house, afraid that Mr. Imroz might have been taken away. This forced the armed men to leave, but only after firing a shot in the dark believed to be pointing towards the direction of Mr. Imroz’ nephew. Worse still, they threw a grenade that exploded in Mr. Imroz’ compound outside his front door. On their way back, the perpetrators beat a male neighbor.

The members of the community made an announcement in the village mosque. It was later learned that the villagers stated that they saw a large armored vehicle and two gypsy cars and men wearing Central Reserve Police Force (CSRF) and Special Operations Group uniforms.

It is important to note that a week prior to the incident, the Tribunal conducted investigation into mass graves of nameless people in Baramulla and Kupwara. Together with Mr. Imroz in the Tribunal are his other co-convenors, Dr. Catenni, Advocate Desai who were likewise harassed by intelligence personnel.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) reiterates its strongest condemnation of this attack against its own colleague whose noble intention is to work for human rights in this war-torn paradise of Kashmir.

Mr. Parvez Imroz, who, by dint of his fearless human rights advocacy, is the 2006 recipient of the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize. As the Indian government refused to renew his passport, he was deprived from personally receiving the award. His human rights advocacy, however, has earned for him the ire of the powers-that-be, consequently resulting in the numerous threats against his person.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances challenges the government of India to:

1. fully investigate the incident and punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law;

2. ensure that there would be no further threats to Mr. Imroz’ life and that full protection be accorded to him and all other human rights defenders in Kashmir;

3. fully investigate the skeletons inside the closet manifested in the identified mass graves in the above-mentioned areas which was the reason for the establishment of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights.


Finally, as the international community is commemorating this year the 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Defenders, we call on the Indian government to be true to its claim of being the bastion of democracy in Asia by protecting the rights of human rights defenders in particular and the rest of its citizens in general.

Signed and authenticated by:

MUGIYANTO MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO

Chairperson Secretary-General