In advance of Sri Lanka’s presidential election on January 26, we’ve issued a 10-point Human Rights Agenda.

We’re asking that all presidential candidates commit to the following points, among others:

• ending arbitrary arrests under emergency laws
• ensuring protection and respects for the rights of civilians displaced by the recent conflict
• protecting freedom of expression
• ending torture and enforced disappearances
• ratifying international human rights treaties

This is the first national election in Sri Lanka since the war with the opposition Tamil Tigers ended last May.  It could be the start of a new era in Sri Lanka.  Would it be too much to hope for, that the presidential candidates grasp this opportunity to improve the protection of human rights for millions of people in Sri Lanka?  We’ll see.

Great news!  The detained Sri Lankan journalist, J.S. Tissainayagam, was granted bail today by the court in Sri Lanka.  He is appealing the 20-year sentence he received last August under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, all for publishing two magazine articles critical of the government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers.  Amnesty International considers him to be a “prisoner of conscience,” imprisoned solely for his legitimate journalistic activities, and calls for his immediate, unconditional release.  Last May, President Obama singled him out for praise as an emblematic example of journalists unjustly imprisoned for exercising their profession.  Today, the court granted his application to be released on bail while his appeal against the 20-year sentence is pending.

While it’s great that he won’t be in prison while his appeal is pending, he should never have been charged or tried in the first place.  We’ll keep working on his behalf until he’s free of the unjust charges brought against him.  Please join our campaign and call for his immediate, unconditional release.

The peace activists, belonging to the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA), a group that professes a Gandhian ideology of non-violence, have been campaigning for adivasi rights in the state for the past four years.  It’s been necessary because they are caught in the middle of an increasingly vicious conflict between the Maoist guerillas (aka the Naxalites) and basically pro-government vigilantes called the Salwa Judum.

On December 10, 2009 (Human Rights Day, no less), the Chhattisgarh state police arbitrarily arrested Kopa Kunjam (a member of the VCA) and Alban Toppo, a lawyer working with the New Delhi-based Human Rights Law Network (NRLN) at Dantewada in the southern part of the state. They were taken first to the Dantewada police station and then to the Bhairamgarh police station in the neighboring Bijapur district.

Alban Toppo reported that the police tortured him and Kopa Kunjam that night at the Bhairamgarh police station. They were beaten with thick bamboo sticks and rubber canes for 30 minutes. Toppo was forced to sign a letter stating that they had come to Bhairamgarh police station of their own accord. As a result of the torture, Toppo sustained injuries on his right elbow, biceps and back, causing severe pain and swelling. He could not move his hands and back because of the pain. Kopa Kunjam sustained serious injuries on his chest, back and leg, which left him unable to walk.

Although Toppo was released that night, he remained at the police station, as he had no means of returning home. Accompanied by police personnel, he was able to return the next morning. On December 12, 2009, Kopa Kunjam appeared before a local court where he was charged, under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, with the murder of Punem Honga, a local leader and member of the Salwa Judum, who had been abducted by the Maoists on June 2, 2009.

The arbitrary detention of the VCA activists clearly violates India’s Supreme Court guidelines issued in the D. K. Basu vs State of West Bengal case and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a state party. Article 9 of the ICCPR guarantees the right to liberty, which includes freedom from arbitrary detention.

The Government of Chhattisgarh needs to do the following:

1. drop the politically motivated charges against Kopa Kunjam;
2. investigate the allegations of ill-treatment again Mr. Kunjam and Mr. Toppo;
3. ensure that human rights defenders are able to their work without fear of harassment, arbitrary arrest and torture.

Given that the state was formed in 2000 to address the aspirations of adivasis, it is disappointing that the state government continues to use the heavy hand of the police to harm those practicing their constitutionally guaranteed rights of free expression.

We mentioned in this site last August that a shocking video had been released which appeared to show extrajudicial killings in Sri Lanka during the final months of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the opposition Tamil Tigers.  The Sri Lankan government had denounced the video as a fake.  Today, a senior UN official presented the findings of three experts commissioned by him, which concluded that the video was authentic.   The official called for an independent inquiry into war crimes and other violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed during the war in Sri Lanka.   (The Sri Lankan government later criticized the UN official for publicly presenting his findings without first allowing the Sri Lankan government to respond.)

Separately today, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the Secretary-General is considering appointing a commission of experts to advise him on addressing possible violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.

Amnesty International has been calling for an international, independent investigation into reports of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including war crimes, by both sides during the closing stages of the war in Sri Lanka.  Will today’s statements at the UN mean that we may finally see such an investigation sometime soon?

About a year ago, my first entry was posted to this site, about the murder of the Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickramatunga on Jan. 8, 2009.   Mr. Wickramatunga had been an outspoken critic of the Sri Lankan government and his paper, the Sunday Leader,  and its staff had previously come under attack before his killing.  President Rajapaksa ordered a police investigation into his murder.  As a recent report by the International Federation of Journalists makes clear, however, to date there’s been little progress in bringing his killers to justice.  At least 14 journalists and other media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2006.  Will we see anyone punished for any of these crimes?  Or will impunity continue?

This is the first posting in the Desi Spotlight Series, a series of blogs that will spotlight organizations and individuals of South Asian origin living in the United States that are making a difference in human rights in South Asia.

For the interview with the President of the Indian Muslim Council – USA, Mr Rasheed Ahmed, see full entry.

Desi is a term used by South Asians in this country to refer to themselves and means roughly, people.  For example, I would say that I am a desi, albeit born and raised in the United States.  The first organization profiled is the Indian Muslim Council – USA, a desi group based in the United States and made up of Americans of Indian origin dedicated to seeing a pluralistic India.

Over 17 years ago, on December 6, 1992, at the culmination of a decade long campaign by the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s main opposition party and ruling party from 1998 to 2004, kar sevaks ignored an order from the Indian Supreme Court and began to tear down the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, a holy city in India’s largest state Uttar Pradesh.  Several days of sectarian violence left thousands dead and the inept government of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao tottering towards defeat in the 1996 elections.  This inept handling of the violence perpetuated by Hindu nationalists groups and subsequent defeat of the government at the elections no doubt led to the horrors of early 2002 in Gujarat.

On February 27, 2002, 56 kar sevaks were killed when the rail carriage they were in caught on fire, trapping the victims.  Blame fell on Muslim shopkeepers in the Godhra Railway Station in the eastern part of Gujarat, despite little or no evidence.  Immediately, politicians in the state where these murders occurred, Gujarat, began whipping up their supporters to attack specific Muslim neighborhoods and specific people living in those neighborhoods.  The whole state was soon consumed in an orgy of violence that was only stopped a few days later when the Indian Army was deployed in the worst hit areas.  Thousands of Muslims were forced into so-called “relief camps”. Thousands more met a worse fate, killed, raped, or traumatized.  Nearly seven years later, some of the people most closely implicated in the violence, particularly Chief Minister Narendra Modi, are not only free and not facing charges, but are also still holding the levers of power.

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Today, we’re premiering our video homage to supporters who help spread human rights stories far and wide! YouTube is featuring our new, animated video “The Power of Words” on its homepage with an introduction by actor, Morgan Freeman.

The video demonstrates why the messages you send and the petitions you sign really matter.  It is your words that remind violators of human rights, in countries like Zimbabwe, China and Iran, that their actions are unacceptable and opposed by millions.

Check out the video and then help us get the word out about human rights by emailing 5 friends about it. We want everyone on YouTube talking about human rights!

A young hijra from Goa. Photo by Mike Garten (MikeGarten.com)

OK, I admit that this post is not really about sex, but about gender identity and sexuality.  But, while you’re here, have a look at some of the positives developments for the rights of sexual minorities in India in 2009.  One major caveat: India has a very long way to go before the rights of sexual minorities are fully acknowledged and protected. The victories of 2009 will only make the smallest of dents in India’s large and growing population of people infected with HIV/AIDS and the mainstreaming of “alternative” sexual identities.  Organizations such as the Naz Foundation will theoretically be able to work in vulnerable communities with less fear of police harassment, but it still does not come anywhere close to eliminating the stigma that these communities face on a daily basis.  Thousands of gay men, lesbians and transgendered have to hide their identities from their family and community and these legal victories will do nothing to make their lives any less hidden.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code specified sodomy is illegal and is punishable by up to life in prison.  It was adopted in 1860 by the British Indian government at the behest Lord Macaulay.  Although some flavors of heterosexual contact was also forbidden, it was specifically written into the law to outlaw homosexuality.  Although Article 377 has been rarely used, the fact that it has been on the books and has been used to harass HIV/AIDS educators as recently as 2006 is a violation of the human rights of those engaged in private, consensual conduct and of those engaged in educating communities about HIV/AIDS prevention.

On July 2, 2009, history was made when the Delhi High Court declared Section 377 in violation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. One of the paragraphs of the Delhi High Court ruling is worth quoting: (more…)

George Harrison, former Beatles, singing “Bangla Desh” (Ringo Starr, another Beatles member is at the drums) at the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh in New York City.

Well, it’s technically, Liberation Day but close enough.  On this day, December 16, 1971, the Pakistani Army surrendered to the Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army, ending one of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II.  Some estimates put the death toll from the violence at upwards of 3 million people, mostly civilians.  Ten million Bangladeshis fled to neighboring India, where cholera and other diseases took their toll on the innocent civilians trapped by the fighting or forced from their homes by an occupying army. To date, almost no one has faced charges from these murders, rapes and other war crimes.

Though freed, it was completely devastated not just by the 1971 war, but also by the Bhola cyclone which killed 500,000 people in late 1970.  It was followed by a decade of at least 30 military coup attempts (at least 6 of them were successful) and other political instability.  Human rights violations abound.  Women especially face the brunt of a justice system that is unable and unwilling to protect them.  Yet, through it all, the country has made some amazing advances.

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On December 3, 2009, Chrysler launched a major new television ad dedicated to human rights, democracy champion and Nobel Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a prisoner of conscience imprisoned in Myanmar for the last 14 of 20 years. While most see it as a brand new era in Chrysler’s image, others either applaud its efforts in highlighting the inspirational message connoted with her image, or they seem to resent the ad’s choice of hero, arguing that it does not seem to resonate with the average American television viewer – perhaps true.  However, for Amnesty International activists and others concerned with the state of human rights in Myanmar, the sentiment was certainly appreciated.

Just last month, hundreds of Amnesty International activists throughout the U.S. Northeast region gathered in Boston to launch our “I Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi” campaign to call for her immediate and unconditional release.  Amnesty activists have access to poster images of Aung San Suu Kyi featured with some of Myanmar’s additional 2,100 political prisoners.  Our activists have taken pictures with poster-size images of Aung San Suu Kyi in front of local and national monuments and other places of interest in a symbolic effort to “stand with Suu Kyi”. (more…)