WSS Hindi Statement on Intimidation in Bastar

Hindi version of the WSS statement on harassment and intimidation of Adv Shalini Gera and the team of Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group:  statement_hindi

WSS Statement on the Continued Harassment of Adv Shalini Gera and JagLag Lawyers

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression

28 December 2016

Bastar police continue their vendetta against women human rights defenders. SP Bastar threatens Adv Shalini Gera, JagLAG lawyers with false cases

Clearly rattled by the mounting body of evidence of blatant violations of the rule of law and Constitutional rights under the cover of anti­-Maoist operations, the Bastar police has launched a no-holds-­barred attempt to silence all those who are calling them to account.

Advocate Shalini Gera and her colleagues of JagLAG who were in Jagdalpur in connection with a case of false encounter of a young Adivasi boy [1], were confronted on the night of 26 December by a police team which entered the dharamshala where they were staying and accused them of being there in an “unauthorised” manner. Despite the fact that they were following up on an order by the Chhattisgarh HC for exhumation and a second post­mortem in the case and their accommodation had been arranged by the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Adv Shalini and her colleagues were ordered to come to the police station for interrogation. Attempts were also made to forcibly search their rooms and belongings. When asked to produce a warrant, the SI in charge of the team became even more aggressive and abusive. It took a personal call from the Divisional Commissioner to the SI to force the police to back off.

Press Statement by Concerned Individuals and Organisations from the Civil Society of West Bengal

Statement of recent attacks against lawyers in Chhatisgarh, Jagdalpur working for under trial prisoners, Adivasi activist Soni Sori, Journalist Malini Subramaniam, public intellectuals such as Bela Bhatia among others.

We, the members of civil society in West Bengal stand in firm solidarity with the Jagadalpur Legal Aid Group, Malini Subhramaniam, Bela Bhatia, Soni Sori, Sudha Bhardwaj and all other groups and individuals who were working for human rights and upholding the Constitution and Rule of Law in Bastar. Their activities should be seen in the context of an increasingly oppressive state. These conscientious persons have played a critical role to bear witness to the plight of the indigenous peoples in the region.

Kolkata Press Conference Against Attacks on Soni Sori, Jaglag and others

Kolkata, 24 February 2016

Concerned individuals and Organisations from the Civil Society of West Bengal organised a Press Conference at Press Club in Kolkata on 24th February 2016.

Maroona Murmur (History Prof., Jadavpur University), Tapas Chakraborty [Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR)], Choton Das (Bandi Mukti Committee) and Anuradha Talwar [Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)] spoke on the occasion and were accompanied by Debapriya Mukherjee [Advocate, Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), West Bengal] and Atindriya Chakraborty [Advocate, Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC)].

Time line of the Attacks on Human Rights Defenders in Chhattisgarh

23.2.2016

2 uniformed policemen from Papra thana visit Bela’s house and click photos of her, Jean and the interior of the house. This is followed by a visit from two people in civilian clothes carrying Chhattisgarh Police ID. Protests in Bangalore and Mumbai

22.2.2016

JagLAG’s ex-landlord is called into the Bodhghat thana again – this time because there is a complaint by some Dipankar Sahu against “three women who are anti-social elements” who are staying in his house. Protests in Delhi and Bhopal. Delhi protesters are detained by the police for several hours. NHRC hears WSS complaint and decides to send a 3-member team to Bastar. (The team to be constituted and the dates of the visit finalised this week.) Delhi CM Mr. Kejriwal visits Soni in the hospital

21.2.2016

IG, SP cast doubts on Soni’s story, saying that she is exaggerating the story. She is discharged from the Jagdalpur hospital and taken to Delhi, where doctors confirm that she has facial burns due to an unknown substance. Protests and demonstrations in Raipur and Hyderabad against the attack on Soni Sori, JagLAG lawyers and Malini