Uwazi

According to the information received, on November24, 2019, RTI activist and HRD Mr. Parmar was going out of his village Khopalaon his bike along with his brother Mr. Vinod Parmar. They were on their way to Lakhanka village from Khopala. Around 2.30 pm when they reached at Pipal road,nearly 8 kilometres from their village,they were intercepted by four men unknown to the defender who had came on two bikes. They were carrying iron rods and batons. They started hitting the HRD repeatedly with iron rods and abused him by hurling derogatory casteist remarks. Mr. Parmar was also threatened and asked to withdraw the RTI application he had filed recently. Physical attack and beating continued for 5 to 10 minutes. The HRD suffered fractures in both his legs and hands. His elbow also suffered fracture. His lower limbs were also severely injured as a result of the beating inflicted by the assailants. His brother Mr. Vinod Parmar was also roughed up by the assailants. HRD’s brother Mr. Vinod Parmar called on 108 for emergency ambulance through which he was taken to the government hospital and admitted. Sources informed that the assault was carried out by men closely associated with the village sarpanch. RTI activist, Mr. Parmar was earlier threatened by the husband of village sarpanch Ms. Vimala Gabani. He was threatened to withdraw the RTI application filed by him or else he would face dire consequences. Because of the injuries suffered, the HRD had to undergo two surgical operations - one on his left hand and other on his leg. He is still in the hospital and receiving treatment. The Botad Police has filed a case against sarpanch Ms. Gabani, her husband Mr. Jasmat Gabani, son Mr. Sanjay Gabani and four unknown persons under Indian Penal Code sections 324, 325, 504, 506 (2) for causing hurt by dangerous weapon, causing grievous hurt, intentional insult and criminal intimidation along with sections of the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act. The case has been transferred to SC/ST cell of Botad Police, Gujarat. However, the police has failed to arrestany of the accused yet.The Hon’ble Commission is once again appraised that manyRTI activists have been harassed and even murdered for seeking information to "promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority". Many face assaults on a regular basis. seeking information from their gram panchayat and the local administration also face social ostracism. RTI activists are vulnerable HRDs. Unlike other HRDs, a majority of the RTI activists are not part of an organisation; they often act alone, moved by anger at corruption and other illegal activities. RTI activists are vulnerable because they live in the same areas as authorities and political leaders who do not want information about their activities to disclosed. For the most part, human rights defenders receive media attention only when killed or seriously injured. When complaints are made by RTI activists, law enforcement personnel (who often work with corrupt officials) do not take appropriate action. The Central Information Commissionand State Information Commissions are not mandated to deal with such threats or attacks or to provide protection when needed. Attacks on RTI users have not ceased despite directions from several information commissions and state governments to protect them from harm. Further, per the Declaration on HRDs in the context of human rights violations by third parties, the obligation to protect, first, involves ensuring that defenders do not suffer from violations of their rights by non-State actors. Failure to protect could, in particular circumstances, engage the State‘s responsibility. Even acts and omissions committed by non-State actors under the instructions, control or direction of the State can, under certain circumstances, give rise to State responsibility. Therefore, it is paramount that prompt and full investigations are conducted and perpetrators brought to justice. Failure by States to prosecute and punish such is a clear violation of Article 12 of the Declaration on HRDs.

Journalists in Guwahati have demanded a high-level probe into an alleged attack on a colleague in a secluded part of the city on Friday night.

Police said Naresh Mitra, a journalist renowned for his reportage on environment and wildlife, was brought to the Gauhati Medical College by unidentified people. Given the severity of his injuries, his family later shifted him to the Nem-Care Super Specialty Hospital.

It was initially believed that Mr Mitra, who used to pedal to work on a bicycle every day, may have been hit from behind by a vehicle. But doctors who operated on him later said it was more likely to have been a case of assault, a press statement issued by the Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) read.

The JFA demanded a thorough probe into the case. "We strongly demand a high-level probe into the incident where Naresh got injured that night. Moreover, we wish his early recovery and express hope that he would be able to explain the situation soon," the statement, signed by association president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria, read.

Guwahati Police said the incident may have occurred while Mr Mitra was returning home from work around 10:30 pm. They have launched a probe, and are currently trying to procure CCTV footage to stitch together the sequence of events leading to the alleged attack.

According to family members, there were no external injuries on the senior journalist's body and his bicycle didn't seem to have been damaged either. They said that although Mr Mitra was awake in the initial hours, even speaking to those attending to him, he slowly lapsed into unconsciousness.

According to sources on 18 November, 2019, the Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) organized a peaceful march towards Parliament on the first day of the Winter Session to protest against the hostel fee hikein Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Thousands of studentsfrom JNU, carrying placards and chanting slogans, participated in the march towards Parliament, demanding a total rollback of the hostel fee hike and withdrawal of the draft hostel manual which imposes dress codes and curfew timings. In response authorities imposed prohibitory orders both outside the parliament building and around the JNU campus, and set up barricades near Safdarjung Tomb in South Delhi to stop them from advancing any further. The protesters, who carried banners that read "save public education", "fees must fall" and "ensure affordable hostels for all", were stopped at multiple points on their march. The JNU administration had on 13 November, 2019 announced a partial roll back in the fee hike. However, the protesting students dubbed the move as eyewash and demanded that the JNUSU be treated as a stakeholder by the administration and the Ministryof Human Resource and Development. They also reiterated their demand for the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor on the university.The police authorities deployed ten companies outside JNU. The protesters were initially allowed to proceed but were stopped barely half a kilometer from the JNU campus by the police. Around 3.30 pm the students managed to reach Safdarjung Tomb near Lodhi Roadwhere they were stopped by the police again. The first round of lathicharge took place here. Over 100 students were detained by the Delhi Police and students suffered injuries after the police baton charged the protests. Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University allegedthat over 10 students, including the visually and physically challenged, were injured due to the "brutality" of police personnel. JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, general secretary Satish Yadav and former JNUSU president N Sai Balaji were among several detained and allegedly taken to Delhi Cantt, Kalkaji and Badarpur police stations — where they claimed they were beaten up. Since students were not allowed to move theythen sat on the main roadat Safdarjung Tomb near Lodhi Road, singing songs, while negotiations between JNUSU and police continued. After around 6.30 pm streetlights were soon switched off and a second round of lathicharge took place, after which over 50 personnel escorted students to INA Metro station. Several students have reportedly been severely injured following the lathicharge by police. Following theprotest, videos surfaced showing personnel of the Delhi police beating up students, including girls, in a brutal manner. A particular video doing the rounds on social media shows a male student being forcibly led into a police vehicle while profusely bleeding from the head. Media reported that the Delhi police is going to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against protesting students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for flouting Section 144 (which prevents unlawful assembly) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which was imposed in the area surrounding the university campus and the Parliament, to prevent students from joining the agitation on 18 November, 2019. It is pointed out that the state through police is in full action to suppress the voice of students protesting for a genuine cause which is subsidized education. The police through its modus operandi aretrying to repress a democratic movement. Manhandling of students by Delhi police including women and visually challenged (which is doing rounds of social media) amounts to being barbaric, committal of atrocity and show of excessive use of force. It is further said that the police has created a situation wherein the students protesting peacefully are being shownas rioting, gathering unlawfully and obstructing public servants from discharging their public function. This is nothing but just framing the students are exercising their constitutional right to assembly peacefully and right to protest for a cause.

It began when Rana Ayyub, who is nowadays a Washington Post columnist, posted a cryptic message on Twitter on 8 November about the ruling that India’s supreme court was due to issue the next day on a fraught 30-year-old dispute between Hindus and Muslims over a religious site in the northern city of Ayodhya. It ended with the words, “I hope my country does not disappoint me tomorrow.”

It immediately unleashed a torrent of Twitter insults and calls for Ayyub to be raped or murdered that were orchestrated by trolls linked to the Hindu nationalist movement. Even more amazingly, it elicited a threat of legal action that came from the Twitter account of the police in Amethi, a town 100 km south of Ayodhya.

Posted less than half an hour after Ayyub’s original tweet, it said: “You have just made a political comment. Delete it immediately otherwise legal action will be taken against you by @amethipolice.” Amethi has no jurisdiction over either Ayodhya or Mumbai, the city where Ayyub lives.

Ayyub, who is currently on a visit to the United States, told RSF that, because of this threat, she feared that could be arrested on her return to the India. The message has not been disowned by India’s home affairs ministry.

“Police wanting to prosecute a journalist for making a so-called ‘political comment’ is something one might expect from the worst dictatorships,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “Either someone hacked into the Amethi police Twitter account, which would indicate serious incompetence, or the police are complicit in a campaign of calls for Rana Ayyub’s murder. We urge the home affairs ministry to conduct an internal investigation to identify these responsible for this unacceptable scandal.”

Wave of hate

The author “Gujarat Files,” a book examining the rise to power of Narendra Modi, who was reelected as prime minister by a clear majority in May, Ayyub is one of the favourite targets of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s notorious army of trolls.

In April 2018, RSF condemned an earlier and unprecedented wave of online hate messages against Ayyub, in which her phone number and address were posted online. RSF referred the case to the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, who then wrote to the Indian authorities requesting protection for Ayyub.

This kind of campaign is orchestrated by followers of Hindutva, an ideological blend of fascism and Hindu nationalism that inspired Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

India is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

On November 13, Telangana police submitted documents to the Lal Bahadur Nagar Metropolitan Magistrate, which CPJ reviewed, accusing Venugopal, editor of Telugu monthly Veekshanam, of being part of a Maoist conspiracy against the state.

Venugopal, who spoke to CPJ via phone, said he has not been arrested or formally charged. If the magistrate accepts the police allegations, it could issue a warrant for his arrest any day, he said.

Venugopal could face a fine and two to seven years in prison under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Telangana Public Security Act if charged and convicted of being part of a conspiracy.

Venugopal told CPJ he had been a member of a group that authorities allege is affiliated with a Maoist party, the Revolutionary Writers Association, but left it in 2009. The association was previously banned but is now legally permitted, according to Indian news website The Wire.

“Accusing a journalist of conspiracy is a threat to press freedom and shows the government is intolerant of criticism,” said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher, in New York. “Police should immediately drop their allegations against Nellutla Venugopal and stop threatening journalists with legal action.”

Venugopal filed a case in the Telangana High Court, which has jurisdiction over the metropolitan magistrate, to have the allegations against him dismissed, he said.

Venugopal frequently writes critical pieces about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao, according to The Wire.

In a statement, which CPJ reviewed, Veekshanam’s editorial team said Venugopal had repeatedly disassociated himself from the Revolutionary Writers Association and said that “though he holds progressive, democratic and left views, that does not mean that he has to be a member of any organisation.”

Venugopal is also accredited by the state government as a journalist and writes a regular column in the newspaper Nava Telangana, he told CPJ.

CPJ found that though Venugopal’s name was listed on the court documents, there was no mention of any evidence against him.

CPJ texted the Telangana director general of police for comment but did not receive a response.

In October, Telangana police arrested journalist Ravi Prakash after he refused to withdraw two interviews on alleged corruption in the state, as CPJ reported at the time.

Mr Kurban Ali is associated with the Afkar India Foundation, which is a grass-roots human rights organisation based in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. He has also been associated with ‘AmanBiradari’ for the last two years. Aman Biradri is a nationwide people’s campaign for a secular, peaceful, just and humane world. Kurban Ali has been working on issues of education and women’s right. He has also been using the Right to Information (RTI) to highlight issues of public concern and functioning of governance structures. In the past, he hasfaced several threats from the officials of state electricity and education departments for filing RTIs to expose corrupt practices. The others who have been named in the police FIR are Mr Naushad, Mr Faran, admin of the Haji Babla Fan Club and two unknown.

According to information received, on November 2, 2019, a criminal case (FIR 564/2019) was filed against Kurban Ali and five others in the Kandhla Polic Station of Shamli under Sections 147,148,149,452,307, 504, 506 of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act [IT Act],on a complaint by Afzal Ali. It is to be noted that Afzal Ali is the same person who in the past harassed Mr. Ashif and others, to whom the HRDs had been extending legal ssistance. This clearly shows that it is an act to supress the voices of the victims of mob lynching and the HRD from resorting to available legal options to claim relief. The recurring incidents of intimidation and attacks on the HRDs pose a direct threat to theirsafety and security. It also impinges their fundamental right to freedom of life and liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. In order to enable HRDs to pursue their crucial work in the field, it is of utmost importance that congenial atmosphere needs to be created for the smooth working of the HRDs.

According to the information received, on November 5, 2019 at8:10 AM, Dhananjay was abducted and brought to the Bihar Police Station in Bihar Sharif town of district Nalanda by a police team lead by the SHO Mr. Deepak Kumar. At the police station, hefaced degrading and inhuman treatment, including torture. Extreme methods of torture were used by the police including verbal abuse,slapping and beating with sticks. He was forced to remove his clothes, given electric shocks on his head near his ears, severely beaten including on the private parts. Sources informed that Dhananjay was picked up by the SHO Mr. Deepak Kumar from Jhing Nagar Mohalla (a locality in Bihar Sharif town) at around 8:10 AM,while he was going to meet the former ward counselor (parshad) on his bike. According to Dhananjay, he was not made aware of the grounds or reasons for detention and was abducted. He was first taken to Ali Nagar to the residence of Mr. Tinku Gupta, who is allegedly a dealer in illegal arms and ammunitions and has pending criminal charges regarding the same. At Tinku’s residence, Dhananjay was physically assaulted and was repeatedly forced to confess buying arms from Tinku. Dhananjay refused to succumb to any pressure to undertake a false confession. Dhananjay was then taken to the Bihar Police Station and illegally detained till 10:00 PM. He was once again brutally beaten and also subjected to extreme physically tortured, including electric shocks on his head near his ears. He was released only around 10:00 PM after the intervention of local respected persons. Dhananjay’s family members admitted him in the Sadar Hospital in Bihar Sharif immediately after he was released from the police custody on November 5, 2019. On November 6, 2019, the doctors at Sadar Hospital referred him to get treated in a high specialty hospital of the city. He was later taken to the Jeevan Jyoti hospital, Bihar Sharif for the treatment of his internal injuries.The Hon’ble Commission being the nodal agency on violence in police custody and attacks on HRDs is urged to take immediate action in the recent case and penalise the erring police officials who have blatantly violated the D.K. Basu and NHRC guidelines on pre-arrest & post-arrest guidelines. As per legal precedent,torture is not at all permitted whether it occurs during investigation, interrogation or otherwise. Custodial violence is in effect direct invasion of human rights. Torture in custody flouts the basic rights of citizens recognized by the Indian Constitution and is affront to human dignity. Custodial Torture is a calculated assault on human dignity and nothing can be more dehumanising as the conduct of police in practicingtorture of any kind on a person in their custody.

In the last three months, at least three YSR Congress MLAs have been booked for attacks on journallists—including a murder case. It has been alleged that the ruling party legislators have targeted journalists for reporting news critical of them or the state government.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy empowered principal secretaries of all the departments last week to file cases against print, electronic media houses if ‘distorted or malafide intended’ news pertaining to their respective departments are circulated.

On October 15, 45-year-old K Sathyanarayana, who was a reporter with the Telugu newspaper Andhrajyothi was killed by two assailants near his residence in S Annavaram village in Tuni mandal, East Godavari District. According to a police complaint filed by K Gopalakrishna, brother of the deceased, Tuni MLA Dadisetti Raja, who is also the government chief whip, could have supported the murderers.

“Raja (MLA) had threatened (the deceased) in the presence of other reporters after the completion of counting in Assembly polls in May that he would see the end of Satyanarayana... Several people had made threatening calls to my brother saying that Raja was backing them," Satyanarayana's brother, Gopalakrishna, told the Times of India newspaper. It has also been reported that a month ago, Sathyanarayana escaped an attack and had filed a complaint and sought police protection.

On September 23, Naidu Nagarjuna Reddy, a reporter with the Telugu daily Surya, reportedly escaped death, as he was attacked by a gang of 25 people “in the presence of a YSR Congress leader in Prakasam district”. According to the FIR registered by the police, Nagarjuna stated that he was gheraoed by 25 persons along with Amanchi Krishna Mohan, former MLA and YSRCP leader, and was stabbed several times and was beaten up with iron rods. Nagarjuna suffered five fractures and seven stab wounds.

“Although I have highlighted and exposed former MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan for his involvement in land-grabbing, sand mafia, and intimidation many times before, this attack was provoked because I helped a 10-year-old girl write a letter to the CM against Amanchi,” Nagarjuna told The Indian Express.

On August 25, Avula Manohar, a reporter with the Telugu news channel Maha News, was attacked by unidentified persons near Stone Valley School in Rayadurg town.

Manohar alleged that he was attacked by the henchmen of Rayadurg YSR Congress MLA Kapu Ramachandra Reddy. However, police had refused to name the MLA in the FIR.

“I have been doing reports against Reddy exposing his involvement in sand mafia, shady real estate deals and high-handed behaviour. In spite of telling the police, they have not included his name in the FIR. No arrests have been made although police have identified the culprits behind this attack, and they have not called me for identification,” Manohar was quoted as saying.

On August 11, N Dolendra Prasad, the editor of Telugu weekly Zaminryot was attacked by Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, MLA from the Nellore Rural constituency, and his followers, Vishnu, Murali Krishna Yadav, and Suresh. According to the FIR registered in the case, Prasad claimed that the accused trespassed into his house “with a view to kill him with sharp weapons and dragged him from his house and also assaulted him, criminally intimidated him and attempted to murder him with a sharp weapon”.

Furthermore, two news channels, ABN Andhrajyothi and TV5, which are considered to be favorable to the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have been kept under an unoffocial ban since September, allegedly propelled by the instructions of the YSR Congress leaders.

Although the regulator Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had on September 25 directed the multi-system operators (MSOs) to restore the two TV channels, the operators didn’t adhere to the orders citing technical reasons.

Opposition parties including TDP, Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Jana Sena have condemned the state of media under YSR Congress government.

According to sources on 4 October, 2019, around 7.30 am,a delegation of senior activists and globally recognised faces of Indian environmental and peace movementfacilitated by National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) landed at Srinagar airport in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The team included Lucknow’s Ramon Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey, Odisha’s Prafulla Samantara, winner of the Goldman Prize for his struggle against indiscriminate mining in the Niyamgiri Hills, Delhi’s Faisal Khan and Mohammed Javed, and Kerala’s Musthafa Mohamed of the Khudai Khidmatgar group. The team wasrestrained in the VIP lounge of the airport while they were preparing to visit the locked down Kashmir valley. The team was then forcibly sent back to Delhi on two separate commercial flights filled with soldiers between 4 and 4.30pm in the evening. They were detained at the airport on the orders of he Budgam district executive magistrate. According to sources individual notices in the name of Prafulla Samantara, Faisal Khan and Sandeep Pandey wereissued by District Magistrate of Budgam. The notice issued referred to “credible inputs” from various agencies that they intended to organise protests in different parts of Kashmir on the issue of abrogation of Article 370 and the withdrawal of special status ofJammu and Kashmir which could pose a threat to law and ordersituation in Kashmir. The notice also said that their entry into Jammu & Kashmir is being restricted till further orders. In a press conference held at Press Club of Indiain Delhi on 5 October, 2019, the returned activists informed that they had gone on a two-day visit to meet Kashmiri people and extend humanitarian assistance and solidarity to the communities in distress. The police at the spot told hem they would be arrested under prohibitory orders —Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code — which was in force in the Kashmir Valley. Countering the government’s claim that there was no curfew, the activists told the fact is that with Section 144 of CrPC in force people were not free to move about freely and even the Kashmiri officers of J&K government were being subjected to frisking and security checks by Central security forces. Since removing several constitutional provisions in August 2019 Indian authorities have flooded the Kashmir Valley with thousands of additional troops. Mobile internet and phone services were cut and landline phone access remained spotty, disrupting daily life and business in the valley, home to about 7 million people. More than 2,000 people, including mainstream political leaders, have been locked up or under house arrest. Kashmir Valley was placed under curfew, with severe restrictions on freedom of movement and ban on association and assembly of more than four people. There were strict restrictions on the movements of journalists, media reporters and publishers, resulting in a virtual blackout and a complete lockdown. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration proclaims the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom “to seek, receive and impart information and idea through any medium regardless of frontiers”. Further Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights sets forth the right to freedom of opinion, expression and information. The protection of human rights defenders is critical to ensure that they are able to work in a safe, supportive environment and be free from attacks and reprisals. Article 21 of the Constitution of India ensures to all its citizen right to life –a life to live without fear, intimidation, harassment or mental torture. Also, The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998 by the UN General Assembly, states that governments are under a duty to “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders by the competent authorities against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions” as a consequence of their efforts to promote human rights. Therefore, the government is bound by its international legal obligations to ensure that all activists and human rights defenders are provided with security against harassment or intimidation so that they may enjoy their constitutional right to due process, life and liberty under Article 21, and the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. In the present case, interception of the human rights defenders and detaining them is an attempt to harass and intimidate the members of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)’s delegation led by prominent social activists and human rights defenders including Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, Dr. Sandeep Pandey, Prafulla Samantara of Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Odisha, Mr. Faisal Khan and Mohammed Javed from Delhi and Kerala’s Musthafa Mohamed of the Khudai Khidmatgar who were prevented from entering the locked down Kashmir valleyamounting to blatant denialof their rights to liberty of movement and freedom of association guaranteed by the Indian constitutionand other international instruments.

According to sources, on 13 October, 2019 Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Mr. Bilal Bhatwas stopped from boarding an international flight to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia by immigration authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Mr. Bilal Bhat was due to visit Malaysia to represent India at the Children and Youth Assembly, organised by UN-ESCAP. The Indian immigration authorities stamped his passport saying that his visa was “cancelled without prejudice.” Sources informed that Mr. Bilal Bhat was selected as a delegate and was representing India at the Children and Youth Assembly, organised by UN-Habitat, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), Urbanice Malaysia and UN Major Group for Children and Youth in association with the 7th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-7). When the defender reached the immigration counter at the airport around 8 pm on 13 October, 2019, he was first asked if he was a Kashmiri and then enquired about the purpose of his visit. The immigration officials asked him a few more questions and then asked him to produce further documents to verify his age. The officials then took his driver’s licence, visa and some other documents and asked him to wait outside the office. He spent nearly six hours at the airport, first trying to understand why he was prohibited from flying abroad and then to get his baggage, which was offloaded from his Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur. The defender was not given any reason for not allowing him to travel abroad. Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Mr. Bilal Bhat is not the only case of authorities barring prominent Kashmiris from flying abroad. At least two other high-profile Kashmiris –bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesaland Journalist –author and human rights defender Mr. Gowhar Geelani –have also been prevented from travelling abroad after the August 5 decision of government of India to dilute Article 370 and revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Mr. Shah Faesal was detained at New Delhi's international airport 14 August 2019 and then sent back to Kashmir while journalist Gowhar Geelani was stopped at New Delhi's international airport on 31 August 2019 from travelling to Germany to attend an advanced training programme. Faesal has sharply criticized New Delhi's abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370. It is once again pointed out to the Commission that interception of Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Mr. Bilal Bhatand barring him to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to represent India at the Children and Youth Assembly, organised by UN-ESCAP by immigration authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi amounts to curtailment of Right to Liberty along with Freedom of Movement as guaranteed by the International Human Rights Law, International legal standards and the Indian Constitution.

According tosources, Mr. Jagdish Goliaallegedly died in a mysterious condition on 6 October, 2019 while he was in the custody of police of Pachpadra Police Station inBalotra city ofBarmer district of Rajasthan.According to the police, RTI activist and human rights defender Mr. Jagdish Goliaand two others named as Gopal Singh and Mahendra Singh were arrested on 5 October, 2019 under section 151 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) over a land dispute within theirfamily. According to the police they were presented before theExecutive Magistrate at the Tehsil Office for bail on 6 October, 2019. Police claimed that the Magistrate had granted bail to Gopal Singh and Mahendra Singh and Mr. Jagdish Goliacomplained he was not feeling well. Following the Magistrate’s directions, he was taken to the Nahata Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Sources informed that Mr. Jagdish Goliahad a lot of sensitive documents related to the police and the police had detained him in the past. In regard to the circumstances of his death, the local RTI activists and human rights organisations challenge the police version of the events and suspectfoul play. They alleged that RTI activist died in police custody in Barmer’s Balotra city.They informed that RTI activist and human rights defender Mr. Jagdish Golia had a complaint pending in Pachpadra Police Station, in connection with that he first metMr. Subhash Chandra Khoja, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Balotrawhere he was unheard.Hethenwent straight to Pachpadra police station where he was booked under Section 151 CrPC at police station and was arrested. He was beaten and tortured at nightin the police station. According to them the circumstances surrounding Mr. Jagdish Golia’s death strongly suggest that he died due to the brutal torture committed by police officers at the Pachpadra Police Station in Balotra city of Barmer district of Rajasthan.Media reports carried the statement of Barmer SP Sharad Choudhary who said that Golia’s mother Varju Devi had filed a complaint, alleging station house officer (SHO) of the Pachpadra police station, Mr. Saroj Choudhary had not ensured the timely treatment to Golia’s internal and external injuries, which she said led to her son’s death. Devi said in her complaint that she and her son were working on their farm in Sarana village on 5 October, 2019 when some people, belonging to their family, came and beat up Golia. It is alleged that the state police is trying to cover-up his torture anddeathby insisting that he dieddue tointernal and external injuries suffered by him at his farmas it has beendone in most other previous occasions when persons taken into custody had died while in custody. This case is yet again an example of reprisal against human rights defenders despite there being several national and international mechanisms in place towards protection of human rights defenders. Recent one being the December, 2018 pledge by National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) wherein it was recognised that human rights defenders have a positive, important and legitimate role in contributing to the realisation of all human rights and was endeavoured by the Commission to create enabling environment for safeguard of human rights defenders.

Authorities in India’s Tamil Nadu state on Friday arrested at least 15 Tibetans, including the head of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) exile group, as they protested an informal summit between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Police detained TYC president Gonpo Dhundup and 14 Tibetan students in several locations ahead of Xi’s arrival in the city of Chennai, according to TYC and media reports, including the airport and a highway leading to a seaside resort in the town of Mamallapuram, where the two leaders kicked off an informal summit to improve Sino-Indian relations amid trade and border tensions.

Sonam Tsering, General Secretary of the TYC, told RFA’s Tibetan Service that police had arrested 15 of his group’s members as they waited for the Chinese leader’s entourage in Chennai.

“Initially, we tried to wait until Xi arrived at his hotel, but six of us were detained there, while police arrested six of our other Tibetan youth protesters from where they waited at the airport exit,” he said.

“We have three other protesters who were to demonstrate ahead of Xi’s arrival at the airport, but they were arrested moments ago.”

Reuters news agency reported that Dhundup shouted, “We want freedom,” as he was “wrestled away by six policemen” and taken away in a waiting autorickshaw, citing a video shared by TYC.

TYC is based in India’s hill town of Dharamsala—home to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile—and India has taken special measures to prevent Tibetans from protesting Chinese rule in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India following a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan region nine years earlier.

Chinese authorities have maintained a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated prefectures of Chinese provinces ever since, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Earlier on Friday, TYC issued a press statement saying it “strongly condemns” Xi’s visit following China’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of Communist rule on Oct. 1, which it called a recognition of “70 years of oppression and aggression against the people of Tibet.”

The statement urged Modi to take up the issue of Tibet with Xi during their informal summit and called on the Indian government to release TYC cultural secretary Yeshi Chomphel, Students for a Free Tibet-India national director Rinzin Choedon, and prominent Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue, along with Tibetan students who are being held by police prior to Xi’s arrival.

“We also urge the Indian government for the quick release of TYC President Gonpo Dhundup along with 11 students members of RTYC Bangalore who were arrested today just before the president Xi Jinping’s arrival at the summit venue,” the statement said.

Earlier arrests

The arrests on Friday brought to at least 50 the number of Tibetans held in the lead up to Xi’s visit, including a stringer for RFA’s Tibetan Service assigned to cover the event, who has spent two nights in detention.

Kathmandu, which hosts Xi this weekend for a rare visit by a Chinese leader, has prevented 33 Tibetan delegates based in Nepal from returning home after they attended a major meeting of Tibetan exile groups from around the world in Dharamsala, the delegates told RFA on Thursday.

Of the 33, three delegates were able to slip back into Nepal just before the restriction was imposed, five delegates were sent back to India from the Nepalese border, and the rest are still stranded in India, the delegate said. Nepali media have reported that Nepal is preparing to sign an extradition treaty with China during Xi’s visit, raising concerns from human rights groups about the fate of Tibetans in the Himalayan country.

On Friday, Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) issued a statement outlining its concerns over Tibetans’ status in Nepal ahead of Xi’s visit, noting that at least 18 Tibetans were detained by police, although some of them were subsequently released.

Responding to reports that Nepal may sign an extradition deal with China, ICT president Matteo Mecacci said his organization is concerned that such a treaty could “effectively further jeopardize the situation of Tibetan refugees in Nepal, whose status has been precarious for a long time.”

“We call on the Nepalese authorities not to sign an extradition treaty with China and on the international community to be vigilant and protect the rights of Tibetans in Nepal,” he said.

ICT said that Nepal’s ability to counter China’s heavy-handed approach on Tibet has been increasingly compromised, particularly since Nepal joined the “One Belt One Road” initiative in 2017, with promises of millions of dollars of Chinese investment in Nepalese infrastructure projects that Beijing has tied to Nepal’s “role in guarding against Tibetan separatists,” according to state media.

The group said that following a crackdown in Tibet in 2008, and an ensuing tightening of border controls, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of Tibetan refugee arrivals in Nepal, while “thousands of Tibetans remain stateless and in political limbo” in the Himalayan nation.

A 2009 survey put the number of Tibetans in India at about 128,000 and 13,500 in Nepal.

India arrested another seven Tibetans on Thursday on the eve of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Nepal – the next stop on Xi’s South Asian itinerary – restricted the return from India of 33 Tibetan delegates who had attended a conference in Dharamsala, sources in the region said.

The arrests on Thursday in Tamil Nadu state, where Xi will meet India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, brought to 35 the number of Tibetans picked up ahead of the Xi visit, aimed at shoring up the Sino-Indian relationship after trade and border friction.

Six Tibetan activists and a stinger for RFA’s Tibetan service assigned to cover the Xi visit to the small Tamil Nadu town of Mamallapuram were taken into police custody in the state capital Chennai.

“I understand that the government would not want unruly scenes when foreign dignitaries visit. But these arrested Tibetans have not even protested, they just want a silent protest,” Henry Tiphagne, executive director of the rights group People’s Watch, told the Times of India on Thursday.

The Core Group for Tibetan Cause-India released a statement on October 9 calling on Modi to raise the Tibetan issue with Xi and urge China to resume long-frozen dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama as soon as possible.

Kathmandu, which hosts Xi this weekend for a rare visit by a Chinese leader, has prevented 33 Tibetan delegates based in Nepal from returning home after they attended a major meeting of Tibetan exile groups from around the world in Dharamsala, India, the delegates told RFA.

“We all have come to attend the special meeting but we are not allowed to go back to Nepal because Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Nepal on October 12 and therefore until then we are stuck here,” one of the delegates told RFA’s Tibetan Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Groups of three or more people are not allowed to hang out together in Nepal at the moment. Even going out to buy vegetable has become difficult,” the delegate added.

Of the 33, three delegates were able to slip back into Nepal just before the restriction was imposed, five delegates were sent back to India from the Nepalese border and rest are still stranded in India, the delegate said.

The Oct 3-5 Special General Meeting held in Dharamsala drew 340 Tibetan community leaders and representatives from 24 countries including India, the United States, Canada, Australia, Nepal and Bhutan.

Nepali media have reported that Nepal is preparing to sign an extradition treaty with China during Xi’s visit, raising concerns from human rights groups about the fate of Tibetans in the Himalayan country.

The online news outfit Khabarhub said that Beijing had been pressing Kathmandu to sign the treaty during the Xi visit and that a draft is ready for Nepali cabinet approval.

The news website quoted an unnamed expert as saying there was worry that China is mainly interested in extraditing Tibetans involved in ‘anti-China’ activities in Nepal.

Sophie Richardson, the China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said China’s judicial system presents problems that has made many countries reluctant to enter into extradition treaties with Beijing.

“In China’s case, we have well documented all of the problems with the deeply politicized judicial system, in which the courts are not independent from party control, people are regularly denied basic fair trial rights, and where punishments can wildly disproportionate to an alleged crime,” she told RFA.

A 2009 survey put the number of Tibetans in India at about 128,000 and 13,500 in Nepal.

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India following a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan region nine years earlier.

Chinese authorities have maintained a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated prefectures of Chinese provinces ever since, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Police in south India’s Tamil Nadu state have detained nine Tibetan activists for organizing a protest, days ahead of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold bilateral talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a fellow activist said Tuesday.

On Oct. 6, Tamil Nadu police detained eight Tibetan activists representing the Members of Tibetan Students Association of Madras (TSAM), Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), and Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), TSAM vice president Tenzin Choedon told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

The activists had planned to hold a protest in the small Tamil Nadu town of Mamallapuram, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Chennai in southern India, where Xi and Modi are scheduled to meet on Oct. 11-13 amid recent strains in the Sino-Indian relationship over trade and border disputes.

According to Choedon, TSAM’s president was taken into custody and is being held at the St. Thomas Mount Police Station.

“The rest of the activists were captured later, though they are all detained at the St. Thomas Mount Police Station as of now,” he said.

The arrests came a day after police took into custody prominent Tibetan writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue at Kottakuppam in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district for allegedly having “Free Tibet” publicity materials in his possession, according to the Indian press, which said he was sent to Chennai’s Puzhal Central jail on Oct. 6.

Media reports said police detained 42 Tibetans in all, but let most of them go after they signed agreements to refrain from demonstrating and maintain peace.

Officers took Choeden and 13 other Tibetan students studying in Chennai to a police station for verification and forced them to sign agreements, Choedon said.

“They took our pictures too,” he added.

Gonpo Dhondups, president of the Dharamsala, India-based TYC, told RFA’s Tibetan Service that his organization called on the Human Rights Law Network to appeal for the release of the detained Tibetan activists.

“The lawyers have commenced the appeal, but they are not hopeful about getting them released until Xi Jinping’s return [to China],” he said.

“The FIR filed will proceed accordingly thereafter,” he added, referring to the First Information Report, a complaint lodged with police to set the process of criminal justice in motion and trigger an investigation.

Typical protest

Anti-China protests by Tibetans in India are common, said Manoj Joshi, an expert on national and international politics at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

“Tibetans have been protesting whenever there is an official visit from China,” he said. “This is not something new.”

Tibetans have long opposed what they see as Beijing’s oppressive religious and social policies and rule in Tibetan areas of the western part of China, often going to the extreme of setting themselves on fire in protest.

China, in turn, vehemently rejects the exiled Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as his middle-way approach through dialogue with Beijing to grant Tibet genuine autonomy within the framework of the People’s Republic of China rather than independence.

“India cannot get involved between the Dalai Lama and China,” Joshi said. “However, I think it’s foolish of China to not accept the proposal because His Holiness the Dalai Lama has categorically said that he is not seeking independence but rather a middle-ground approach to settle the problem.”

“China’s version of calling minority communities like those in Xinjang and Tibet ‘autonomous’ has a completely different meaning, and therefore, the problem has always been with China,” he said.

The upcoming meeting will be the second informal summit between Modi and Xi following one in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, in April 2018.

eporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a brutal attack on two TV journalists who were investigating the suspected embezzlement of state funding for schools in a tribal area of Gujarat state, in western India. Those responsible must be arrested quickly, RSF said.

One of the journalists, TV9 reporter Kuldip Parmar, was hospitalized with a broken leg after the attack on 4 October in which both he and his brother, cameraman Ashok Parmar, were badly beaten and temporarily abducted.

The assault took place after the brothers arrived at a school in the village of Kunvarsi. Men armed with sticks attacked Ashok as he waited outside the school while his brother went inside to talk to the principal. When Kuldip came out, he was also given a severe beating.

The two journalists were then bundled into a car and taken to a nearby farm where they were forced to drink alcohol with a woman while being photographed for blackmail purposes. After being threatened, the injured journalists were finally dumped at the side of a road near another village.

Ashok has identified their main assailant as Vadansinh Barad, the brother of Lakshman Barad, the leader of the local branch of India’s ruling BJP party.

“A physical attack of this kind cannot go unpunished,” RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk said. “The beatings that this reporter and his cameraman received while doing investigative reporting in the public interest put all of the region’s journalists in danger. The police must carry out an investigation and severely punish those responsible.”

The two TV9 journalists went to the village to investigate the alleged misuse of state funding for schools in tribal areas. To combat illiteracy and promote secular education among India’s disadvantaged tribes and castes, the state has been building and assisting schools since 1990.

India is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

The government of India’s Telangana state must immediately release Ravi Prakash, founder of independent Telugu news website Tolivelugu, and ensure he is not harassed because of his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Hyderabad police arrested Prakash on October 5 on allegations of corporate fraud during his term as CEO of broadcaster TV9, according to media reports. Prakash was forced to resign as CEO in May in the midst of a hostile corporate takeover, according to the reports. However, two of his colleagues told CPJ that his arrest is in retaliation for his refusal to withdraw two interviews on his news portal accusing the Telangana chief minister and a leading industrialist of corruption.

“Ravi Prakash is clearly being persecuted in retaliation for critical coverage on the Tolivelugu news website,” said Steven Butler, CPJ Asia program coordinator in Washington, D.C. “Authorities in Telangana should release him immediately.”

Tolivelugu reporter Raghu Ganji told CPJ that on September 30 the news website had carried two interviews on its YouTube channel conducted by him on the ongoing strike by 50,000 employees of a state-run transport corporation demanding pay hike and a freeze on the privatization of public transport. In one interview, transport union leader E Aswathama Reddy accused Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao and industrialist PV Krishna Reddy of being involved in a multi-million dollar public transport scam. In another interview, opposition leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka made allegations of corruption against Rao and Reddy relating to a huge irrigation project in Kaleshwaram, Telangana.

On October 2, another Tolivelugu reporter, Narsimha Reddy (no relation to Krishna Reddy), received a message over WhatsApp from an unknown number asking that the interview with Vikramarka be changed to a “private” setting on YouTube, in order to remove it from public view. According to Narsimha Reddy, an hour later he got a call from another unknown number asking him to take down both the interviews. “The caller first claimed that he was calling from [the] information and public relations department of the Telangana government. When I enquired further, he said he is calling from the office of Krishna Reddy. He told me to remove the interviews or face consequences,” Narsimha Reddy told CPJ.

Later that day around 10:30 pm, Krishna Reddy directly called Prakash demanding that he remove the interviews, according to Narsimha Reddy and Ganji. Prakash refused to do so.

Prakash previously accused the chief minister and the industrialist of forcing in August 2018 a takeover of TV9, in order to wrest editorial control of the broadcaster, which is a popular Telugu-language news channel in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states and which had long been critical of Rao, according to The News Minute. When Rao came to power in 2014, he pressured cable operators not to air TV9 and another channel in response to criticism of his party, as CPJ documented at the time. In August 2018, Reddy and another industrialist, who Prakash claims are proxies for the chief minister, bought a majority stake in TV9 and started pressuring him to change its editorial stance. Since April this year, the new owners have filed police complaints against Prakash accusing him of stopping the new directors from participating in management, forging signatures, and most recently, siphoning off money from company accounts. He resigned from the company in May and launched the new outlet, Tolivelugu.

Krishna Reddy did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment via WhatsApp sent to his personal assistant. Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment via WhatsApp message sent to his public relations officer.

CPJ has documented cases in Telugu-speaking Telangana and Andhra Pradesh where political parties have threatened, physically attacked, and even arrested journalists. In July this year, Mojo TV’s then-CEO, Revathi Pogadadanda, was arrested in Hyderabad. Earlier in February, her channel’s crew was attacked on the streets over its coverage of women’s admission to the Sabarimala temple and resulting protests. In May, newly elected chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Jaganmohan Reddy, openly threatened two news channels critical of him, according to news website Filter Kaapi.

According to the information received,the Chhattisgarh Police have registered an FIR on September 16, 2019 at Kirandul police station of Dantewada district against Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia,Nanda,sarpanch of Kirandul village and her husband,Bhima,and 150-200 unnamed villagers for protesting against an alleged fake encounter in the region.

The FIR registered under IPC Section 188 relates to disobeying instruction issued by a public servant. They have been booked for allegedly holding a protest illegally and shouting slogans against the administration and the police in Dantewada during the Model Code of Conduct. According to the FIR, Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia"instigated tribal" from remote villages to gherao a police station in Kirandul in violation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC, which are in place because of the by-electionscheduled for September 23, 2019. According to the police,the protest obstructed operations of the police station, hence a FIR was registered.It is pertinent to mention here that two alleged Maoists, Lachu Mandavi and one Podiya Sori were killed in the encounter on the intervening night of September 13 and 14, 2019,in a forest near Kutrem village in the Kirandul police station area in Dantewadadistrict. Police claimed that both the Maoists were commanders of Malangir area committee of CPI (Maoist)carrying rewards of Rs fivelakh each for information leading to their capture.According to the activists, the purpose of the FIR is to counter their support for villagers who have been suspicious of the circumstances under which the saidencounter with alleged Maoists took place.Sources informed that Bela Bhatia first raised suspicions about the encounter and the death of the two on being fired uponby district reserve guards (DRG) personnel. The villagers also alleged that the two had in fact been murdered by the forces. On September 15, 2019,Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia visited the place where the alleged encounter took place. On September 16,2019,about 150-200villagers along withBela Bhatia and SoniSori, the sarpanch of the village and her husband,protested claiming that the encounter was fake and the killed were innocent villagers, not Maoists.Sources informed that on the evening of September 16, 2019,the two women activists along with the mother of the villager who was in custody and another villager had submitted a complaint against the extra-judicial killingof Podiya Sori and Lachchu Mandaviand disappearance of Ajay Telam in Kirandul police station. Instead of filing a FIR based on their complaint,the Kirandul police lodged a FIR against the two women activists and others that very evening.They have been wrongly accused of instigating and mobilising the few hundred people who had come on their own volition to Kirandul police station for a peaceful protest against this injustice and to secure the release of Ajay Telam from illegal police custody.It is clearly a retributive action by the police which was intendedto intimidate those speaking up for rightsand against extra-judicial killings.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for an independent investigation into this week’s severe beating of a reporter in India’s east coast state of Andhra Pradesh who has repeatedly criticized a local legislator and the corruption associated with the state’s sand mafia. Those behind this attack, the third this journalist has received in as many years, must be identified, RSF said.

Nagarjuna Reddy, who works for the local Telugu-language daily Neti Surya, was nearly killed in this latest assault, which occurred shortly after he left a police station in the town of Ongole on the evening of 23 September.

He was intercepted by around 25 individuals armed with sticks, steel bars and knives, who took him to an isolated spot, proceeded to beat him and torture him, and finally dumped his body, presumably believing him to be dead. He was found by passers-by who took him to a hospital in the neighbouring town of Chirala, where he is being treated for severe injuries all over his body, including a broken leg.

“He is very badly injured and may be bed-ridden for the next four or five months,” RSF was told by Ravi Kumar, an Ongole-based journalist with the newspaper Sakshi who is a friend of Reddy and who visited him in hospital two days after the attack.

“This is the third major attack on Reddy since 2017,” said Charan Teja, a journalist with The News Minute in the nearby city of Hyderabad. “He had openly said he faced threats to his life from a local politician.” Reddy had even filed a complaint about the threats with the police.

Courageous reporter

“Nagarjuna Reddy embodies a courageous and determined journalism that does not hesitate to investigate the private interests of certain persons when they conflict with the public interest,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“The repeated extremely violent attacks, like the one he has just sustained, are therefore all the more shocking. In view of the widespread corruption prevailing within the local elites, we urge Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy to order an independent enquiry that identifies the real instigators of these attacks and brings them to justice.”

After questioning Reddy in hospital and interviewing his wife, Jyothi, the police announced that they have arrested five individuals. Everything indicates that the attack was motivated by Reddy’s articles about Amanchi Krishna Mohan, a member of the state legislative assembly, and about Mohan’s alleged links with the Chirala sand mafia.

It was Reddy’s coverage of illegal sand mining that prompted the severe beating he received in 2018. “It was the same leg that was broken when he was beaten up by miscreants in 2018,” an Ongole-based journalist told RSF on condition of anonymity.

Police inaction

An extremely violent mob nearly lynched Reddy in the street in February 2017. In a shocking video showing part of this attack, Mohan’s brother can be seen beating Reddy with a steel bar.

A few months later, an independent panel of journalists, lawyers and academics concluded that this attack took place in front of Chirala’s main police station and that the police was looking on without intervening. Worse still, the police subsequently registered complaints against Reddy based on spurious allegations of extortion and deception.

At least six journalists were killed in connection with their work last year in India, which is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

On 11 September 2019,Mr. Ashok Mahindra left his home on his bike in MuktsarSahibcity in Punjab at around 7 pm. As he barely moved a few meters from his house on the street in B R Ambedkar Marghe was attacked from behind and fell down from his bike. He somehow managed to escape from the spot and run towards his house. When he reached home, the two assailants mainly Soma Singh and his father Jaswinder Singh Sinder came to his house and Soma Singh was carrying an iron rod and Jaswinder was having a small baton (lathi). They both started hitting the Mr. Ashok Mahindra indiscriminately with the intention to kill him and after receiving a blow on his neck, he fell down and became unconscious. The assailants were unsuccessful in executing the brutal attack because of the intervention of some of his neighbours and other people at the site of the incident. Fortunately, Mr. Ashok Mahindra survived the attack but he received three severe injuries. His right hand suffered fracture and left hand also got injured. He was immediately rushed to the civil hospital at MuktsarSahib, Punjab. He was admitted in the hospital and treated from 11 September, 2019 to 13 September, 2019.The Station House Officer of the area police station came to record his statement. Although they have registered the case but they have not included IPC section 452 which is imposed for allegedly committing house-trespass, having made preparation for causing hurt to any person or for assaulting any person, or for wrongfully restraining any person. It is alleged that by not including section 452 the police has beenseekingto diminish the enormity of the crime committed against the defender. Mr. Ashok Mahindra was assisting Mr. Kamal Kumar, a Dalit who was attacked with a gun some time back. In his case the police did not invoke the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 against the assailants. The defender lodged a complaint with the Senior Superintendent of Policeof Muktsar Sahib district to charge the accused under these relevant sections. Mr. Ashok Mahindra also organized an agitation in this regard.About three years ago Mr. Ashok Mahindra helped Mr. Gurmeet in filing a police complaint against an accused who attacked Gurmeet with a rifle. On the same day the accused was arrested. According to the sources in the present case the accused are involved in the drug trafficking activities and are suspected to have been hired by the vested interests to target the HRD. Mr. Ashok Mahindra has been a victim of vendetta like so many human rights defenders in the countryand the state and police machineryhas not taken any proactive measures to helpthe victim. They have not taken the accused on remand so far.Pertinent to this particular case of Mr. Ashok Mahindra, it is pointed out that under the Declaration of Human Rights Defenders, it is stated that in the context of human rights violations by third parties, the obligation to protect, first, involves ensuring that defenders do not suffer from violations of their rights by non-State actors. Failure to protect could, in particular circumstances, engage the State‘s responsibility. Even acts and omissions committed by non-State actors under the instructions, control or direction of the State can, under certain circumstances, give rise to State responsibility. Therefore, it is paramount that prompt and full investigations are conducted and perpetrators brought to justice. Failure by States to prosecute and punish such perpetrators is a clear violation of Article 12 ofthe Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

According to sources on September 5, 2019 a criminal case wasfiled against Mr. Ashish Tomar and Mr. Shakeel Ahmadin the Mandwar police station of district Bijnor in Uttar Pradeshunder Sections 153 A (promoting enmity), 268 (nuisance) and 503 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Codeand Section 66 A of the Information TechnologyAct reportedly on a complaint by Senior Sub Inspector Pramod Kumarof the Mandwar police station of district Bijnor.According to the police FIR,reporterswerebooked for trying to vitiate social amity by manipulatingandspreading fake news about “Dalits threatening to leave” at Titarwala Basi village under Mandawar police station after influential Harijan Dalit family prevented them from drawing water from a hand pump.The FIR alleges that the two reporters instigated the Dalits to threatenthat they would leave the village. It further says that on the instigation of the reporters the Dalits put up a sign saying their houses were on sale.According to the journalists,they are being targeted by the police for factual reporting. They informed that the local police was apparently finding itself in an unhappy situation over their reporting on the case of caste discrimination against a Valmiki dalit family in a dalit-majority village in Bijnor district. They confirmed to HRDA that they have recorded versions of the person quoted in the story and the police personnel from Mandawar police station of district Bijnor putpressure on Lokesh Devi of the Valmiki family to add the namesof journalists in the statement given to the police toframe themin a false case. In Uttar Pradesh journalists, writers and activists are facing the risk of getting hounded by the government for exposing stark ground realities. In most scenarios, while doing their job honestly and dedicatedly, journalists being the crusaders of truth often encounter harassment, intimidation and even life-threatening situations. On 31 August, 2019in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, journalistPawan Kumar Jaiswal was booked for criminal conspiracy by the state policefor exposinga roti-salt “meal” being served to roughly 100 schoolchildrenunder the Mid-DayMeal scheme of the government.The FIR against Journalists and human rights defenders Mr. Ashish Tomar of Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran and Mr. Shakeel Ahmad has exposedthe malafide intentions of the local police and is a big blow to the freedom of press.Article 19, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) mandates right to freedom of opinion and expression and is protected in all relevant human rights treaties. Freedom of opinion and expression are fundamental rights that contain both a personal and a social dimension. As per General Comment No. 34 on Freedoms of Speech and Expression, Human Rights Committee has observed that free speech and expression is an “indispensable conditions for the full development of the person”, “essential for any society” and a “foundation stone for every free and democratic society”. Journalists who are human rights defenders as well face major risks as a result of their work. Governments and other powerful actors, seeking to escape scrutiny and stifle dissent, often respond to critical reporting or activism with attempts to silence them. Threats, surveillance, attacks, arbitrary arrest and detention, and, in the gravestcases, enforced disappearance or killings, are too often the cost of reporting the truth. The protection of journalists and human rights defenders, and ending impunity for attacks against them, is a global priority for safeguarding freedom of expression. States are under an obligation to prevent, protect against, and prosecute attacks against journalists and human rights defenders. Creating a safe and enabling environment for their work necessitates legal reform, the creation of special protection mechanisms, and protocols to guide effective investigations and prosecutions where attacks occur. Therefore, the action of the police in the present case tantamount to clampdown on freedom of opinion and expression of the journalists who were just doing their duty of covering action of abuse by Non State actors.

On 8thSeptember2019, Sunday, activists from Human Rights Forum (HRF), a civil rights organisation held a meeting in Shadi Manzil, Nellore, on the abrogation of Article 370, and thealleged human rights violations in Kashmir.

According to sources,a group led by the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) local President Mr.Bellamkonda Malyadri approached police and accused the activists of provoking the people and disrupting peace in the regionand thatthe activists were spreading false narratives and trying to incite violence.Based on the complaint, the Kavali police have filed a case under Sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 153(A) (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) read with Section 34 of IPC (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) against activists Mr. V S Krishna, ,Mr.K Bhaskar and Mr. Mohammed Abzal, a religious leaderand others for organising the meeting.The organisers denied there was any attempt to disturb peace and accused BJP leaders of filing police complaints to stifle opposing voices. Last week, the police had declined permission to Human Rights Forum to hold a meeting on Article 370 in Adoni and Kurnool, in Kurnool district, stating that it may disturb public peace.Article 19 of the Universal Declaration proclaims the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom “to seek, receive and impart information and idea through any medium regardless of frontiers”. Further Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights sets forth the right to freedom of opinion, expression and information. Article 19 (1) (a) guarantees to all its citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Union of India Vs. Association for Democratic Reforms(2002) 5 SCC 294 had observed that “one sided information, and non information, all equally create and uninformed citizenry which makes democracy a farce. Freedom of speech and expression includes right to impart and receive information which includes freedom to hold opinion”, and can be read in the present case through participation in the said meeting.

Ref No: HRDA/South/AP/10/09/2019September 18, 2019ToMr.Khaleel Ahmed National Focal Point -Human Rights Defenders & Deputy RegistrarNational Human Rights CommissionManav Adhikar Bhawan,Block-C, GPO Complex, INA,New Delhi –110 023Email: hrd-nhrc@nic.inDear Sir,Sub:HRD Alert -India –Urgent Appeal for Action –Registration of case for organisinga meeting in protest of abrogation of Article 370 at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh–RegardingGreetings from Human Rights Defenders Alert -India!HRD Alert -India is a Forum of Human Rights Defenders for Human Rights Defenders. It endeavours to initiate actions on behalf of Human Rights Defenders under threat or with security concerns.On behalf of HRDA, we express our grave concern regarding registration of caseagainst human rights defendersfor organising a meeting in protest of abrogation of Article 370 at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.Source of Information on the Incident:•Communication with the HRDs•Media sources•Communication with the activists in the region•The Regional Coordinator for the South & West of IndiaAbout the Human Rights Defenders under attack:•Mr. V S Krishna, is the Member of the State Coordination Committee of Human Rights Forum (HRF)•Mr.K Bhaskar, a member of Progressive Democratic Students Union.The Perpetrators:•Mr.Bellamkonda Malyadri President of Bhartiya Janata Party’s local unit•Mr. M Rosaiah,Circle Inspector (CI) Kavalipolice station Date of Incident:•September 10, 2019Place of Incident:•NelloreDistrict,AndhraPradeshIncident:On 8thSeptember2019, Sunday, activists from Human Rights Forum (HRF), a civil rights organisation held a meeting in Shadi Manzil, Nellore, on the abrogation of Article 370, and thealleged human rights violations in Kashmir. According to sources,a group led by the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) local President Mr.Bellamkonda Malyadri approached police and accused the activists of provoking the people and disrupting peace in the regionand thatthe activists were spreading false narratives and trying to incite violence.Based on the complaint, the Kavali police have filed a case under Sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 153(A) (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) read with Section 34 of IPC (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) against activists Mr. V S Krishna, ,Mr.K Bhaskar and Mr. Mohammed Abzal, a religious leaderand others for organising the meeting.The organisers denied there was any attempt to disturb peace and accused BJP leaders of filing police complaints to stifle opposing voices. Last week, the police had declined permission to Human Rights Forum to hold a meeting on Article 370 in Adoni and Kurnool, in Kurnool district, stating that it may disturb public peace.Article 19 of the Universal Declaration proclaims the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom “to seek, receive and impart information and idea through any medium regardless of frontiers”. Further Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights sets forth the right to freedom of opinion, expression and information. Article 19 (1) (a) guarantees to all its citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Union of India Vs. Association for Democratic Reforms(2002) 5 SCC 294 had observed that “one sided information, and non information, all equally create and uninformed citizenry which makes democracy a farce. Freedom of speech and expression includes right to impart and receive information which includes freedom to hold opinion”, and can be read in the present case through participation in the said meeting. Further, in the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. State (2015) had observed that there are three concepts which are fundamental in understanding the reach of this most basic of human rights which are discussion, advocacy and incitement. Mere discussion or even advocacy of a particular cause howsoever unpopular is at the heart of Article 19(1)(a). It is only when such discussion or advocacy reaches the level of incitement that Article 19(2) kicks in. It is at this stage that a law may be made curtailing the speech or expression that leads inexorably to or tends to cause public disorder or tends to cause or tends to affect the sovereignty & integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, and so on.The protection of human rights defenders is critical to ensure that they are able to work in a safe, supportive environment and be free from attacks and reprisals. Article 21 of the Constitution of India ensures to all its citizen right to life –a life to live without fear, intimidation, harassment or mental torture. Also, The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998 by the UN General Assembly, states that governments are under a duty to “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders by the competent authorities against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions” as a consequence of their efforts to promote human rights. Therefore, the government is bound by its international legal obligations to ensure that all activists and human rights defenders are provided with security against harassment or intimidation so that they may enjoy their constitutional right to due process, life and liberty under Article 21, and the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.In the present case filing unnecessary FIR against Mr. V S Krishna, Mr.Bhaskar and Mr. Mohammed Abzaljust for holdinga meeting on a issue of public importance amounts to denial of right to freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

A journalist from Haryana's Hisar district has been charged with defamation and illegal trespassing by the police for a report showing the mishandling of grains at a government storage facility, in the latest blow to press freedom in the country.

A First Information Report or FIR has been filed against Anoop Kundu on September 8 at the Uklana police station in Hisar district. Mr Kundu was investigating irregularities at the State Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department in Uklana.

The complainant, Assistant Food and Supplies Officer Sandeep Chahal, claimed that the story by the journalist carried a fake video that has been used to defame the department and its officials.

However, the journalist has maintained that his report was accurate and when it aired on his channel, he even received compliments from the food and civil supplies minister Karan Dev Kamboj.

After a protest by local journalists against the filing of the case against Mr Kundu, the district administration has promised that the case will be investigated again.

The incident comes less than two weeks after a case was filed against a journalist in Uttar Pradesh after he exposed how students at a government school were eating rotis with salt as their mid-day meal under a flagship scheme of the central government.

The case triggered massive outrage against the state government.

India dropped two places on a global press freedom index, coming in at 140th out of 180 countries in the annual Reporters Without Borders analysis released in April this year. 19 COMMENTS

"Violence against journalists including police violence, attacks by Maoist fighters and reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt politicians is one of the most striking characteristics of the current state of press freedom in India. At least six Indian journalists were killed in connection with their work in 2018. A number of doubts surround a seventh case, the index noted.

Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement leader Shehla Rashid has been booked for sedition over her tweets in which she alleged that the Armed Forces tortured civilians and ransacked houses in the Valley after Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked, police said on Friday. Rashid has called the charge “frivolous, politically motivated and a pathetic attempt to silence” her.

The case was registered barely a day after reports emerged of the Delhi government saying that it will not be granting police sanction to prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University students – including Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and nine others – who were charged with sedition after an event on campus in February 2016. Like Kumar and Khalid, Rashid was a prominent student leader in the University and was, at that time, the JNU students’ union vice-president.

The state’s home department was quoted by Indian Express as having said that the students should not be prosecuted because their activities “do not amount to sedition against the state”.

Rashid has also been charged with spreading “fake news” with the intention to “malign the image of Indian Army”, police told PTI on Friday.

In a series of tweets on August 17, Rashid had alleged that the armed forces entered houses in Kashmir at night and “ransacked” them. She had also alleged that four men were called to an Army camp in Shopian and “interrogated (tortured)”.

Later, Supreme Court lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava had filed a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, saying that the allegations levelled by the former JNU student leader were “absolutely false and concocted”.

After the complaint was received, it was handed over to the Delhi Police’s special cell for inquiry, the police said. Rashid has been booked under section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was registered on September 3, they said.

Rashid had, meanwhile, stood by her comments and said that she could give proof if the Indian Army was to initiate an inquiry into her claims. On Friday, she responded to news of her charge, with a statement on Twitter.

In it, she stressed that it was “important to put out narratives of the people, so that people in the rest of India know what is happening there.”

The news comes on the same day when four Kashmiri students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were served show-cause notices by university authorities for holding a protest at the campus against the Army’s alleged atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir.

A Kashmiri photojournalist was hit by pellets and three other scribes were injured when personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police allegedly attacked them as they covered a Muharram procession in Srinagar’s Hasanabad area Saturday.

The journalists told ThePrint that police used batons to disperse them and chased after them when they attempted to leave the area. They were caught and beaten with lathis, they added.

The camera of a fifth journalist was allegedly broken by J&K Police personnel in their efforts to stop the coverage of the procession.

The incident took place around 2 pm at the Hasanabad locality of Rainawari area, which has a predominantly Shia population. The photojournalists were in the locality to cover a religious procession on the seventh day of the Islamic month of Muharram.

Shia Muslims commemorate the tragedy of Karbala during the first 10 days of Muharram, where they believe the grandson of Prophet Muhammad was killed along with his companions and family members.

Across the world, Shia mourners take out processions to commemorate Karbala. But such processions have been officially banned in Kashmir since the eruption of the 1989 insurgency.

Each year, Kashmir’s Shia mourners attempt to take out processions in the Valley but it invariably ends in clashes and detentions.

According to the photojournalists, station house officer Rashid Khan ordered his men to beat up the reporters. When the photojournalists tried to flee, they added, police resorted to pellet-firing, which resulted in injury to one of the local scribes.

“I was hit by three pellets, one in the head, one in the shoulder and one in the leg. A local person helped me take them out of my body,” said the injured freelance photojournalist, who wished to remain anonymous.

The three journalists who were allegedly beaten up were Shahid Khan, Mubashir Dar and Bilal Bhat.

“They came and started to yell at me that I shouldn’t cover the procession. Even before I could respond to them, they started beating me. I had to run away,” said Shahid Khan, while showing the injuries he received on his back.

Another photojournalist said the CRPF personnel posted alongside J&K Police tried to intervene and asked them not to hit the scribes. “But they didn’t listen. They just kept hitting the photojournalists till all of us had to flee. I was seeing this from a short distance and managed to run away before police could catch hold of me,” the photojournalist added.

Yasrab Khan, a journalist with the local news channel ANN News said his camera was broken by a policeman chasing him. The area was sealed soon afterwards, making it impossible for journalists to reach local police for a comment.

Muharram restrictions in Srinagar

The state administration has issued directions that no processions will be allowed in Srinagar on 8, 9 and 10 September, and the government is likely to impose strict restrictions from Sunday in view of Muharram.

A senior government official said Saturday that maintaining peace during the last days of Muharram was a top priority for the security forces here.

Senior police assaulted several journalists as they covered violent clashes in Barrackpore, a city in West Bengal, on Sunday, September 1. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in condemning the attack and demanded the police investigate the incident.

The protest by the supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the capture of the party office by The Trinamool Congress (TMC) turned violent. In the clashes, Arjun Singh, the member of the parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered head injuries after he claimed that the police hit him with the baton.

Following the clashes, the police then tried to enter the residence of Arjun Singh. Local reporters were present at the venue to cover the story. In the tense situation, the Deputy Comissioner of Police Barrackpore Ajay Thakur was caught on camera as he hit a journalist. Several other journalists also said that they were assaulted at the same incident.

NUJ India will send a fact-finding committee and urge the state government to set up a high-level judicial committee to probe the incident and punish the guilty police officers for assaulting journalists. NUJ(I) also demand for the enactment of the Journalists Protection Act and call the authorities to ensure the security of the media persons, while covering different events in the states.

Ms. Soni Sori, presently a member of the Aam Admi Party has been a human rights defender who has questioning the arbitrary practices of the state. She is an Adivasi school teacher turned political leader in Sameli village of Dantewada in south Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India. She was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch for Chhattisgarh Police in 2011 on charges of acting as a conduit for Maoists. During her imprisonment, she was allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted by Chhattisgarh state police. By April 2013, the Courts had acquitted her in six of the eight cases filed against her due to lack of evidence. After her release from Jail on Bail in 2014, Soni joined Aam Aadmi Party. Since her return to Chhattisgarh, Soni has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the people. She has not shied from questioning the veracity of alleged encounters of the police, surrenders and the casual attitude of the police in the case of human trafficking. Due to this she has been subject to harassment and constant warnings to stop questioning the police and threatened with dire consequences if she continues. According to sources, on 10th October 2014, a crew from a German television channel based out of Delhi, comprising of one German national and four Indians, had come to interview Soni to document her struggles with a special focus on the custodial torture she was subjected to while imprisoned. Soni took them to her village at Palnar where they met the police station in-charge and even had a small conversation with him wherein the members of the team were introduced. After the completion of the interview the team left for Jagdalpur and Soni went to her home in Geedam. During the period of the interview one of her colleagues at the Aam Admi Party kept receiving phone calls from the local police enquiring about the whereabouts of Soni. In the evening around 8:30 PM, one woman and several men in plain clothes barged uninvited into the house of Soni Sori and started grilling her regarding the identity of the video team. It is pertinent to note that Soni's household is an all-woman household along with three of her children the eldest of whom is only 13 and the youngest is just 8. While Soni did not recognize all of them she did recognize a few of them as members of the local police of Geedam. Some of the members kept questioning Soni, few of the others barged into the other rooms including the bathroom and started searching and looking around. Despite Soni's demands asking them to leave her house they continued with the questioning. Furthermore, these persons refused to answer all questions of Soni regarding their identity, but continued their questions regarding the crew. The team then went on to state that Soni should have immediately informed the police regarding the coming of the team and in future she should inform them about any people visiting her and provide details regarding the purpose of the visit. By the time the team left, Soni's family was quite shaken up, especially her children, as they had thought that the team had come to once again arrest Soni and put her in jail. Previously also Soni was subjected to a barrage of questions when a couple of filmmakers had come to document her election story. After this incident Soni filed a complaint with the Superintendent of Police regarding the harassment and illegal intrusion by the police into her place of residence at night. The Superintendent assured to take action on the case. However, the very next day to the filing of the complaint, a local newspaper carried a report claiming that "a foreign national' had come to Bastar to meet the local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and went on to imply that Soni Sori had assisted in organizing these meetings. The report also questioned the identity of the German National as a journalist by referring to him as an "alleged journalist.' All these allegations are completely baseless and a grave violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under the Constitution. No one from the team either met any members of the CPI (Maoist) or even intended to meet any Maoist. All the journalists are from "ARD First German TV' and their names including that of the German National Gabor Halasz are included in the list of journalists accredited by PIB (Press Information Bureau). The journalists including Mr Gabor after completing their interview with Soni Sori left for Raipur and did not meet anyone in the forest. Moreover, at no point did the team evade the local police. In Raipur the team met Additional Director General of Naxal Operations R.K.Vij on 11th October and informed him of the purpose of their meeting with Soni Sori and the reasons for it. There is no requirement in Soni Sori's bail condition that she has to provide immediate information to the police about any people who come to meet her. Such demands are arbitrary and in complete violation of her fundamental rights. Furthermore, by hindering the media and placing unreasonable obstructions on the freedoms of the press, which is of extreme importance in a conflict zone, the avenues to seek justice for Human Rights Defenders like Soni Sori become even more limited.

According to sources, On 1 September 2014, officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested two social activists, Arun Bhelake and Kanchan Nanavare, as suspected naxalites in Pune. They were given third degree treatment and made to issue a statement. This statement was used by ATS to implicate other progressive social activists in this alleged arrest case. Then the Bharatiya Republican Paksha Bahujan Mahasangha's Govandi Corporator Mr. Arun Kamble, Republican Panther's Jaatiant Movement's State President Sharad Gaikwad, Rahul Seva Mandal's President Shankar Patil, Kabir Kalamach's Rupali Jadhav from Pune and mass movement's key members from Pune were summoned to the ATS office in Pune for "enquiry". They were made to sit at the office for the entire day after which their statements were recorded. They were called to the ATS office multiple times for interrogation and the same questions were repeated a number of times. While a person is expected to cooperate with the authorities for an enquiry for a legitimate case, ordering them to come to Pune every now and then, under the pretext of enquiry and making them confess as per incorrect statements under coercion is mental harassment. These activists were asked to disclose name, address and contact details of other members from the above mentioned organisations. Some are persons whose names are not even remotely connected with this case and do not have any summons been issued or pending against them. This act of ATS is clearly an attempt to intimidate the members of these organisations and members of civil society. On the 28th of September, the police entered Dalit human rights defender Sudhir Dhawale's Govandi residence and conducted a search without any warrant or summons after which they interrogated him.[Earlier on 15 May 2014, after 40 months, Gondia Session Court had acquitted Sudhir Dhawale. He was falsely booked for waging war against the state under section 121 of the Indian Penal Code and charged with sedition (Sec 124) and booked under Sections 17, 20 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). However, the police continue to harass him]. The police bundled him into a van and escorted him to Deonar police station where they confiscated his mobile phone after which Dhawale was made to give a written statement.

Mr. Ojing Tasing, President of Siang People's Forum North Eastern State of Arunachal Pradesh has been fighting against the government's plan to construct the Lower Siang Hydro Electric Project. He and his organization were opposed to the construction of a dam for the project saying it would affect 6,708 households with a population of 34,911. The entire Rs 13,000 crore Lower Siang Hydro Electric Project is likely to affect more than 50 villages in Upper, East and West Siang districts being inhabited by the Adi community people since time immemorial. The organisation was also apprehensive that 15,000 odd migrant labourers to be engaged by the company would jeopardise the existence of the tribal population in these districts with only 54 per cent indigenous population. As a result of their effective advocacy of the negative consequences of this dam on the indigenous people of the basin, the proposed 2700 Mega Watt has been halted. However, this successful struggle of indigenous people came with a heavy price for the leaders of the movement, who selflessly fought for the rights of their fellow beings. The local administration has clamped Ojing Tasing with charges in the Yingkiong Police Station case no. 7/12, under sections 427/147/148/149/506/341/109/34 of the Indian Penal Code. His colleagues, namely Mr. Sokun Siboh, Mr. Obuk Gao, Mr. Mak Yirang and Mr. Magyar Lego have also been clamped with the similar charges since May 2012. Mr. Tasing and his colleagues have to regularly appear every month before the Judicial Magistrate First Class Yingkiong Court, which is 73 kilometres away from their houses and have to take the dilapidated hill road which is impossible to travel during rainy seasons. The long drawn legal battle has caused much physical and financial hardship to the human rights defenders.

According to human rights organization Makkal Mandram, on the night of 23rd September 2014, at around 11.30 PM, one of their workers Poovarasan was woken up by a team of 5 policemen and taken to the Kaveripakkam Police Station. This team of five police men consisted of Kandiban Inspector (SHO), Mohan Special Sub Inspector, Sundar Constable (SB), Kadiresan Writer, and the Inspector's driver. At the Station, they stripped him naked, tied his hands behind his back, and all five of them proceeded to beat him black and blue with their batons. After some time, a baton was inserted under one arm and pushed underneath the other arm so that he was raised high in the air by two policemen while Mohan SI beat him severely on the soles of his feet and shins with a baton. Then he was ordered to keep his hands open in front, and Kandiban brutally caned both his palms till these became swollen and numb due to lack of circulation. Then they made him jump up and down or shake his hands vigorously to bring back the blood circulation, and the police again started the process of beating him black and blue. Two policemen held him down forcefully by standing atop him with their boots; meanwhile, a third policeman thrashed him on the buttocks and waist. Two batons were forcibly thrust into his mouth; one was twisted into the jaw bone and the other was pressed against the roof of his mouth. They also kicked him in the chest, thighs, and back with their booted feet. In between these beatings, he was given several jars of pain relief balm to apply on palms and soles. The moment the pain reduced a bit, the brutal beatings would start again. All the time, he was continuously abused by filthy language with caste derogatory curses. The inspector Mr. Kandiban demanded to know "do you think you are such a big shot that you will stop sand mining'. This vicious treatment went on from 2.00 am till 6.00 am. All five of them took turns assaulting him brutally for the entirety of these hours. By this time, he was no longer in a position to sit or stand and was barely conscious. But Poovarasan was chained to a table with an iron chain and left in that position till the next morning. At 7.00 AM the next morning (24-9-14), Poovarasan's father accompanied by a lawyer and some relatives reached the police station. The lawyer and others noticed that his left hand and both feet had swollen conspicuously. His right jaw bone had a guava-sized bulge. His buttocks and waist were puffy and thoroughly bruised. He could neither stand up straight nor take a step. He could not even sit up. When they helped him up, he coughed up blood. The lawyer protested to this treatment but they did not release him from his chains till 11.00 am. At 11.30 am, Poovarasan was sent to the District Munsif cum Judicial Magistrate - I Court for remand under the charge of a Head Constable. Before leaving the station, he was threatened not to reveal anything about the abuse he had suffered to the court. There was no complaint against him. The Inspector had booked a case against him under Sections 294 (A) (using abusive language) and Section 506 (I) (criminal intimidation). The Judicial Magistrate Ms. Gayathri Devi took one look at him and asked him what had happened. He narrated the entire episode of police brutality in custody. She returned the remand by asking the police constable to take the prisoner to Wallajahpet Government Hospital for medical examination and come back with the doctor's opinion as there were many visible injuries on his person. At the hospital, Dr. Suganya, duty doctor in the emergency ward, only made a cursory examination of the victim and did not make the mandatory Accident Register (AR) entry. It appeared that the Kaveripakkam police had already contacted her. By this time, a team of lawyers from Makkal Mandram had reached the hospital. They insisted that the AR entry should be made properly. She rudely told them to leave the place and said she would make the entries later. The team of lawyers met the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital immediately and insisted that the mandatory medico-legal procedure be followed with due care so that an accurate and genuine medical record can be made available to the court. The Medical Superintendent immediately called up Dr. Sukanya and reprimanded her for not doing her duty properly and instructed her to record an entry in the AR at once. It was only after this laborious insistence that the incident information-names and details of assaulters, details of injuries, locations, as well as other facts-was recorded in the hospital records. There appeared to be at least four fractures apart from multiple other injuries. Back in court, as he was not in a condition to walk, Poovarasan was left lying in the ambulance with his father by his side, while two constables guarded it outside. A few policemen and Makkal Mandram's team of lawyers went back into the court. The Judicial Magistrate was looking at the remand papers once again. Meanwhile, the Inspector of Kaveripakkam Station arrived along with a few constables, boarded the ambulance and unlawfully ordered the driver of the ambulance to take it away. The driver drove it out of the court premises at considerable speed. Inside it, the Inspector threatened Poovarasan and his father that he would destroy their entire family if Poovarasan did not retract his statement to the court. Poovarasan's father called Makkal Mandram's advocate on his cell phone immediately and Poovarasan cried out into the phone, "sir please save me, I don't know where they are taking me. The inspector is threatening me with dire consequences.' The advocate switched on the loudspeaker in his cell phone so that the Judicial Magistrate's clerk could hear it as well. On being informed, the Judicial Magistrate got infuriated and ordered the court police to call all their departmental officers back into court at once with the ambulance or else she would take strict action against them. She also rang up the Superintendent of Police Vellore and gave him a telephonic report about the abduction of Poovarasan by Kaveripakkam police from the court premises. As there were no options for further intimidation left, the ambulance was forced to return to the court. The Judicial Magistrate admonished the Inspector of Kaveripakkam PS and gave him a stern warning in open court. The DSP Arakkonam rushed to the spot and tried to mediate a compromise. Poovarasan, his family and Makkal Mandram refused it and instead demanded justice for him and punishment for the guilty officers. The Judicial Magistrate released Poovarasan on bail by mentioning in the order "apart from the merits of the case, the court is inclined to enlarge the accused on bail considering his injuries and treatment'. The Judicial Magistrate also recorded this incident in writing and forwarded it to the higher authorities.

Two days after she was released on court orders, civil rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila was re-arrested on Friday by the police, on fresh charges of attempt to commit suicide and forcibly taken away to a city hospital from a makeshift shelter where she was continuing her fast. "We have re-arrested her this morning and will produce her in the CJM court later in the day on charges of attempt to commit suicide (Section 309 of IPC)," Manipur ADG (Intelligence) Santosh Macherla said. A local court in Imphal had on Tuesday absolved 42-year-old Sharmila of charges of attempt to commit suicide by means of fasting after which she walked out of a hospital-turned-prison on Wednesday. "The court released her for her past act. Now she is again refusing to take food and water and resisting any medical check-up as well. Her health is deteriorating and now she will be kept at the same Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital ward where she was kept earlier," said Macherla. Her medical check-up will be done and she will be force fed once again through nose, he said. Earlier in the day, she was forcibly taken away by the police to a city hospital from a makeshift shelter outside the hospital where she was continuing her fast after being released from detention. Women police personnel took her to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Science and Hospital for a medical-check-up after she refused to eat or drink, the police said. Before she was whisked away on Friday morning, officials said her condition was deteriorating, and that doctors tried to feed her through the nose, but she refused. Sharmila had refused to take food even after being released. UPDATE: 9 August 2016 - After 16 years, it was a lick of honey that did it. The world's longest hunger strike ended on Tuesday when an Indian human rights campaigner gave up her protest against state violence but pledged to continue the fight in the political arena. Crinkling her face at the taste of food, Irom Sharmila, 44, from the troubled north-eastern state of Manipur, finished the fast she began in 2000 after the Malom massacre - when 10 people were reportedly killed by a government-run paramilitary group near the city of Imphal. "I will never forget this moment," said Sharmila, whose solo protest had become a symbol of Manipur's resistance against state violence. At the start, she vowed not to eat until the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which grants the military immunity from judicial scrutiny in disturbed areas. But years of fruitless struggle have driven her to try a different route. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Sharmila said she wanted to topple Manipur's incumbent chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh, whom she accuses of presiding over years of insurgency and corruption. "I've been the real embodiment of revolution," she said. "I want to be chief minister now. I know nothing about politics and academia. My education is very, very low. Everything I have I will use for the positive, for society." Sitting on a plastic chair outside the Jawaharlal Nehru hospital, Sharmila burst into tears as she tasted honey for the first time in 16 years. During that time she had been fed only by drip while in police custody. Doctors had told colleagues she would not survive for long without food or water. Now they fear that her body may struggle to cope, and have advised a liquid diet as she starts to eat and drink again. Sharmila is charged with attempted suicide - a crime in India - and was granted bail on Tuesday afternoon by Judge L Tonsing at a court in Imphal after announcing her intention to break her hunger strike. In court, she refused to plead guilty to the charge, and insisted that she should be freed. Some of her supporters have expressed anger at her decision to break her fast before her goal was reached. Tokpam Somorendra, who lost his son Shantikumar, in the Malom massacre, said: "She has not fought for herself, or for someone she knows, but for all of us. She has fought our struggle. For me, she is next to God. But why did she take this decision so suddenly?" Speaking to reporters at her hospital bedside, Sharmila said: "Let them kill me, the way they killed Mahatma Gandhi with their blood ... People remain negative towards me, they want to think of me with the tube, without any desires, just as a symbol of resistance. This is my right to choice. I have the right to be seen as a human being." The end of her hunger strike coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Quit India movement, Gandhi's non-violent resistance against British colonisers in India. This timing was interpreted by some as a shrewd political move from Sharmila that would highlight what many see as the betrayal of Gandhi's vision for a free and democratic post-independence India. AFSPA was passed by a Congress party government under India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, but has been used by successive governments to squash separatist movements in many states. Addressing the current prime minister directly, Sharmila said: "I want to tell Narendra Modi: Mr Prime Minister, you may indulge in your violence. But as a civilisation we need non-violence, we need an India without this draconian law." Political parties have already made approaches to Sharmila's friends, but she has said she does not know which party she will join, or whether she will run as an independent candidate. "She is above politics," said Somorendra. "She has already achieved so much in the last 16 years. Military violence has gone down because of her and the awareness she has raised. For 16 years, people can't object to anything she has stood for. If she joins politics, opposition will come." Amnesty International said: "Irom Sharmila's decision to break her hunger strike gives India another chance to start a dialogue and recognise how the AFSPA has alienated Manipur for over 35 years."