Ethiopian girls ‘rescued’ from Military Intelligence Officials house

New Delhi, March 21: Two Ethiopian girls “rescued” this morning by a television channel team from the house of a Military Intelligence (MI) official in Delhi Cantonment where they had been allegedly “illegally detained” added a twist to the tale by telling South West District police that they had come to the official’s residence of their own accord.

However, police booked Samarawit (19) and Rehal (23) under the Foreigners Act after discovering that the girls who had come to India on a six-month business visa in June 2006 had overstayed. “At first we suspected that they might have been sexually assaulted so we sent them to Safdarjang Hospital for a medical examination but they refused,” a senior police officer said. Police officials said the girls could barely speak English.

Samarawit and Rehal were picked up in the morning from the P-10 Shankar Vihar, Defence Enclave residence of Army Major Rajeev Siroha after a television crew which was in the area inquiring about the two girls spotted a police team. “Our men were there on a routine job. The television crew came to them and informed that two girls had been illegally detained,” a senior South West District police official said.

The two girls were brought to the Delhi Cantonment police station but they insisted they had gone to Siroha’s residence on their own. “They have given us a statement that they had not been harassed by anybody,” a senior police officer said.

Senior MI officials reached the spot and said the girls were part of a secret operation and had been picked up by Military Intelligence for questioning in a drug smuggling case. Samarawit and Rehal told police they had gone to the Pegs and Pints pub in Chanakyapuri last night and were brought to Siroha’s house past midnight. “It is for the MI to sort out what exactly happened,” a senior police officer said.

The girls told police they had met an Indian in Ethiopia, adding: “He asked us to come to India from where he promised he would send us to USA. But after we came here the man disappeared. The man claimed that he represented a Hyderabad-based NGO.”

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=227916

Amnesty Press Release on West Bengal Killings

AI Index: ASA 20/008/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 050, 15 March 2007

India: Deaths in West Bengal due to police firing during protests against new industrial project
Amnesty International is deeply concerned at reports of the use of excessive and unnecessary force by police in West Bengal (Eastern India) against farmers protesting proposed displacement by the state government for a new industrial project, which has resulted in deaths of at least 14 persons and injuries.

Several reports say that, on 14 March, at least ten people were reportedly shot dead by police and at least 150 persons were injured in the shooting and other incidents of violence. This was after more than 4,000 officers of the West Bengal state police, aided by supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which leads the ruling Left Front in the state, cordoned off Bhangabehara and six other nearby areas of protest at Nandigram in Eastern Midnapore district, and sought to clear the area of protestors and barricades put up by them to prevent the entry of government officials.

The reports said the police, facing groups of demonstrators armed with sticks and pelting stones, reportedly fired rubber bullets and teargas canisters to clear them, but later also fired live rounds at the protestors. According to several reports, the police continued to shoot at protestors even as they were fleeing.

Some reports say that 23 bodies of villagers were brought to various hospitals. Human rights activists have reported that local residents have brought 47 persons with bullet injuries including women and children to hospitals in Nandigram, Tamluk and Kolkata for treatment. The police, while admitting that several protestors were killed in the firing, have, however, claimed that four of the protestors died in clashes and when a home-made bomb they were preparing exploded. The police have also stated that among the injured were 42 policemen.

Apart from the police firing, reports speak of several persons injured in clashes between protesting farmers led by Krishjami Raksha Samiti (Save Farmland Committee) and the police who were being aided by supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which leads West Bengal’s Left Front government.

Human rights activists have reported that both the CPI (M) supporters and police continue to conduct raids on homes and have detained an unspecified number of persons. Reports also say that the CPI (M) supporters prevented media persons and opposition leaders from reaching the area on March 14 and illegally detained two media persons covering the violent events on that day.

In this context, Amnesty International urges the Government of West Bengal to:

* order a prompt, impartial and independent inquiry into the Nandigram police shootings and violence and make the findings public;
* ensure that all state officials, including police personnel, who are suspected of perpetrating human rights violations are prosecuted;
* release those detained without any criminal charges at Nandigram and
* ensure that, while law and order should be maintained, those who are engaged in peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of assembly and speech are able to do so without fear of violence, harassment or false accusation of involvement in criminal activities.


Moreover, Amnesty International believes that full consultations about the human rights impact of economic decisions with those to be affected are vital means through which human rights are safeguarded in the context of development. In this respect, the organisation reiterates its January 11 demands that the Government of West Bengal should:

* announce and implement a consistent policy of full consultation with local populations before any development which could affect their livelihood can take place and
* ensure that, where it is proposed to resettle populations, there is just, adequate and culturally-sensitive rehabilitation, resettlement and reparation for those affected.


Background
Since December 2006 Nandigram has witnessed frequent violence after farmers started protests against possible displacement following a notification issued by authorities at the neighbouring Haldia port identifying their lands as sites to be acquired for a new chemical production project.

The project reportedly requires at least 4,000 hectares of land for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which would be jointly developed as a chemical hub by the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation and the Indonesia-based Salem group of companies. Another SEZ promoted by the same group is also reportedly planned in the Haldia area.

In January this year, six persons were killed in violent clashes involving members of the Save Farmland Committee and persons linked to the CPI (M) which is seeking to accelerate industrial development in West Bengal. Following this, the state government announced the withdrawal of the notification and stated that it would “exercise caution” while going ahead with this project. Nevertheless, in February, Nandigram witnessed frequent violent protests. A state intelligence official was killed and a woman CPI (M) supporter was allegedly subjected to sexual assault and murdered by a section of the protestors. These events have yet to be fully investigated.

The protests at Nandigram followed unrest in Singur (West Bengal), when opposition parties and a number of farmers threatened with displacement by a state government move to acquire farm land for a Tata Motors’ automobile manufacturing project staged demonstrations. The West Bengal state government plans to set up at least six other major industrial projects, including SEZs, in the state, necessitating the acquiring of at least 10,000 hectares of land.

In a bid to boost national economic growth, India has been promoting SEZs across the country. The policy of acquiring land for such industrial projects has sparked protests from local communities fearing land displacement and threats to their livelihood.

Terrorism: Biased Investigation

One more blast took place on 10th February 2007 in Nanded, city in the remote interiors of Mahrashtra, in the wee of hours of the morning. On the day next, the initial media reports did describe it as a blast. It took place in a biscuit shop, Amol Biscuits. It was a low key reporting in the media. In this blast one person, Pandurang Amilkanthwar, died instantly and another, Dyaneshwar Manikkwar, suffered 70% of burns and succumbed to his injuries on sixth day. In the initial statement, Manikwar said that it was an electric short-circuit. The next day he retracted his statement to say that he and Pandurang had deliberately put fire by using petrol to claim the insurance money as they were having financial problems.

Police and a section of media promptly accepted this version and stated that there was no political angle involved in the case, overlooking the fact that Pandurang was a Shiv Sena Shakha Pramukh, who was close to Bajrang Dal also. Just to recapitulate a year ago (April 6, 2006), in Nanded, in a blast two Bajrang Dal workers were killed while making a bomb. The police explained it as a burst of crackers. But the impact of the blast was too strong and the police version stood exposed. The blast shattered the windows in the surrounding area of over a Kilometer. The house search revealed the powerful bomb, with timer and remote control, after which the Inspector General of police conceded that it was a bomb blast and that those involved in the blast are the members of Bajrang Dal. Local papers reported that a diary has been found at the spot, which has the details of bomb making techniques and other relevant information. The local BJP MP stated that it was a minor incident. Meanwhile all the top leadership of RSS, VHP visited the hospital to see the injured and mourn the dead.

The police did arrest some fourteen people, who were close associates of the one's who died. But they were all released, as the charges under which they were arrested related to minor offense only. Also the police/state pleader had no objections if the bail was granted to the arrested ones. The Bajrang Dal chief and other activists of the dal were left untouched despite the correlation of blasts with this RSS affiliate. Anti Terrorist Squad Inspector General K.P.Raghuvanshi stated that the explosives and other weapons seized on the spot indicate that they were being trained in making bombs and operating firearms. They also started investigating the possible involvement of Bajrang Dal, a RSS affiliate, in a blast outside a mosque in Parbhani, two years ago.

One recalls that there were series of episodes and blasts in Maharashtra in Parbhani, Purna, Jalna, Mumbai and Malegaon. The most disturbing of these was the train blast in Mumbai, July 11 2006 and Malegaon September 8, 2006. The timing of blasts shows a clear pattern, barring in Mumbai, it was outside the mosques and in the afternoons. In the aftermath of Mumbai train blasts hundreds of Muslim youth were recklessly arrested in the Malvani area of Mumbai. In other places also many youth were put behind the bars on the slightest suspicion. This bias in police attitude was so blatant that in Malvani, the local people took the procession to the police station to get the innocent youth released. In Malegaon blast also, which took place on the day of Shab-e-Barat out side the Mosque near Bada kabristan, police acted on the ground that Muslim groups are involved in the process. Here also the arrests were mostly of those who had minority identity. Some of those with previous SIMI connection were the easy target. The local Muslim community was so disgusted with the attitude of the state and the police that it refused to accept the relief offered by the Chief Minister of the state under whose nose the biased attitude of police is clearly discernible. Interestingly in Malegaon police had been on high alert during the Ganapati festival, and dropped guards when it was Shab-e-Barat. The premise being that it is Muslims who create problem during Hindu festivals, else all is heavenly peace. The police had failed to take adequate precautions on a day prior to Shab-e-barat. They also expressed their frustration by boycotting the meeting called by minority commission and the panel which went to study the situation in the city.

The brain mapping and narco test of Nanded blast accused of 2006, revealed that Nanded was acting as the Bomb Nirmiti Kendra (Center for Making Bombs), guided and supported by the state level VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders. The plan was to make explosions in front of mosques on Friday Afternoons around 2 PM, when the attendance in the mosques is maximum. Himanshu Panse the one who died while making a bomb is known to have stated that unless, Hindus do the blasts near Mosques, it will be perceived as if Hindus are Hijras. The blasts are the only way to stop the attacks like the one in Varanasi and Delhi.

Coming on the heels of this Malegaon episode, the explanation given for the current, 2007, Nanded incident was very puzzling. The Citizens Committee, which investigated the incident points out that the deceased changed his statement within hours. In the current event, a scooter parked on the side of the road at some distance got burnt, the presence of nails and blades, gas cylinder in the room remaining unaffected and some food items not catching fire, indicated that there is a possibility of blasts. The committee amongst others comprised of the retired High Court judge of Mahrashtra, Justice Kolse Patil and noted social worker, Teesta Setalvad. The committee with the help of on sight inspections, interviews and opinions of forensic experts concludes that it was not a short circuit fire. The available evidence leads it to opine that it might have been an explosion caused due to an accident during the preparation of liquid bomb. It might have been due to combination of liquid inflammable substances. Surprisingly similar techniques have also been used in causing the blast in Samjhauta Express, in which most of those killed were poor Muslims.

One wonders what is happening to the investigations in such matters of serious concern. The contrast in the treatment of accused of two religious communities is glaringly obvious. We know the attitude and high handedness of state and police authorities in dealing with Mumbai and Malegaon blasts, one has seen the ?promptness? of the authorities in apprehending any body from the Muslim minority even on the slightest pretext and to keep such a person in the custody on one ground or other. There are too many gory tales about the lock up deaths and the type of treatment meted out to some of the accused. In the case, of Nanded blasts, the one of 2006 and the one of 2007, despite the narco test report and brain mapping the inaction shown by authorities concerned is totally baffling. The new police commissioner of Mumbai, Dhananjay Jadhav, has stated that tackling terrorism will be on the top of his priority list. What does he mean? Will he at least try to look at all the evidence in an impartial way to punish the guilty and protect the innocent? Will he break the shackles of prejudices binding the police force while dealing with the minorities? If that?s what he means, it is a welcome sign for the state riddled with so many acts of terror. There needs a turn around in the policy of the state government and police officials who have been taking a blind partisan view and attitude in the investigation of the events like this.

The conclusions reached by the committee, more so in the wake of earlier similar blast in Nanded, and the efforts to present sop stories to cover up the incidents point to the deeper conspiracy hatched by groups equally insane and fanatic as the one?s belonging to Al Qaeda are. What is surprising is that the so called secular government of Maharashtra which got elected on the secular ground, on the ground that it will implement the Shrikrishna commission report which it never did of course, has been very biased in its policies as reflected in the investigations done in the cases of Mumbai and Malegaon blasts. It has failed to connect up the Nanded blasts of April 2006 and has treated these incidents with jaundiced vision. None of the functionaries of Bajarang Dal have been taken to task, and the parent organization of Bajrang Dal, RSS sits pretty. Its time Central government intervenes, and inquiry of all the terror incidents in Maharashtra is handed over to CBI or preferably to the committee headed by a judge of impeccable credentials. Are Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh listening?

Kashmir "staged" killings must be probed - HRW

NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The alleged killing of innocent Kashmiris by Indian security forces in staged gunbattles must be independently investigated, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The New York-based group also wants India to establish a "credible and independent" commission to probe the disappearance of thousands of people from the Himalayan region since 1989, the year a separatist Muslim revolt against New Delhi's rule erupted.

"The Indian security forces have 'disappeared' countless people in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989 and staged fake encounter killings while fabricating claims that those killed were militants," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said.

Last month, security forces started investigations into recent incidents in which policemen allegedly murdered five civilians.

Their bodies were then believed to have been passed off as militants shot in self-defence to earn cash rewards and medals.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered a judicial probe into those incidents, which have sparked deep anguish and violent protests across the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley.

But Human Rights Watch has doubts about its credibility.

"We welcome judicial inquiries into encounter killings, but given the government's track record, there is reason to be sceptical," Adams said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch also said it had been told by Indian security officials on condition of anonymity that fake encounter killings in Kashmir are common.

Indian authorities have so far arrested eight policemen, including two senior officers, who are accused of killing the five civilians last year on the outskirts of Indian Kashmir's summer capital of Srinagar.

On Thursday, relatives of people who have disappeared held a protest in Srinagar, shouting "Where are our dear ones?", and holding pictures of the missing persons.

The Kashmir-based Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons has also called for a probe into the disappearance of around 10,000 people.

But authorities say the number of missing people is between 1,000 and 3,000, and deny allegations that people disappear from custody.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in a revolt, officials say. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing. (Additional reporting by Sheikh Mushtaq in Srinagar)

Soldiers kill 3 businessmen in India's troubled northeast

The Associated Press, Published: January 24, 2007

GAUHATI, India: Government soldiers fatally shot three businessmen, mistaking them for separatist militants, in India's troubled northeast on Wednesday amid a surge of violence ahead of India's national day celebrations, police said.

The three were shot after ignoring orders to stop their motorbikes near Geleki, a town 350 kilometers (215 miles) east of Gauhati, the Assam state capital, said B. J. Mahanta, a top police officer. Two died instantly and a third died at the hospital.

Mahanta said the soldiers could face murder charges once a police investigation into the shootings is complete.

Meanwhile, suspected rebels shot and killed a governing Congress party member, Chandra Chetia, outside his home on Tuesday night in Naharkotia, a town 550 kilometers (340 miles) east of Gauhati, said Absar Hazarika, the local state administrator.

The shooting followed nearly half a dozen bomb attacks on Monday and Tuesday which killed at least one person and wounded up to 25 others in the state.'

Chetia, 48, was the fourth Congress party member killed since the United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA — a rebel group fighting for a separate homeland in Assam state — stepped up its violent campaign earlier this month after peace talks with the federal government failed.

Suspected insurgents set off a roadside bomb near Tinsukia, a town nearly 500 kilometers (315 miles) east of Gauhati, on Wednesday, but there were no casualties, police said.

The Congress party has governed Assam state since 2001.

Separatists have killed more than 70 people this month, 65 of them from Assam's Hindi-speaking minority, in a spate of shootings and bombings.

No group has claimed responsibility although police suspect the ULFA.

The ULFA has urged people in the state to boycott the national day celebrations. India's Republic Day falls on Jan. 26 and marks the adoption of the country's constitution in 1950.

On Tuesday, key Congress party leader Rupeshwar Borgohain, survived unhurt after six suspected rebels fired at his home with AK-47 assault rifles in the Sivasagar district, said B. J. Mahanta, a senior police officer.

At least 10,000 people in Assam, most of them civilians, have died over the last three decades in fighting between government forces and separatists.

The militants say the central government in New Delhi — 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west — exploits the northeast's rich natural resources while ignoring the region's एकोनोम्य.

Falsely labeled a terrorist, Kashmiri model walks free

New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) Indian Kashmiri model Tariq Dar walked out of the high security Tihar Jail here a free man Wednesday evening after the police dropped the terrorism charge that had forced him to spend 90 harrowing days in custody.

'It feels good to be free. I have all along been insisting the charges against me were false and now I have been vindicated,' Dar declared as he came out of prison to an emotional reunion with his family and friends.

Dar was arrested in Bangladesh Sept 16 while on a modeling assignment on suspicion of being an agent of India's spy agency Research and Analysis Wing. The Dhaka Police said they had also found some forged travel documents on him.

Deported on Oct 25 on the request of the Indian external affairs ministry, Delhi Police arrested Dar on his arrival here and charged him with links to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit. On Wednesday, the last day of his 90-dday remand, the police sheepishly conceded the charge could not stick - drawing the ire of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini.

'I cannot retrain myself from observing that there is a very sorry state of affairs in the Delhi Police,' Maini thundered.

'It's astonishing that without an iota of evidence against him, Dar was kept in custody for 90 long days, which could be a lifetime for any common citizen. Police must learn the meaning of individual freedom as enshrined in the constitution,' she maintained.

TV news channel CNN-IBN had run a campaign to secure his release.

While the police said that Dar's name had figured during the interrogation of Mohammad Issa, a suspect in the 2005 New Delhi blasts who named Dar as his facilitator in India, a CNN-IBN expose revealed the police had picked up the wrong man.

On Wednesday, the police admitted in court that this was indeed so and that they had not been able to gather any incriminating evidence against him.

Prior to his incarceration here, Dar had spent 40 days in a Dhaka jail.

Not surprisingly, the model's father Gazi Ghulam Nabi Dar, who had spearheaded a campaign for his son's release from jail and had also enlisted the support of several Kashmiri leaders, was angry over the episode.

'This system of 90-days police custody must come to an end,' he told reporters outside Tihar Jail.

'A period of one month is enough for any investigative agency to ascertain if someone is a criminal. Keeping people in custody for three months merely on a suspicion is too much,' he maintained.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service

‘No innocent should suffer like my son’

Tushar Srivastava, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, January 24, 2007

Tariq Ahmed Dar, till a few years back, was a known face in print commercials of top brands in Bangladesh. A successful businessman, Dar was somewhat of a star in Dhaka’s modelling circuit.

In less than six months, all that changed. The most published star of Bangladesh was labelled “a spy and a terrorist”. The Bangladesh Rapid Action Force arrested Dar on September 15 last year on charges of spying for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He was allegedly kept in illegal detention for 40 days, tortured, and finally deported to India.

As soon as he landed at the Delhi airport on September 25, Dar was arrested for his ‘alleged’ links with the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. With a suspect in the Delhi blasts of October 2005 also going by the same name, it was a case of mistaken identity.

For Dar’s family, the arrest came as a rude shock. His father, Gulam Nabi Dar, is a well-know poet. He spent almost all his resources to get his son released, but nothing happened. He even ran a campaign and also enlisted the support of several Kashmiri politicians. The family had almost given up.

Dar’s case got a boost when the Amnesty International and the Indian external affairs ministry intervened. “No innocent should suffer like this,” said Gulam Nabi Dar. The family was a regular at the Dhaka International Trade Fair.

“Tariq started his own business in Bangladesh in June last year,” said Imtiaz, his younger brother. “He was doing well. At his friend’s insistence, he started modelling and became a huge success,” Imtiaz said. He even won the Mr Bangladesh contest in 2003, and that was when, his family said, he was noticed by the Bangladeshi intelligence agencies. Since he was an Indian national, his participation aroused suspicion. The Dars are now planning to produce a movie on Tariq’s experience. No points for guessing who will play the lead role in the movie.

Email Tushar Srivastava: tushar@hindustantimes.comThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Court drops charges against Tariq Dar

NDTV Correspondent, Wednesday, January 24, 2007 (New Delhi):

Kashmiri model Tariq Dar has spent the last three months in jail on charges of being a terrorist. But in a major embarrassment, the Delhi police had no evidence against him.

At a sessions court in Delhi it took less than an hour for the judge to dismiss all terror charges against 28-year-old Tariq, who was arrested last October.

Tariq was deported from Bangladesh last September where he was working as a model, apparently because Dhaka suspected he had terror links and in October he was arrested.

The police and intelligence agencies said he was the "logistics man" for the Lashkar-e-Toiba, channeling money from Bangladesh into the Kashmir valley.

But today was the last day for the police to file their charge sheet and without any evidence against Dar, they had to close the case altogether.

Legitimate reasons

Tariq was behind bars for the last three months and his father, a businessman in Srinagar, said his family has suffered for no fault of theirs.

"He never had terror links and was in Bangladesh for legitimate reasons. He was into business and had been a successful model. Cases were foisted by his rivals," said Ghazi Nabi Dar, Tariq Dar's father.

An embarrassed police that has been forced to close the case against Tariq still refuse to give him the dignity of declaring him innocent.

"We could not collect any material against him so we filed discharge application in the court. We're not giving clean chit to him. Tariq admitted having links with Faisal who was from Lashkar-e-Toiba but he never disclosed having direct terrorist links," said Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner, Special Cell, Delhi Police.

With the court discharging the case against him, Tariq Ahmad Dar and his family has heaved a huge sigh of relief but they say it is a question of an innocent man losing his liberty for 90 days and there is a lot the police have to answer for.

In fact, National Conference President Omar Abdullah will be complaining to the National Human Rights Commission and the Prime Minister's Office about the way in which the police handled Tariq Dar's case.

Custodial deaths highest in India: Arundhati Roy

ANS, New Delhi, Jan 18 - India accounts for the highest number of custodial deaths, writer-activist Arundhati Roy said Thursday, arguing that atrocities against tribals would lead to a violent situation.

Roy warned that the violent manner in which the Indian state was seeking to displace and drive away tribals from their traditional habitat and land would lead to more violent reactions and outbursts. 'It could also result in lumpen violence,' she said.

Roy was releasing a report of a fact-finding team of the Committee Against Violence on Women -, which had visited the Dantewada region of Chhattisgarh following complaints that the Salwa Judum campaign was perpetuating violence, molestation and rape on tribal women.

Salwa Judum is people's militia supported by the state government in its fight against Maoists in the region.

All political parties are driven by their desire to give maximum concessions to private entrepreneurs at the cost of poor tribals and villagers, alleged the Booker prize winter author.

Maoism was being used by various state governments, like that of Orissa, as an excuse to perpetrate violence on the tribals, drive them away from their lands and hand these over to big industrialists, Roy said.

The CAVOW report has prepared a list of nearly 80 tribal women who were raped, molested and some even murdered by Salwa Judum vigilantes or police parties accompanying them.

The tragic aspect of the violence against these women is that tribal special police officers and Naga and Mizo policemen - also tribals - are being used to perpetuate violence on fellow tribal women, said CAVOW convenor Shoma Sen.