HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

In india, since the day of independence the governments from village panchayath to national capital – delhi are being stage managed by the rich & mighty industrialists/traders. They are main fund donors to all political parties & in turn get 10-100 fold returns through financial incentives , subsidies , tax exemptions , etc. To appease them , government spreads red carpet to them totally dis-regarding the rights & livlihood of the less privileged, is violating the fundamental/human rights of poor.

The authorities while making land allocations for both private & government projects , only pays a pittance as compensation to the land loosers. They don’t take into consideration their livlihood based on that landlinked to the sorrounding socio-eco system. The govt land rates are 1/10th of the market price. Whether it is tehri dam project or narmada dam project or other, it is only after protests by the poor that govt recognises their grievances.

Last week’s police massacre at kalinga in orissa state of india, is not police failure but the failure of state revenue department. The govt must learn to honour the land rights of tribals , whereas the same govts are very keen to regularise the illegal encroachments of public lands by builders in metropolis even daring to by-pass judiciary.

Before commencing the process of land acquisition the authorities must fix the land rate at market price & must provide alternate rehabilitation fulfilling basic necessities / socio eco-system. So that in the new place also, the displaced can make a living. Whether it is industrial or economic growth , it must take forward all strata of society, but not just favouring one class at the cost of other. JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraj.M.R.

India is not a poor country, but inhabited by vast majority of poor people. The public resources which rightfully belongs to all indians are siphoned-off by rich & mighty through corrupt practices. In their greed, the ruling elite are taking more & more external borrowings & siphoning-off that loan money too. As a result, at one end india’s debt burden is increasing at an alarming rate at the other the black economy fuelled by the corrupt is thriving. At a conservative estimate the size of the black economy is 10 times the india’s annual budget. This black economy is the main cause for all ills plaguing india- hunger deaths, lack of healthcare, lack of basic infrastructure , naxalism , terrorism , etc.

The gross non performing assets (NPA) of all banks totals over Rs.100000 crore. The bank executives who are getting fat pay & perks , in their greed have connived with criminals giving reports of higher valuation of assets , products & services, to the banks. The same bank executives harass poor people for a Rs.2000 self employment loan, whereas sanction loans worth crores of rupees to criminals , credit unworthy persons by taking bribe.

All corporate bodies are demanding for more fiscal reforms, labour reforms – all of them want lesser tax regime , good roads , un-interrupted power supply , labour hire& fire policy as in U.S.A, other developed countries. The same corporate bodies don’t sincerely pay-out their tax dues, honour statuotary laws as their counter parts in america do. The same corporate bodies are not open to adapt , respect corporate governance , share holder rights, environmental laws , social security laws , consumer laws , as their counter parts in america do. Why??

The ruling elite are maintaining ineffective tax laws , so that corporate can swindle tax money & they can get their kick-backs.. the corporates pay a part of their loot to the powers that be & get more financial incentives ie getting 10 fold higher loot money. the criminal nexus of CORPORATE-TAX OFFICIAL-POLITICIAN are together looting crores of rupees from the exchequer. Ex : export incentive of Rs.1800 crore to reliance & unified telecom license regime favouring reliance.

If a pick-pocketer is caught red handed stealing Rs.10, he is arrested ,put behind bars for years , prosecuted in the court of law & punished. In the process govt spends thosands of rupees to uphold law. However if a corporate steals Rs.1000 crores from the exchequer , no questions are asked why? Some of the corrupt tax officials are leading luxurious , royal life styles which is much beyond their legal source of income. How?

Hereby, HRW appeals to you :

1. to make annual filing of audited results by political parties , religious bodies , NGOs mandatory.
2. To make it mandatory for all tax officials to declare the property details of their family members.
3. To stop all types of asubsidies , incentives , tax concessions given to industrialists / traders , as the present scheme is being rampantly misused.
4. To put brake on all external borrowings & to put a thrust on mobilising internal resources , to collect tax arrears from rich & mighty.
5. To enforce corporate accountability & governance laws with penal provisions.
6. To form joint monitoring committees involving concerned citizens to conduct tax raids , to supervise corrupt tax officials , bank executives & offending corporates.

Dear sir,

Name of the victims: Mr. Sudam Barla, Mr. Govind Laguni, Mr. Janga Jarika, Mr. Landu Jarika, Mr. Ati Jamuda, Mr. Mukuta Bankira, Mr. Dedghi Taria, Mr. Bhagat Sae, Mr. Ram Gagrai and Mr. Gopa Prasad Mohanty (police constable)
Date and place of the incident: 2 January 2006, at about 11.00 at Nuagaon village under Kalinga Nagar police station, Jajpur district, Orissa, India

I am writing to you expressing my concern about the recent police firing in Nuagaon, Jaipur district, Orissa which resulted in the death of a police constable and nine other confirmed deaths. I am informed that the reason why the tribal communities were protesting against the Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO) project was because of improper compensation for the land acquired and failure of proper rehabilitation. I am also concerned about the manner in which the autopsy was conducted upon those who were killed in the firing. It is highly disturbing to note that the palms were removed from the bodies before the bodies were handed over to the relatives. Given the fact that India is equipped with the most modern facilities in fingerprinting and DNA sampling it is questionable why the bodies were dismembered for preserving records. This incident also shows how poorly assessable the available resources on forensic facilities are for the entire country. It also shows the lack of respect shown to human bodies during the autopsy.

I therefore call upon you to take all necessary steps to inquire into the entire incident which lead to the police firing and the allegations of inadequacy of compensation distributed among those who lost their land for the TISCO project. I also request you to initiate actions to inquire into the allegations regarding the crude procedures adopted at the autopsy. I also request you to make sure that the distribution of compensation amount promised by the state government to the families of the deceased is distributed promptly and that those who are currently undergoing treatment are given free and appropriate medical care as promised by the state administration.

Yours sincerely,

Nagaraj.m.r.

Dear sir,

Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Guddu, son of Lalman
2. Maya Ram - both residents of Piyari village within the jurisdiction of Chaubeypur police station, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India

Date and place of the incident: 24 December 2005, at about 4 pm at Piyari village, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Perpetrators:
1. Mr. Sharanshankar Singh alias Nepali Singh, son of Mr. Ram Gopal Singh
2. Mr. Ramesh Yadav, son of Mr. Balli Yadav
3. Mr. Jawahar Sav
4. Mr. Bhullan

All residing at Piyari village within the jurisdiction of Chaubeypur police station, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India

I am writing to you to voice my concern about the case of Mr. Guddu, son of Lalman and Mr. Maya Ram both residents of Piyari village within the jurisdiction of Chaubeypur police station, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh. I am informed that the victims were verbally abused and assaulted by the perpetrators. I am deeply concerned about the frequency in which cases of such nature are being reported from India, and Uttar Pradesh in particular. I am equally concerned about the failure of the local police to register any case on the complaint of the victims. I am shocked to know that the police, apart from refusing to take any action, are also forcing the victims to withdraw their complaint.

I therefore call upon you to take immediate action in this regard. Please order an independent inquiry into the incident and ask the local police to register cases against the perpetrators under the provisions of the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. I also urge you to conduct an independent inquiry into the conduct of the local police, particularly in refusing to take any action on the complaint of the victims.

Yours sincerely,

Nagaraj.m.r.

Dear Mr President,

It is now four years since the first detainees were transferred to the detention facility at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Detainees in Guantánamo Bay are held in prolonged indefinite detention, which violates a fundamental legal principle: that anyone detained has the right to be promptly brought before an independent judicial officer to challenge the lawfulness of their detention. You have repeatedly asserted that the USA strives to "defend and extend a vision of human dignity" and "uphold the rule of law". For the detainees at Guantánamo Bay these words ring hollow.

I call on you to close the detention facility and to ensure that all those held in Guantánamo are immediately released if they are not to be charged and brought to trial in line with standards of fairness. The military commissions violate several provisions of international treaties to which the USA is a state party and cannot provide fair trials in line with international standards They are fundamentally flawed and should be abandoned immediately.

Many detainees in Guantánamo come from countries which the US government itself has condemned for human rights violations. I therefore call on you to ensure that the USA will not transfer them to a country where they may face further human rights violations.

Yours sincerely,

Nagaraj.m.r.

Imagine you're the State of France. What do you do with a 27,000-tonne warship full of asbestos,PCBs, lead, mercury, and other toxic chemicals, which you don't want and no European country is willing or able to scrap for you? Why, you send it off to India to be broken up by hand in a scrapyard where impoverished workers are injured and die every day.

Greenpeace worked hard many years ago to implement the Basel Convention, an international treaty which prohibits the export of hazardous waste from rich to poor countries. The Basel Convention is a way to end the terrible practice of using non-OECD countries as cheap dumping grounds for dangerous wastes which are expensive to treat properly in the OECD countries where they originated.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) claims the regulations of the Basel convention don't apply to ships like the Clemenceau. It's still a ship, goes their reasoning, as long as it floats, and it isn't waste until it arrives.

We think that argument is garbage, and so is the Clemenceau.