*Two faces of violence: State terroor Vs Red terror "Seventeen Adivasi villagers of Samna in Orissa’s Narayanpatna block claim that they were brutally assaulted in custody last week, an allegation the police have denied.*" *
"But by no stretch of imagination can the same principles of combat be extended in operations that involve unarmed civilians, (such as the incidents that have come to light today) no matter who conducts them. Such acts are atrocities, regardless of whether the state or the Maoists conduct such operations, and they must be condemned by all sensible people in the harshest terms." * Kafila <http://kafila.org> <http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/kafila/feed2> ------------------------------ - Adivasis allege torture in anti-Naxal operations <#128a99df318b72b7_1> - On Alleged Maoist Atrocities <#128a99df318b72b7_2> - Ethical violations of HPV vaccination trials in India: SAMA<#128a99df318b72b7_3> Adivasis allege torture in anti-Naxal operations<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/kafila/feed2/%7E3/hPWXVgDrkCU/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> Posted: 17 May 2010 09:09 PM PDT Seventeen Adivasi villagers of Samna in Orissa’s Narayanpatna block claim that they were brutally assaulted in custody last week, an allegation the police have denied. According to the villagers, they were picked up on May 9, as part of a joint operation conducted by the Orissa and Andhra Pradesh police along the inter-State border, airlifted to a police station in Andhra Pradesh and held in custody for three days before being released on May 14. “Uniformed policemen surrounded our village on Sunday morning [May 9], when we were leaving for the market,” said Nachika Jaddo, one of those who were picked up. “Seventeen men, including two dokras [old men] were rounded up, beaten up and then dragged to a spot 2 km away.” The villagers were then bundled into a waiting helicopter, blindfolded and flown to the Salur police station in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. “They tied our hands behind our back and repeatedly struck us with lathis,” said another victim, who had bruises all over the back and shoulders. “They kept asking us about Maoists, but we couldn’t understand what they were saying.” Most of the Adivasis along the Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border speak Kondi — an Adivasi dialect — and are often unable to communicate with those outside their tribe. “They spoke to us in Hindi, Oriya and Telugu, and when we couldn’t answer, they hit us all over, including on the soles of our feet,” said a third victim. In all, The Hindu interviewed four of the 17 victims, including 60-year-old Nachika Chuchai, with the help of a translator. Koraput Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar Sahoo confirmed that 17 villagers had been detained for questioning, but denied that they were beaten up or airlifted. “These 17 men were found in the forest on May 9 near the site of an encounter between security forces and the Maoists.” They were then taken to Andhra Pradesh on foot, which took almost three days.” The villagers were immediately produced before a district magistrate in Salur and released on May 14. None was formally arrested, the SP said. Informed sources in the Andhra police suggest that the villagers might have been picked up as part of a much larger exercise. According to the sources, the police operation was planned when the Andhra Pradesh police received information that members of the Kalimela Dalam, involved in the killing of 38 security force members at Chitrakonda in 2008, were moving through the Narayanpatna jungles. On May 9, 2010, there was an exchange of fire between Maoists and the security forces. The local press reported police sources as claiming that up to 10 Maoists were killed. However, not a single body has been recovered as yet. The 17 villagers were picked up, soon after the skirmishes. According to the sources, the villagers were immediately airlifted to Salur, where they were interrogated for information on the movement of Maoist companies in Narayanpatna and subsequently released. Intelligence sources told The Hindu that Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra share a set of Mi-17 helicopters which can carry up to 32 passengers. The sources, however, declined to provide the exact number of helicopters for reasons of operational security. Those detained were Nachika Jaddo, Nachika Musri, Nachika Lachna, Nachika Sudru, Nachika Sehra, Nachika Nando, Nachika Roopa, Nachika Sonna, Nachika Porda/Podda, Nachika Kuslu, Nachika Abhi, Nachika Lassu, Nachika Dora and Nachika Chuchai (both above 60), Nachika Subana, Nachika Johra and Nachika Kumlu. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/article432549.ece Filed under: Bad ideas <http://kafila.org/category/bad-ideas/>, Violence-Conflict <http://kafila.org/category/violence-conflict/> Tagged: anti-Naxal operation <http://kafila.org/tag/anti-naxal-operation/>, Orissa<http://kafila.org/tag/orissa/>, torture <http://kafila.org/tag/torture/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4211/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4211/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4211/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4211/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4211/> On Alleged Maoist Atrocities<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/kafila/feed2/%7E3/20XGzvqQowk/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> Posted: 17 May 2010 09:55 AM PDT While I have on several occasions expressed my disgust at the way in which the Government of India is conducting it’s ‘Operation Green Hunt’, I have to say that the news of the attacks by alleged Maoists in Chattisgarh, in which 6 villagers have been killed,<http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/17/stories/2010051759130100.htm>and more recently a bus, with several civilians<http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/naxals-blow-up-bus-near-dantewada-33-killed-26123.php>(and some special police officers) has been bombed, is deeply disturbing. It is a totally different matter from attacking men in uniform, (such as the CRPF jawans who were attacked not so long ago, resulting in 76 casualties). Though I do not support any war, including the Maoist initiated ‘Peoples War’ or for that matter, the Government of India’s ‘Operation Green Hunt’, in any war, armed men in uniform in a combat zone are fair targets. The death of the 76 CRPF jawans, though regrettable, is not in any way different from the death of any guerrila soldiers in the PLGA in any combat operation. I refuse to be blackmailed into thinking of such an event as an evidence of Maoist ‘atrocities’. But by no stretch of imagination can the same principles of combat be extended in operations that involve unarmed civilians, (such as the incidents that have come to light today) no matter who conducts them. Such acts are atrocities, regardless of whether the state or the Maoists conduct such operations, and they must be condemned by all sensible people in the harshest terms. The Maoists, and the state must be compelled, through relentless civic pressure, to publicly abide by the Geneva Conventions <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_II>in the matter on the treatment of non-combatants in a conflict situation. (And yes, there are conventions that shape the conduct of non-state actors, or the conduct of the state in relation to non-state actors, even in the case of a ‘non-international’ armed conflict) The presence of 15 special police officers in the bus that was bombed cannot be offered as a justification for the bombing, because a large number of people who were harmed in the attack had nothing to do with any arm of the state, they were just ordinary passengers. This is a simple and disgusting act of terrorism. It cannot be explained away in any sense as part of a campaign of liberation. If it is true that these attacks have been carried out by the Maoists, then, it is clear that they want to ratchet up the general intensity of violence in the regions where they have a presence. They want the government to unleash a military style offensive, because nothing would serve their purpose better. There can be no other explanation for the manner of these attacks. This is a disastrous and cynical policy, which will wreck havoc with the lives of the people of the area and cannot be justified by any means whatsoever. If the government of India responds by increasing the level and intensity of the conflict, it will become an accessory of the Maoists design to totally militarize the areas of central, southern and eastern India where they currently have a presence. If nothing else, this shows how the policy of ‘Protracted People’s War’ is bound to degenerate (and in fact is already degenerating) into an orgy of random violence, exactly as it did in Peru and Colombia, where the ‘Sendero Luminoso <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sendero_Luminoso>‘ (‘Shining Path’) and ‘FARC <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FARC>‘ rebels competed with the state and right-wing militias in a sad spiralling descent into armed chaos and brigandage that did nothing to fulfil any revolutionary goal. If anything it strengthened the might of the state and the right wing militias in Peru and Colombia. The Maoists actions (attacks on unarmed civilians) cannot bring about any other results either. The ultimate and only beneficiary of this process will be the state and the corporations who want total control over the forests of Central India. However, we must not rush to conclusions. If the Maoists disclaim responsibility for these attacks, then we will have to see whether or not such a disclaimer has any objective basis. Independent investigations will have to be carried out. If, by any means, it is possible that these attacks are ‘false flag’ operations, conducted by rogue elements of the state machinery, or even endorsed by the state, then the responsibility for the violence will lie squarely on the state. It must, however, be understood by the Maoists (even if they have not perpetrated these massacres) that the style of their politics can and does ennable the state to conduct precisely such ‘false flag’ operations. If there are any amongst the leadership of the Maoists who are sensitive to the possibilities of forging an alternative radical politics they must begin considering the necessity of abandoning the disastrous method of ‘protracted peoples war’ and explore ways to an open, transparent, militant and public politics that does not involve the endless cycle of retreats and massacres. Wherever the truth may life, this is a very sad day indeed, best Shuddha Filed under: Bad ideas <http://kafila.org/category/bad-ideas/>, Left watch<http://kafila.org/category/left-watch/>, Violence-Conflict <http://kafila.org/category/violence-conflict/> Tagged: Alleged Atrocities <http://kafila.org/tag/alleged-atrocities/>, Cchatisgarh<http://kafila.org/tag/cchatisgarh/>, Maoists <http://kafila.org/tag/maoists/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4206/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4206/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4206/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4206/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4206/> Ethical violations of HPV vaccination trials in India: SAMA<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/kafila/feed2/%7E3/7mpmf64aNTs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> Posted: 16 May 2010 11:34 PM PDT *This guest post has been sent by the **SAMA<http://samawomenshealth.wordpress.com/> ** team* On July 9, 2009, the Andhra Pradesh Minister for Health and Family Welfare in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and PATH (Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health) International a non-profit organization based in USA launched what it described as a ‘demonstration project’ for vaccination against cervical cancer. The vaccine, against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which is one of the most common families of viruses and the source of a common sexually transmitted infection, was administered to 14,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 in three mandals – Bhadrachalam, Kothagudem and Thirumalayapalem – of Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, the vaccine used was Gardasil, manufactured by Merck Sharpe and Dohme, the Indian subsidiary of Merck and Co. Inc., a US-based pharmaceutical company. In a similar project, on August 13, 2009, the Gujarat government launched a two-year ‘Demonstration Project for Cancer of the Cervix Vaccine’ in three blocks of Vadodara District – Dabhoi, Kawant and Shinor – to administer three doses of the HPV vaccine to 16,000 girls between 10 and 14 years. There were reports of deaths of four girls from Andhra Pradesh and two girls from Gujarat following the administration of the vaccine. During March 27-30, 2010, a team of women’s and health activists visited Bhadrachalam mandal, one of the three mandals of Khammam district where the ‘demonstration project’ was undertaken to understand the ground reality; in particular, to look at the nature and procedures of taking consent and providing information to the girls and their parents, and the availability of the health infrastructure required to support cancer screening and prevention. The children selected to participate in this project were from four social groups with poor economic background – scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, Muslims and other backward communities. Majority were tribal children, whose parents were agricultural labourers. Some girls were from families that have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh; circumstances that serve only to compound their vulnerability. Majority of the vaccinated girls in Bhadrachalam were residents of ashram paathshalas (boarding schools). The selection of these girls for the project is striking, given that their parents, living separately, cannot monitor and respond to any adverse developments in their children’s health. Moreover, this has allowed providers to conveniently side-step the provision of parental consent. The vaccine was administered through a camp approach in the hostels and school campuses. In many instances, the wardens of the residential schools and hostels were asked to provide consent or permission for vaccination, while parents were not informed. The very nature of this project appears to be in violation of all ethical norms as a warden, whether a legal guardian or not, be allowed to provide consent for hundreds of children without consulting their parents, who are their natural guardians. The ‘consent form’ was used primarily in the case of non-residential schools, and children were asked to get signatures from their parents. This violates the designated protocol for obtaining informed consent, whereby the ‘researcher’ is required to directly provide information mandatory for consent to the person(s), in this case the parents. Selected girls were given HPV Immunization Cards, which were in English – a language that neither the girls, nor their parents, were familiar with. Further, all involved (the wardens, teachers and students) believed the project to be part of the public immunization program, and had no idea that they were in fact, part of a research study. They were not even aware that they had a choice regarding participation in the study. Many stated that they were given to understand that the government was providing free of cost an expensive vaccine that would prevent ‘uterine’ or ‘cervical cancer’. This would otherwise be unaffordable for them. Several parents brought their daughters to the vaccination camps themselves when they heard about the project. One mother said, “Since it was a vaccine being given by the government, we all trusted it blindly and considered it reliable, like any other vaccine that is given in the immunization programme”. Participants were verbally informed that the vaccine would provide life-long protection, with no side-effects or impact on fertility. The fact that the vaccine protects against only two types of the HPV virus and that regular pap screening is required even after vaccination was not mentioned at all- neither verbally, nor in the written material given to some girls. Since the long term efficacy and protection by the vaccine is unknown, it cannot be claimed that even 60-70% protection will be achieved. Currently is also unclear if, when and how booster shots will be required. Many of the vaccinated girls continue to suffer from stomachaches, headaches, giddiness and exhaustion. There have been reports of early onset of menstruation, heavy bleeding and severe menstrual cramps, extreme mood swings, irritability, and uneasiness following the vaccination. No systematic follow up or monitoring has been carried out by the vaccine providers. While the project was being carried out under the banner of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) shockingly enough the Mission’s mandate does not extend to or mention any such research project. Further, the existing health infrastructure in the region is woefully inadequate. Pap smear facilities are conspicuous by their absence in all government facilities in the area. The entire tribal mandal of Bhadrachalam does not have a single gynaecologist. The vulnerability of this these communities are thus further compounded by of the lack of access to health care, lack of access to information and absence of mechanisms for reporting adverse effects. The state government has claimed that the deaths of the four girls post-vaccination were unrelated to the ‘project’. However, parents of Kudumula Sarita, who died in January 2010, believe that their daughter died due to the vaccination, and not by consuming pesticide, as has been officially declared by the authorities. The trial has been suspended temporarily by the government after a strong campaign by health networks, women’s groups and by parliamentarians. A committee has been set up by the government to conduct an inquiry, the composition of the committee leaves much to be desired and is far from representative. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on 22nd April 2010, finally conceded that the HPV vaccination project was in fact, a “post-licensure operational research study”, which on further clarification, was confirmed to be a Phase IV, post marketing, clinical trial. On 29th April, the ICMR admitted that their ethical guidelines had been flouted in the course of this trial. *For details and full report please contact: Sarojini and Anjali at [email protected] * Filed under: Countryside <http://kafila.org/category/countryside/>, Debates<http://kafila.org/category/debates/>, Government <http://kafila.org/category/government/>, Scams<http://kafila.org/category/scams/>Tagged: HPV <http://kafila.org/tag/hpv/>, ICMR <http://kafila.org/tag/icmr/>, NHRM<http://kafila.org/tag/nhrm/>, PATH <http://kafila.org/tag/path/>, vaccination<http://kafila.org/tag/vaccination/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4202/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4202/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4202/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4202/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kafilabackup.wordpress.com/4202/> You are subscribed to email updates from Kafila <http://kafila.org> To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now<http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=RgAwDxtAHLU74D5ERdBWHIPGmp4> . 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