Posters Note: the delegation comprised of the following;
Heike Krause, attorney (Germany)
Haluk Gerger, author, university lecturer (retired) and political activist
(Turkey)
Geertrui Daem, Progress Lawyers Network (Belgium)
Laxman Pant, President of the Nepali People's Rights Association (India)
Peter Grant, World People's Resistance Movement (Europe)
Tara Singh, World People's Resistance Movement (South Asia)
All e mail contacts for the WPRM around the globe can be contacted via e mails
at the end of this message. Contact your local branch of the WPRM. Get active,
get involved !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 30, 2005
Statement of the 2nd International Delegation to South Asia
The European delegates participating in the Second International Delegation to
South Asia, organized by the World People's Resistance Movement (Europe and
South Asia), have returned to Europe after travelling through India from March
10th to March 20th, 2005 together with the delegates from South Asia.
The main purpose of this delegation was to investigate the current situation of
the Nepali revolutionary leaders C. Prakash Gajurel (known as Comrade Gaurav)
and Mohan Baidhya (known as Comrade Kiran) who are being held prisoner by the
Indian government on what are essentially politically motivated charges. Both
prisoners have been publicly threatened with deportation to Nepal where they
face the real danger of torture and death at the hands of the
monarchical-military regime in Kathmandu, although such an action by India
would be in open violation of both Indian and international law. The delegation
was resolved to press the Indian authorities for their immediate release and to
raise public awareness of this issue, including the need to end all
extraditions and deportations of political prisoners to Nepal by the Indian
government.
The delegation also investigated the situation of 19 Nepali revolutionaries who
are being held under terrible conditions in Beur Prison in the city of Patna
and who are also threatened with deportation Nepal. The delegation received
information from supporters and lawyers about the abuse of rights and due
process of law, deplorable prison conditions, and even torture of other Indian
political activists who are incarcerated in Beur Prison in Patna.
In addition, the delegation gathered information about the continuing
application of the death penalty against political prisoners in India and
demanded that the government stop all pending executions of prisoners and
abolish the death penalty.
The delegates attempted to visit Coms. Gaurav and Kiran and the 19 prisoners in
Patna. However these efforts were blocked by the state governments, the courts
and even the Governor of Bihar which refused or ignored the official requests
from both the lawyers of the prisoners and the delegation to be allowed into
the prisons in Chennai, Jalpaiguri and Patna. In Chennai, Com. Gaurav's lawyers
filed a writ petition in the High Court of Madras asking the court to order the
government of Tamilnadu to allow the delegation to visit Com. Gaurav, since his
fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India to receive
visitors were being abused by the government and prison authorities. It became
very clear in the hearings that the federal government of India had labelled
Com. Gaurav a "terrorist", as stated by the public prosecutor before the court.
In addition the prosecutor stated before the court that following the visit of
the 1st International Delegation in March 2004 and its
successful effort to visit Com. Gaurav in prison, the Home Ministry of the
Union in Delhi had issued a classified communication on the issue to the local
government of Tamilnadu ordering it not allow any visits further visits by
foreign delegations or lawyers.
The delegation was unanimous in raising the question, "What does the Indian
government have to hide?" Why are they still isolating Com. Gaurav and Com.
Kiran from international visitors?
Through the course of our investigation and discussions it was once again
confirmed that the authorities in India are holding these two prisoners, who
are senior political leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), as
political "hostages". This can especially be seen by the fact that the main
charges currently levelled against them are "sedition" and "inciting to wage
war against the state of India". To support these charges the Indian
prosecutors have yet to produce any concrete evidence of any acts committed by
the accused and instead have only quoted political positions taken by the CPN
(M). Thus again reaffirming the impression that these charges are nothing more
than "legal excuses" to keep these prisoners confined in India and/or provide a
pretext to extradite or deport them back to Nepal as a means of aiding the
Kathmandu regime's efforts to maintain its grip on power.
The delegation also came to the conclusion that the arrest, mistreatment and
imprisonment of 19 Nepali nationals in Patna, who were legally in India at the
time of their arrest, is another politically motivated abuse of the rights of
these prisoners. The Indian government is also charging them with "sedition"
and "inciting to wage war against India" based solely on their political views
and their admitted membership in or support for the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist). These prisoners also face the threat that some or all of them will be
illegally deported back to Nepal where torture and disappearances of prisoners
by the Nepali authorities has been well documented by organizations like the UN
Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The delegation made a point of raising its deep concern that India, which
claims to be the "world's largest democracy" and an "upholder of human rights",
still practices capital punishment. The delegation learned that at least 11
political prisoners have been "awarded" (as it is termed in India) the death
penalty. In addition, scores of poor peasants and dalits ("untouchables") have
been sentenced to death for resisting armed attacks by police, militia and
paramilitary gangs acting on behalf of the feudal landlords in their
communities. The delegation was informed by the All India Committee Against
Death Penalty that alone in the state of Bihar, one of the largest and poorest
states of India, over 50 prisoners, many being political activists, poor dalits
and peasants have been condemned to death by hanging.
At the press conferences held by the delegation during its travels through
India it consistently raised the following principal demands:
1. The Indian authorities should release C. Prakash Gajurel (Com. Gaurav) and
Mohan Baidhya (Com. Kiran) immediately and unconditionally. As long as they are
in confinement they should be treated properly and be provided with all the
rights and amenities due prisoners in India.
2. India must stop all extraditions and/or expulsions/deportations of Nepali
nationals to Nepal.
3. India must stop all pending executions of prisoners and abolish the death
penalty.
In addition, while in India, the delegation articulated its urgent concerns
that:
-- The 19 Nepali prisoners in Patna, who have committed no real crimes and
whose imprisonment is solely politically motivated should be released
immediately.
-- Torturing of prisoners must cease at once and those responsible should be
held responsible and punished according to law.
-- The Indian authorities must respect the legal rights of all prisoners in
India both in regard to the conduct of trials and other legal procedures and as
regards their status and conditions in prison.
All the delegates are united in the opinion that the work of the delegation
made a positive contribution to the overall efforts of people in Asia, Europe
and around the world regarding these issues and in particular helped to focus
public opinion in India on them.
The delegation received broad press coverage throughout India in the local and
national media as well as in some important international news outlets. The 2
hearings before the High Court in Madras regarding the writ filed on behalf of
the delegation to overturn the prison authorities illegal refusal to allow the
delegates to visit Com. Gaurav in prison were covered extensively by both local
and national press agencies.
The delegation received great support from local activists, organisations and
lawyers who are on the front lines of the battle to free Coms. Gaurav and Kiran
and the other struggles mentioned above. It was also important that European
members of the delegation were able to report to people in South Asia about the
efforts in Europe of the campaign to free Coms. Gaurav and Kiran. Activists
from South Asia reported to us that this helped to give local supporters an
increased sense of mission and inspiration to continue their struggles in
India. Especially the delegates from Europe benefited from the updates they
received concerning the charges and judicial proceedings against those in jail
and gathered important information about the Nepali political prisoners in
Patna, and other political prisoners in India, including those who have
received the death penalty.
Given the lack of any real legal basis for the charges currently being directed
at Coms. Gaurav and Kiran the delegation has concluded that the Indian
government is still determined to either continue to them as political pawns or
to extradite or deport them back to Nepal and thus their lives are still in
great danger. For this reason the delegation is again re-issuing the call to
people around the world to come to their assistance and demand their release.
In addition, we are calling on people to support the efforts to free the Nepali
political prisoners in Patna and to insist on an end to the death penalty in
India.
In closing, the delegation would again like to emphasize that our experience in
India has re-confirmed our belief that the joint and determined efforts of
people around the world the cause of justice can prevail in these matters.
Heike Krause, attorney (Germany)
Haluk Gerger, author, university lecturer (retired) and political activist
(Turkey)
Geertrui Daem, Progress Lawyers Network (Belgium)
Laxman Pant, President of the Nepali People's Rights Association (India)
Peter Grant, World People's Resistance Movement (Europe)
Tara Singh, World People's Resistance Movement (South Asia)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E - Mail contacts and address' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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