In Defence of the Indian Family of Journalists. With special refernce to a certain breed of professionals.

My editor is the world's best. I've always believed that conversations are some of the best learning experiences, and talks with Mike Flannery are the creme de la creme of the kind. The latest pearl of wisdom that came my way from his was that journalism is the world's second oldest profession- that's how history itself is constructed, through recording of facts and images, and stories kings and knaves have had to tell. It's reason for celebration that the storytelling element in the journalist's job hasn't evaporated yet, but the fact that most stories our breed have to tell the world are ugly invites plenty of unwanted censure, chastizement, and plain meanness from people who hav no idea how a journalist, and journalism, works.
Militants, lawyers and lately doctors have too much to vent- their firm belief is that journalists persent them in a negative light without fail, and phrase their stories such that they, and their professions, become objects of aspersion to the populace. They beleive too, that representatives of the media will go to any length for a neat "scoop" and distort facts to expose them to ridicule, denigration and attack.
In India, or in a narrower cointext, Bengal, doctors are rounded up by protesters every now and then. A sick man has to die, and an angry mob appears out of nowhere and proceeds to damage health center property, its staff and its administrative body. Doctors hold they never let people die; they strive till the end, upon oath, although they might be geographically removed from their patient by miles. This is from personal experience. A certain RMO I met at a small, not-very-expensive private hospital, joted down the time of admission as 2.10 P.M, when the night sky was picth dark, and the streets of Kolkata resonant only with the sounds of barking dogs. Moving to nurses, at the hospital I just mentioned, they have arangements for sleeping by turns through the night, right in the ICU, when the law holds that each patient must be under surveilance, and individually.
Doctors have all, without exception, this notion that they are some of the most brilliant people in the country, to have gotten through, and survived, medical school. Some don't wait to attach the title to their name before they're awarded their Bachelor's Degrees. Given that in India, popular notions put down students of humanities as nitwits and doctors and engineers as unfailingly intelligent, some doctors will go to the extent of labelling us journalists "barely literate", "unsympathetic", and "ruthless". As if they themselves devote over five minutes to each patient on hospital rounds, or refuse to accept charges in cases of medical failure. As if doctors are by some natural law free from humane frailty and partisanship. As if they are never driven to pursue their profession with economic motives. As if they take any personal interest in the people who have come to them to buy time. And as if some of them aren't idiots who became what they are by dint of the ability to learn by rote.
In the wake of the recent assailment on four junior doctors attending someone who free fell through three storeys, doctors have been complaining of exploitation. They choose to completely ignore the fact that the media in fact details assaults on doctors in print and broadcast, and that in reportage of kinds like this, it is unethical to take sides. What has the media to gain by tarnishing doctors? How does it benefit them? Is there a single doctor who can vouch for the fact that they have never been guilty of oversight? Rhetorical questions all, and I'm all geared to do a story on that class of professionals often described as the noblest, but displaying more often than nobility traits of insensitivity, pompousness, supreme over-confidence and egotism, and sky-high levels of callousness.

India: Authorities in Tamil Nadu must release five activists campaigning against torture and drop false charges against them

Authorities in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu must release five arrested human rights defenders, drop the false charges against them and hold the state police accountable for harassment and intimidation, Amnesty International said today.

The five human rights defenders - Bharathi Pillai, Niharga Priya, Sudha, Gnana Diraviam and Anandan – who were part of a human rights training programme conducted by People’s Watch, Madurai, were arrested on the night of 15 August on false charges. They had gone to Veeravanallur police station for a fact-finding exercise as part of the field training programme to inquire about the lack of investigation in the torture of a Dalit youth, Suresh, allegedly by a police officer there. Earlier, they were detained at the police station for six hours.

The five activists have been charged with section 170 of the Indian Penal Code (impersonating a public servant), section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his or her duty), section 416 (cheating by impersonation) and section 506 (criminal intimidation) and lodged in prison. The police also declared Henri Tiphagne, Director of People’s Watch, Madurai, as an “absconding offender” in the case. This was on the basis of a complaint from one of the police officials that the five activists, claiming to be public officials, had apparently tried to threaten them.

Fact-finding exercises are commonly held globally and in India, as a way of probing allegations of human rights violations and seeking accountability. There was no attempt by the fact-finding team to impersonate public officials and the team had informed the Veeravanallur police in advance about the purpose of its visit.

Amnesty International is concerned that the arrests and the filing of charges appear to be politically motivated, as a result of their work as defenders of human rights raising issues of torture and impunity. The police charges of impersonation against Henri Tiphagne and the five arrested human rights defenders appear to be an attempt to silence the victims of police torture by criminalizing a legitimate form of protest by human rights defenders.

Amnesty International calls on the Tamil Nadu government to:
• drop the false charges against the six human rights defenders and immediately release the five persons.
• hold the State police accountable for such harassment and intimidation and ensure an independent investigation into the allegations of torture by the police of the Dalit youth.

The Tamil Nadu authorities should also create an enabling environment and ensure respect for the rights of individuals in Tamil Nadu engaged in the peaceful promotion.

ABDUCTED INDIGENOUS CAMPAIGNERS RELEASED

Lado Sikaka, a leader of the Dongria Kondh Indigenous communities in India, was released on 12 August, two days after being abducted. Sana Sikaka, another leader who was abducted at the same time, was released on 11 August.

Lado Sikaka has told local media that he and Sana Sikaka were stopped by some 12 armed plainclothes police officers, and two unidentified people in the Niyamgiri Hills in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, as they were travelling to Delhi with other activists to protest against a local bauxite mine. They abducted the two men in the van the activists had been travelling in, forcing Sana Sikaka out of the van at Bijepur town. However, they detained Lado Sikaka for another day and interrogated him at the District Intelligence Bureau office in the town of Rayagada. Lado Sikaka says that while he was there, he was beaten on his hands and legs, and interrogated about whether he had links with supporters of banned Maoist groups. and was involved in any violent incidents in the Niyamgiri Hills. He replied in the negative. However, his captors forced him to sign two blank pieces of paper, before taking him to the nearby town of Kalyansinghpur and releasing him there. He is currently walking back to Lakpaddar, the village where he lives, accompanied by several Dongria Kondh Indigenous people. The Rayagada district police superintendent has denied that Lado Sikaka and Sana Sikaka were detained by police.

Lado Sikaka and Sana Sikaka are both campaigning against a proposed bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills. Research by Amnesty International indicates that the Niyamgiri bauxite mining project, which would be located on the Dongria Kondh's sacred sites, traditional lands and habitats, is likely to result in violations of their rights to water, food, health, work and other rights to protection of their culture and identity. The project is currently awaiting clearance from India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests.

ABDUCTED INDIGENOUS CAMPAIGNER RELEASED

Sana Sikaka, a leader of the Dongria Kondh indigenous communities who was abducted by gunmen on 9 August, has been released. Another leader is still being held.

Sana Sikaka, one of the Dongria Kondh indigenous community leaders in the eastern Indian state of Orissa who was abducted on the evening on 9 August, was released yesterday evening.

He has informed journalists that he and Lado Sikaka, pictured left, were stopped at Izrupa at the foothills of Niyamgiri as they were leaving with a group of activists in a van to catch a train to Delhi. About fifteen men in plain clothes, armed with automatic weapons, had parked their two vans nearby and were hiding in a forest. They surrounded Lado and Sana and said they were taking them. They intimidated the other activists, snatching their mobile phones and the van key and forced them to walk towards Lanjigarh, the nearest town. Then the plainclothesmen, along with Lado and Sana, walked to the vans and then made a long drive towards the neighbouring district of Rayagada, stopping at a few places en route. Yesterday evening, when they reached Bijepur town, they pushed Sana Sikaka out of the vehicle, forcing him to commence a long journey back to Niyamgiri. They appear to have taken Lado Sikaka to Rayagada town and detained him there.

Lado Sikaka and Sana Sikaka are both campaigning against a proposed bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Research by Amnesty International indicates that the Niyamgiri bauxite mining project, which would be located on the Dongria Kondh's sacred sites, traditional lands and habitats, is likely to result in violations of their rights to water, food, health, work and other rights to protection of their culture and identity. The project is currently awaiting clearance from India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Whose Land Is It Anyway?

Vedanta Resources has decided that it will mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa. The Dongria Kondhas, who have inhabited the region for centuries, have decided that they won't let them. Vedanta plans to go on an expansion spree soon, with a mine and extended refineries. With the work they have been doing for the last few years, they have successfully polluted local perennial streams, forests and the very air the Kondhas breathe. A tribe that had been masters of the art of horticulture can no longer grow rich fruit. Their subsistence economy, largely agrarian and based on shifting cultivation, is being jeopardized. The tribals know all of this, but not from the horse's mouth. Vedanta has not bothered to educate locals about the adverse effects of their industrial ambitions. Disease, poverty and many outraged rights later, the tribals are up in arms, having vowed to protect their forefathers' land, and not let the London-based company call the shots. What has probably created the most recent ferment is the fact that the Kondhas faith has been called into question, then derided and ignored, given that Vedanta plans to build their mine atop the hill, where the Dongria Kondha deity, Niyam Rajah Penhu, is believed to be incarnated. At this point, the clans are ready to fight tooth and nail, for this is their land, a land they live and love in, and cherish and treasure.
To help the Amnesty International efforts towards safeguarding the natives of the region, sign the following petition. With your vote, you can make a difference.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/stop-mining-and-refinery-projects-devastating-communities-india

Myanmar elections will test ASEAN’s credibility.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public statement

Southeast Asian nations should press the Myanmar government to protect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association throughout the elections period and beyond, Amnesty International said today on the eve of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Ha Noi.

ASEAN has repeatedly emphasized that the elections should be held in a “free, fair and inclusive manner”. Yet those calls do not go far enough to highlight the human rights that are most at risk in the elections context. Indeed, the Myanmar government has not taken any steps to improve its poor human rights record as the polls approach.

More than 2,200 political prisoners continue to languish behind bars in Myanmar. This is double the number since the start of the mass peaceful anti-government protests of August – September 2007—a huge indictment of the grim human rights situation there.

Under Electoral Laws enacted in March, no political prisoner can take part in the elections, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The same laws also prohibit them from membership in any political party.

ASEAN should unequivocally call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience at the Ministerial Meeting, something they conspicuously failed to do at the organisation’s summit in Ha Noi in April.

The Electoral Laws also list a number of offences and penalties, among them—a blatant violation of freedom of expression—a vaguely worded provision against "exhorting" persons to vote or not to vote in the elections.

Moreover, in a 21 June directive issued by the Union Election Commission, political parties are prohibited from campaigning activities that “harm security, the rule of law and community peace”. These regulations allow for an excessively broad interpretation of what constitutes a threat to “security”. For decades the authorities have routinely used vaguely worded laws to arbitrarily criminalize peaceful political dissent.

New censorship rules introduced in June also serve to undermine any remaining scope for independent journalism around the elections process.

The “three freedoms”—of expression, peaceful assembly, and association—must be safeguarded for all, whether people choose to participate in the elections or not. It is not enough for ASEAN to adopt a “wait and see” attitude.

Jammu and Kashmir authorities urged to end detention of lawyers

The Jammu and Kashmir state government must immediately end the preventive detention of the leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Mian Abdul Qayoom, the President of the Bar Association and Ghulam Nabi Shaheen, its General Secretary, have been arbitrarily detained under the J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) since 7 July and 18 July 2010 respectively.

The vaguely formulated PSA allows for detentions of up to two years without charge or trial on the presumption that future acts harmful to the state may be committed.

"The detention of the Bar Association leaders appears to be an attempt to stifle legitimate and peaceful protest, as part of the ongoing crackdown by the authorities in parts of Kashmir," said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International

The grounds of detention prepared by the Srinagar District Magistrate relating to Mian Qayoom allege he is attempting to turn the Bar Association into "a secessionist outfit" indulging in "illegal activities".

Four previous criminal cases registered involving Mian Qayoom between October 2008 and June 2010 are also mentioned in the document which accuses him of instigating recent protests that have reportedly left at least 18 people dead.

"The state administration has resorted to preventive detention under the PSA, which subverts the judicial process," Zarifi said. "If the government has criminal charges to bring, it should do so in a properly constituted criminal trial where Mian Qayoom will have the protections afforded under the law, for instance, the ability to post bail."

The official grounds of detention against Mian Qayoom state that he is being detained for questioning the conduct of government security forces and for his political views.

Reports indicate the General Secretary of the Bar Association, Ghulam Nabi Shaheen, is being detained on similar grounds as well as for organizing public rallies seeking the release of Mian Qayoom.

"The arbitrary use of the PSA to detain government critics is yet another demonstration of why this law must be repealed," Zarifi said.

The Kashmir valley has witnessed mass public protests over the past several months, initially over the extrajudicial executions of three men at Machil, Baramulla district, and subsequently by killings of protesters by Central Reserve Police Force personnel.

At least 18 people, many of them teenagers, were allegedly killed during a crackdown on protests that began on 11 June 2010.

Amnesty International has previously demanded that the Indian authorities avoid excessive use of force and investigate all the deaths due to the shootings.

The State administration has also responded by placing a large number of people in preventive detention instead of charging and trying them – including those reportedly suspected of throwing stones at the police and others suspected of inciting violence by posting inflammatory material online.

A number of political leaders have also been recently detained including Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani, and his aides Mohammad Ashraf Sahrai, Ayaz Akbar, Mohammad Yousuf Mujahid and Zafar Akbar Bhat. Prominent Kashmiri leaders including Shabbir Shah and Nayeem Ahmed Khan also continue to remain in detention under the PSA.