Sep
27
Human Rights Watch Releases Report on Gujarat; Best Bakery Charges Reframed
September 27, 2004 | Comments Off on Human Rights Watch Releases Report on Gujarat; Best Bakery Charges Reframed
On September 24, Human Rights Watch released a report, titled “Discouraging Dissent: Intimidation and Harassment of Witnesses, Human Rights Activists and Lawyers”:
[The report] documents how Hindu extremists have threatened and intimidated victims, witnesses and rights defenders who are fighting for the prosecution of those responsible for the killing and injury of Muslims during the riots. Instead of pursuing the perpetrators of violence, the state government—formed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Chief Minister Narandra Modi—has nurtured a climate of fear. Officials have targeted those seeking justice with selective investigations by state tax authorities or the police.
“Two years after the Gujarat riots, witnesses are being threatened and sometimes even attacked,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “Not only has the Gujarat government failed to pursue those responsible for the riots, it is obstructing justice by its failure to protect witnesses.”
HRW calls on the Central government to ensure the safety of witnesses and survivors:
To address these problems, Human Rights Watch urged the Indian government to set up a credible witness-protection program and provide more aid to the thousands of Muslims who are still living in squatter camps since being displaced by the riots.
The Hindu’s article on the report describes, for example, the intimidation of organizations advocating on behalf of survivors:
The HRW has interviewed a large number of people in Gujarat and elsewhere. Its inquiries have revealed that apart from direct threats of violence to witnesses and activists, the Gujarat Government has initiated inquiries by the Charity Commissioner of Ahmedabad against those organisations who made an open appeal to the Central Government in June this year asking for all closed cases and cases of acquittal to be reopened. They also called for a special judicial commission to inquire into the Godhra incident. Most of these organisations had visits from the Charity Commissioner’s office and some also had Intelligence Bureau staff visiting them.
In other Gujarat news, fresh charges were framed against the accused in the Best Bakery case:
The 16 were charged with murder, rioting with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly, dacoity, criminal trespass, arson and use of explosive substances aimed at causing damage to property, and being part of a group (unlawful assembly) which intended carrying out these crimes. The accused pleaded not guilty and the charges had to be explained to them in Gujarati as most of them did not understand Hindi.
Five of the accused are still in hiding. The retrial is set to begin on October 4, with daily hearings until the end of the year.
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