HRF Monthly

Akshardham Judgment – I, The Law at Work

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HRF/231/14 | Jun 2014

The Supreme Court judgment in the Akshardham temple attack case has acquitted six innocent men who were tortured and then made to suffer imprisonment.
The Supreme Court has come down hard on the investigating agencies of Gujarat and the way in which the lower judiciary has functioned in this case. The apex court must take this forward and revisit the existing prosecutions under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and examine the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which incorporates many of the POTA provisions.

 

HRF Monthly

The Ehsan Jafri Case – Modi’s Banquo Ghost

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HRF/230/14 | Jun 2014

Narendra Damodardas Modi’s destination may have been very different if the Indian criminal justice system had met the standards of more robust democratic legal systems that make strict adherence to due process and timely delivery of justice an article of faith and everyday practice. Nothing exemplifi es this more than the handling of the case of the murder of Ehsan Jafri, former Member of Parliament (MP) who was hacked to death alongwith many others in the Gulberg society in the Chamanpura suburb of Ahmedabad.

The case is brilliantly etched out in the report by the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic of Stanford Law School, When Justice Becomes the Victim – The Quest for Justice After the 2002 Violence in Gujarat (2014).

 

HRF Monthly

007 never had a licence to kill, and intelligence services are not above the law

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HRF/227/13 | July 2013

Much has been said recently about national interest requiring   turning a blind eye towards the extra-judicial killings of Indian citizens allegedly with the connivance of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and its uniformed police accomplices. To hear some commentators, all that stands between India and imminent destruction is the capacity of an unaccountable body to Parliament to execute whomever, wherever, and whenever they like. Stripped of the immunity to murder at whim, the IB would be allegedly forced to fight suspected terrorists with both hands tied behind its back. Or would it?

 

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HRF Monthly

Institutionalising the Police State, Jammu and Kashmir Police Bill

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HRF 226/13 | March 2013

The Jammu and Kashmir government has cleverly used the Supreme Court’s order on revamping police legislation to bring in the J&K Police Bill 2013 that has several arbitrary and draconian provisions. While demanding revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the state government is attempting to bring in a law that gives the police huge powers over citizens without protecting the latter’s rights.

 

HRF Monthly

Civil rights and parliamentary oversight of intelligence agencies

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HRF 225/12 | December 2012

 

Dear Madam/Sir,

There is need for a statutory framework for South Asia’s intelligence agencies to build effective oversight and accountability mechanisms. Whilst national security is highly important to public interest, it is only one of many competing interests to be balanced for effective governance. This paper outlines best practice for regulation of intelligence services in South Asia, acknowledging the difficulty of balancing national security needs with civil liberties guarantees.  It seeks to identify appropriate civil liberties safeguards, whilst maintaining sufficient freedom for intelligence agencies to perform their functions effectively.

It appeared in the December 2012 issue of the South Asia Journal. 

 

HRF Monthly

Ignoring the Disappeared of Kashmir with Impunity

/ / HRF Monthly

HRF/224/12 | 6 November 2012

Dear Madam/Sir,

The blanket refusal by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir to investigate or release the identities of bodies buried in unmarked and mass graves is a gross violation of international law that India has so far been able to commit with impunity. National and international pressure has been found wanting in this regard. Fatigue and helplessness over the persistence of India’s egregious human rights abuses has made such relative silence the norm. Domestic apathy and selective enforcement of international law must be overcome to end such impunity to the violation of human rights.

It appeared in the 10 November 2012 issue of the Economic and Political Weekly.

HRF/224/12 [ PDF ]

 

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