ASIA: Narrative of Justice in Sri Lanka

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announces the publication of Narrative of Justice in Sri Lanka as told through the stories of torture victims. The book contains 736 pages.

This book records the stories of 400 cases of torture out of over 2,000 cases which were researched and published by the AHRC and the ALRC over the last ten years. The victims of torture were interviewed in great detail and assisted to pursue their complaints to the Sri Lankan authorities. The ALRC researchers have studied each of these cases through long years while the victims were pursuing their grievances before local authorities and courts.

"This book tells a grim story of the actual situation and of the way the criminal justice system works, or in fact, does not work in Sri Lanka. Through the stories of torture the victims reveal the extremely cruel and brutal methods used by the police and other law enforcement agencies and what it more striking is the narrative of the utter neglect that seems to pervade the police, who are supposed to be investigators into crime, the Attorney General's Department, which is supposed to prosecute competently and impartially and the judiciary which is supposed to protect the citizens of the country. The weight of evidence that is presented by this book on the complete failure of the system demands a response from the Sri Lankan government as well as its basic institutions such as the police, the Attorney General's Department and the judiciary", said Mr. Basil Fernando, the Director, Policy & Programme Development of the ALRC who is also the editor of this book.

Fernando further said, "No study of human rights in Sri Lanka would be complete without reference to this publication. This is the most comprehensive book, not only on the practice of torture but also the widespread impunity that prevails in Sri Lanka".

He went on to say that the study of law in Sri Lanka requires a change. The legal texts that are supposed to say what the law is should be contrasted with the actual situation that prevails in the country. This book graphically exposes how far Sri Lanka has drifted away from the rule of law and how far the people of Sri Lanka are denied of their basic protection.

Copies of the book may be obtained from the Asian Legal Resource Centre.

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About the AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.

Secretary of Defense Hagel's Military Profile

Sexual Assault Response Systems Review Panel

Hagel Meets With the Oanel
06/27/2013 01:04 PM CDT

American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 27, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had his first in-person meeting today with a panel that is reviewing the Defense Department's response systems to sexual assaults and related crimes, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said. Hagel previously had spoken to Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel members via teleconference, Little said. The Defense Department established the panel in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, he added. "The panel will conduct an independent review and assessment of the systems used to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate crimes involving sexual assault and related offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," the press secretary said in a statement summarizing today's meeting. "It will develop recommendations to improve the effectiveness of those systems." During the administrative portion of the meeting, the secretary thanked the panel members for bringing their expertise to bear in helping the Defense Department address one of its most pressing challenges, Little said. "Secretary Hagel made clear that his goal is to eradicate the crime of sexual assault from the military, and that he is open to all their ideas on how to accomplish this objective," he added. "He believes the panel's findings and recommendations will play a critical role in ensuring that the department, working closely with Congress, makes well-informed decisions to improve sexual assault response and prevention -- considering all the options on the table." Hagel asked the panel to work deliberately and carefully, based on thorough research and analysis, but also emphasized the importance of acting quickly, Little said, and he pledged the department's full support for the panel's efforts. "In addition to today's meeting, Secretary Hagel continues to hold regular weekly meetings of the top civilian and military leadership of the department focused solely on sexual assault prevention and response efforts," the press secretary added.

Biographies: Chuck Hagel Related Sites: Special Report: Sexual Assault Prevention and Response

I visited the home of Akhtar Mujahid-Subhashini Ali

He showed us the cd on a laptop

In the evening of the 24^th, June, I visited the home of Akhtar Mujahid along with members of the CPI(M) in Jaunpur District.  Akhtar’s home is in Madiyaun, a kasba of Jaunpur, UP.  We arrived in the evening, following a darkening sky.  Just as we entered his mohalla, the rain came pouring down and we had to run into the narrow lane that led to his house.  Many of his neighbours had collected to welcome us and all of us sat in the small room in the front of the home that he and his widowed mother shared with his Taya (father’s elder brother), Tayi, their son, Shahid, his wife and their two children.

Khalid’s uncle is an extremely dignified man who seems to have aged because of the burden of grief and despair that he has carried since December, 2007 when his nephew was suddenly picked up by an unknown group of people in an unmarked jeep.  This occurred just fourteen days after Khalid’s marriage.

As we sat in the small room, Khalid’s uncle told us about the day when life as they had known it came to a standstill for him and his extended family.  He manages a madarsa and library in the neighbourhood and Akhtar taught there.  It is on record that he attended to his duties on the 16^th December, 2007 and was then picked up and whisked away by unknown persons to an unknown place.  His cousin, Shahid, accompanied by a large number of people, went to the police station immediately but his FIR was not accepted.  This was reported in several newspapers the next day and Akhtar’s uncle and others sent faxes to the Chief Minister and others.  On the 18^th, the police visited Akhtar’s house and took away some books and papers including a copy of the Koran.  Finally, on the 22^nd evening, the police station in charge informed his uncle that he had been arrested that morning from Bara Banki.

Akhtar’s uncle said that a living nightmare for the family had begun.  When he visited his nephew in the Bara Banki jail, there was little said between them but Akhtar managed to give him a small, folded piece of paper.  When he returned home, he read the letter which spoke of indescribably torture and abuse.  The fond uncle could not sleep that night or many nights that followed.

Within a fortnight of Akhtar’s arrest, his wife’s family came to take her away.  His uncle said that the whole family wept as they saw the same vehicle being loaded with all the belongings that the young bride had brought them in to their house just a month earlier.  She left never to return.

The long battle for justice was joined.  Another young man, Tariq Qasmi from Azamgarh, had also been picked up on the 16^th of December and then shown to have been arrested with Akhtar in Bara Banki.  After his abduction, members of a local political group had sat on a dharna in Lucknow and, on the 22^nd, the Bara Banki story was made public by the police.  Since there were so many who had witnessed what had actually happened on the 16^th, there was an uproar and, finally, the Mayawati Government appointed the Nimesh Commission to enquire into the matter.  R.D. Nimesh, a retired judge, submitted his report to the Akhilesh Yadav Government in August, 2012 but it has not been made public since.

Akhtar’s uncles travails, therefore, yielded nothing but took a toll on his health.  He suffered a major heart attack a year ago and was not able to meet his nephew in jail for many months.  He remembers the last time that he met him about 4 months ago.  Akhtar had given up hope on that occasion.

On the 18^th of June, 2013, Akhtar was taken to the Faizabad district court from Lucknow.  On the way back, he felt unwell and the police escort with him took him to the district hospital at Bara Banki.  Tariq Qasmi was in the police van.  Within half an hour he was given the news that Akhtar was dead.

Akhtar’s uncle told us that he reached Bara Banki in a matter of a couple of hours and was able to shoot a video of his nephew’s body before the post mortem.  He showed us the cd on a laptop.  Akhtar’s face was swollen and there was dry blood near his nose and ear.  His fingernails were blackish.  His back showed marks of severe beating and there was a large bruise on one side.  After seeing the video, it did not seem credible that he died a natural death.  His post mortem report says – Cause of death, uncertain.

We could not but agree with Akhtar’s uncle that an inhumane State was responsible for the young man’s death in custody.  Had it responded to the Nimesh Commissions’s recommendations, Akhtar would have been released or at least granted bail and would have been alive today.

Akhtar’s uncle then took me to meet Akhtar’s wife and mother.  How can one describe a his mother’s inconsolable grief and unending sorrow.  But her quiet dignity in the midst of such tragedy was heart-rending.  She told me that she had gone to visit her son once in the jail with her sister-in-law and he had told her that while the world was very cruel, he hoped that in the Next world he would find happiness and justice. --Subhashini Ali

I am Gurpreet Kaur

I am very thankful to god that e sent the angel called Manika 
A person has full right to have dreams and its god’s responsibility to fulfill that
I am Gurpreet Kaur. My father is a common labour and my mother is no more. I have got four siblings who are younger than me. I did my schooling from govt. school o my village.
I was topper at my school. It was my duty to write thought of the day and top news of the day daily. 
One day it was silent, I was writing thought of the day at the board at my school. Suddenly what happened, silent got changed into music of happiness. I saw a headline which will change my life I didn’t know. It was written that a person want to give best education to 2oo students who belongs to poor families, who are brilliant but cannot able to have. A hope of light was arises at my mind. I decided to give my name in these students. I took the permission from the headmistress and went to the school in which the test will be taken place. It was full of struggle for me to do all the formalities because no one with me. I was alone did not have knowledge about anything but I was successful. I passed the exam taken by them. I took admission in the school of my dreams. I always had a dream to study in that school. I never thought that I will be an engineer but now I am.
The person was S. Jatinder Singh Uppal from Australia. Madam Manika is a daughter of S. jatindre Singh Uppal. I did my schooling up to 12 from Jatinder Singh Uppal and for my higher education Manika adopted me i.e. she sponsored me for my further studies. I never thought in my life that I will study in India’s top university. I didn’t know that god has sent an angel to fulfill the dreams of the students like me. Now I believe nothing is impossible.
A person has full right to have dreams and its god’s responsibility to fulfill that.
I am very thankful to god that e sent the angel called Manika .
May god bless Manika.
IHRO International Human Rights Organisation 
H.O.: 210, New Judicial Courts Complex, Ludhiana
M +91 7837500210, 161 5009210IHRO Chair DS Gill      

I want nothing but justice for Preeti

Sat, Jun 8, 2013 at 9:01 AM
I want an immediate CBI probein Preeti’s acid attack case 

Preeti succumbed to her injuries after being attacked with acid. Join me in demanding an immediate CBI probe to find out who attacked her. Sign my Petition Dear Rector - My daughter Preeti died after she was attacked with acid in Mumbai. She was attacked in broad daylight at Bandra Station in Mumbai on 2nd May this year. Her eyes were damaged, her liver and kidneys got infected and she endured crucifying pain for almost a month. She put up a brave fight but eventually gave in to her injuries and infection. She left us after suffering a cardiac arrest on 1st June 2013. We still don’t know who attacked her. The efforts made by the Maharashtra Government to investigate my daughter’s case have failed. That’s why I started this petition on Change.org asking the Home Minister of Maharashtra, R.R. Patil to order a CBI probe and find out who fatally attacked my daughter. Will you support my petition? Preeti left Delhi with the hope of starting a new life as a nurse in the Indian Navy. She worked very hard to get this job so that she could support us. But her excitement and enthusiasm was cut short due to an act of madness by a maniac. The Maharashtra Government offered me a compensation of 2 lakhs which I refused because I want nothing but justice for Preeti. My wife and I want an immediate CBI probein Preeti’s acid attack case and her attacker to be punished. Sign my petition telling the Home minister of Maharashtra, R.R. Patil, to order an immediate CBI probe in my daughter’s case and punish the culprits. Your support will give us strength and courage in our fight for justice. Please sign my petition and forward it to your friends too. Looking forward to your support, Amar Singh Rathi via Change.org

The First Lady

 Speaks at CBCF Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's (CBCF) 42nd Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner. September 22, 2012