Against Torture....forever

Torture is all-pervasive in Indian society. The violence ingrained in torture manifests its ugly face at a slightest pretext often in our daily life out of fury, in retaliation or in revenge of some misdeeds. Not only the private or non-state violence, the state agencies like police, military or others are often indulge in meting out tortures in the name of extracting confessions or wipe out some traces of their misdeeds or in retaliation. But surprisingly our judicial system is totally silent about the very menace, if not deny its very existence.

India is yet to ratify the United Nation's Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) though they signed the Charter. As we told earlier, torture is not defined in our Indian law. State apparatus is continuously imparting torture and meting out inhuman and degrading treatment and/or punishment to the people by various means and forms. A tacit acceptance of torture as a part of criminal investigation is sometimes recognized by the criminal justice system too. It is imperative to create immediately an atmosphere of intolerance to torture among the judiciary, education of international law on torture and sharpening of judicial sensitivity by way of social criticism . In many instances political leaders exploit law-enforcing agencies for personal ends and thus encourage the practice of torture and degrading treatments of their opponents and others. Thus the age-old institutional habits of torture get further entrenched. We strongly believe that civil society organizations, NGOs and all concerned persons need to demonstrate much greater will to eliminate this social evil.

Arresting the situation

MASUM took the issue of torture as a primary concern and started its intervention to curb the rising custodial violence. On 4th August, 1998, they filed an application under article 215 of the Constitution of India along with Contempt of Court Act against concerned state-authorities for non-compliance of Supreme court's 11 point directives to comply certain formalities before arresting any person and issuance of Memo of Arrest. They cited around 50 cases where no memo of arrest was served and informed the court that the Supreme Court's order dated 18 December, 1996, in general, not obeyed by any branch of police force. This includes Calcutta police, State police, Railway Police, CBI etc. The petition made 95 officials including Chief Secretary to the Govt., Commissioner of Police, IGs, DIGs, and SPs of different police administrations as respondent to the case. Consequent to the petition MASUM organised campaign in various forms. As a result a number of intellectuals, human rights activists and others signed an appeal to support their call for implementation of Supreme Court's order. If MASUM succeeds, it will be a big leap towards resisting custodial violence.

Disappearance and MASUM

Bhikari Paswan, worker of the Telenipara Victoria Jute Mill under Bhadreshwar P.S. Hooghly district in west Bengal was arrested by police and later disappeared from custody. Later the police, to wipe out the evidences of Bhikari's arrest, tampered with all documents and denied his arrest. Consequent to a habeas corpus, the CBI investigation revealed that he was picked up by the police and later disappeared. His disappearance assumed such a dimension that even the political parties also got involved with it. After the initial furore over Bhikari's disappearance was over, the victim family fell pray to the attention of the sympathisers. Masum did not part them and stand still by their side to continue the fight for seeking justice.

Murder of a teenaged girl and after

In this context we want to put a unique case covering the murder of a minor and a case of dowry death and a case of bribed police administration and a case of influenced executive and a case of a dishonest medico, all worked in unison to cover up a case of murder to a suicide.

Mousumi Ari , a girl of a remote area of Kakdwip P.S. in Sunderban area, married to her loved one against wish of her family, faced premature death at the hands of his own husband and her in-laws members within two years of her marriage. The mother of Mousumi went to Kakdwip P.S. to lodge F.I.R for committing murder of her daughter by her husband and her in-laws members on the fateful day of 25th October 2003, but under stiff pressure and instruction from police, the complaint as recorded was of a case of suicide though the penal sections were mentioned of committing torture of wife and dowry death. After getting the body of the daughter, the parents of Mousumi, having practical knowledge and practice that fish could be preserved with salt, dug an eight-feet deep pit and put the body of Mousumi with 70 kgs of salt into it. The magistrate, the autopsy surgeon, the police were hand in glove and tried to shield the perpetrators. They manufactured the government records. After a prolonged struggle of the victim's family and human rights organizations, like MASUM, second post-mortem examination held on 3.1.2004, where it was found that Mousumi was brutally murdered. A study of Mousumi Ari's case will prove that the criminal justice system in West Bengal is totally ineffective. Masum has been contuining its legal battle against the authorities in search of justice.

Capital Punishment

Death penaly is the highest form of torture meted out to a human being by the state agencies in the name of justice. Existence of death penalty in a society goes against the norms of a civil society and the practice of its is forbidden by the International charter and covenants on human rights. Sine India has not ratified the United Nation's Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) , there is no check in restraining the Indian state for its uses. Masum has been syatematically campaigning against the use of death penalty all along and demanded immediate ratification of CAT. Masum launched several campaign programme daemanding the abolition of death penalty and commutation of the persons waitinng in the death row.

On 14th August 2004, a person named Dhananjay Chatterjee was hanged to death being accused of rape and murder of a minor girl. The state Government took several measures to assure and carry out his death sentence.

On the day of Dhananjay's execution, members of MASUM held candle-lit vigils about an hour prior to the execution demanding the scrapping of the death penalty and 'state sponsored murder'. MASUM members with candles and placards in hand reading 'Stop State Sponsored Murder' stood near the police barricades, about 100 meters from the jail and sang "We shall overcome".

Masum also launched several campaign programme demanding the abolition of death penalty and commutation of the persons waiting in the death row.