Inaugural Conference
COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
March 31, April 1 2008, LTG Auditorium, Copernicus
Marg, Mandi House, New Delhi
Resolutions
1. On Rights of Political Prisoners
The Preparatory Committee towards forming the
Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
demands that all social and political activists
arrested, incarcerated in the prisons, and who have
been working for the betterment of the greater common
good, for a society where people will not be
discriminated or oppressed or mistreated or exploited,
have put the interest of the society, the general
toiling masses above their personal interest should be
declared as political prisoners.
Though the state may have differences with the aims,
aspirations and methods of struggle of those arrested,
we believe that they must enjoy the special status and
rights of political prisoners. These rights may not
have been accorded to them through the Indian
constitution but history has always recognized such
people as a group and society at large has often
campaigned for their rights and release.
We condemn the method of illegal detention of the
prisoner, so that the state can without impunity hold
the prisoner hostage as part of its designs to
terrorize the people who are dissenting against the
policies of the state. Moreover, illegal detention is
an easy way for the state to resort to killing the
detained and later declaring a story of 'encounter'.
Further the state also denies the right of the
prisoner to a lawyer of his/her choice. In many states
the lawyers who take up the case of the political
prisoner are threatened by the police and even they
are also charged with cases of abetting terrorism. We
demand the state to refrain from threatening and
harassing those who come forward to provide bail for
the political prisoners. In a democracy any one
arrested, be it a criminal or otherwise is deemed to
be innocent until proved guilty and therefore must
have a right to a lawyer. Even so-called terrorists
must have legal counsels.
While maintaining the unconditional release of
political prisoners, we also demand that when they are
held in the prison, they be granted their rights to be
together, right to information in the form of books,
periodicals and literature, to nutritious food and
health facilities.
We unequivocally denounce torture and humiliation on
any prisoner as a means to break their will. We
condemn the sexual violence that is being used on
women by the state as a tool to break the morale of
the women political prisoners. Narco analysis is being
used as an instrument of torture, of late, on
prisoners including political prisoners. We condemn
such barbaric practices of forcing someone to give
evidence against him / her. We demand that such
unscientific and inhuman practices be stopped
immediately. Torture should be stopped. The
International Covenant on Torture and the safe guards
that it provides is also applicable to India and she
cannot afford to shy away from upholding it.
2. On Death Penalty
We the people assembled here towards convening a
Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
strongly oppose the Indian state's continuing policy
of death penalty ostensibly as a deterrent to prevent
crime. When the world community has repealed the law
conferring death penalty calling it barbaric and
archaic an instrument in redeeming the human in the
human being, India, which is espousing the values of
neo-liberalism and would want to be part of the
international community, is a signatory to the
International Covenant on Human Rights. And yet in the
last one year there has been a spate of verdicts given
by the court which upheld the right of the state to
take ones' life as a measure to restore 'order' in the
society.
For India, which claims to be a civilized society, the
state's right to take away the life of the individual
so as to ensure an order, which is based on
exploitation, domination, oppression and mistreatment
cannot bring a society free from all forms of violence
and exploitation. Already more than 230 countries of
the world community have put an end to capital
punishment. But in India death penalty is synonymous
with a 'strong state'. It is often equated to the
national security and integrity of the country, the
only way to deal with all kinds of 'internal' and
'external' 'threats' as has been claimed by government
after government at the center.
But experience has shown that death penalty has become
a tool of political vendetta indulged in by the powers
that be and has hardly contributed in improving the
law and order or preventing the social evils from
repeating. It is high time that this barbaric punitive
instrument should be repealed once and for all from
our penal code. We demand the state to immediately
repeal capital punishment as it does not address any
social, political malady
3. Condemn the so called War Against terror of the
Manmohan Singh government! Expose the anti-people
nature of the hoax of so-called internal security
threat!
The Preparatory Committee towards forming the
Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
condemns in the strongest words the so called war
against terror by the UPA government—an alibi to crush
all forms of protests against the anti-people policies
facilitated through the process of liberalization,
privatization and globalization. It is through these
policies that the ruling class in India is striving to
be the able trusted junior partner of US imperialism
in South Asia. Under the garb of the war against
terror, the government is using all possible
legislations to crush the genuine protests of the vast
sections of the masses. Each state within India is
given the authority to enact their own internal
security legislations. All punitive measures are used
to reign in the rising people's discontent with the
pro-market policies of the government that have made a
few pockets rich while the vast majority of people
remain impoverished driven to subhuman existence.
Under the garb of the so-called war against terror,
the state has resorted to vigilante gangs like the
Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh, the Sulpha in Assam, the
death squads of Punjab, the Ikwan-ul-Muslimin in Jammu
& Kashmir, the Green Tigers, Narsa Cobras in Andhra
Pradesh, the Nagrik Suraksha Dal in Jharkhand and the
Harmad in West Bengal. We strongly condemn these
fascist designs of the state to violently suppress all
forms of people's dissent by arming private state
sponsored lumpen gangs and so-called other
counter-insurgency groups in Jammu And Kashmir and
other regions. Mass rape of women has been a tactic
resorted to by the state against all forms of
political dissent. It is the same private gangs with
the active support of the police and the
paramilitary—such as the IRB, the CRPF, the BSF, the
Rashtriya Rifles, Assam Rifles etc. that has resorted
to rape as a state policy to deal with political
movements fighting for their right to
self-determination, minority rights, against
displacement, against all forms of inhuman
exploitation.
Today anyone who dare say against the development
policy of the state or organise people to protest
uncompromisingly against such policies of loot and
plunder are dubbed terrorists or as the threat to
internal security. We condemn in the strongest words
the tendency of the state to deal all questions of
socio-political and economic significance as a law and
order problem.
Imprisonment of the activists of such peoples'
movements and clamping down on such movements in the
interest of national security has seen the worst forms
of atrocities in the subcontinent that would bring
back the memories of the struggles of the
anti-colonial days. We demand the government to scrap
all anti-people laws that have given blanket powers to
the executive of the state.
It is only in this way that the interests of the
people can be best represented. And it is only this
way that a safe, self-reliant and secure subcontinent
can be made possible.
4. on Prison Conditions
We the people who are assembled here from various
parts of the subcontinent are concerned about the
prison conditions. Prisons have virtually become the
seats of torture and humiliation of the worst kinds.
Prisoners from the Muslim community or Kashmiri Muslim
prisoners, the Kamtapuris, the people of Manipur, the
Assamese, Tamil nationalists, the Maoists, Nagas,
Bodos, the people of Punjab etc. have been facing the
worst kinds of humiliation and torture in the prisons.
Apart from the fact that the prison conditions have
been highly communal against the minorities and the
Kashmiri Muslims there has hardly been any attempt to
improve the general conditions of the prisons. For the
religious minorities they are not allowed to practice
their religion inside the prison. Along with these are
the prisoners arrested as Maoists and those arrested
from the various nationality movements who face the
worst kinds of torture. India resorts some of the
worst forms of torture methods.
The state further creates separate wards to isolate
these prisoners so as to break their political will.
It never recognizes these prisoners as political
prisoners. They are denied their basic rights in the
prison. Their rights to books, to associate within the
prison, are all brutally denied. The jail manual is
never followed when it comes to the food given to the
prisoners. Overcrowding in the prison has become a
normal feature in the prisons in the sub continent so
much so that prisoners sit through the night without
having any space to lie down.
During winters they are not given proper winter wear.
The overall conditions within the prison are the worst
when it comes to hygiene. We strongly condemn this
communal and authoritarian attitude of the state to
deal with political dissent. The way a state runs its
prison and prison conditions is also a reflection of
its commitment for human values and human
civilization.
5. Lift the Ban on SIMI
SIMI is a student organization in India, working
independently among the students in the various
campuses of India. It found its principles in the
Quran, the life and teaching of Prophet Mohammad. The
members of this organisation are guided by strong
moral principles and values.
The BJP government banned SIMI. That was a tribute to
show their commitment to America after and its
proclaimed "war against terrorism". After the ban
thousands of SIMI activists had been put in prison.
Most of them were studying in medical and engineering
colleges; others also had good academic qualifications
in graduation and post-graduation. Thousands were
expelled from their workplace with the allegation that
they were SIMI activists or were funding SIMI or had
previous connections with SIMI. And that continues
even today. People arrested on other charges by
organization are involved in illegal activities.
The fist ban came into force on September 27th 2001.
Subsequently the ban had been renewed after the tenure
of every ban period. So far the ban had been renewed
four times. No concrete reasons have been proved so
far against SIMI for justifying the ban. But even then
the ban continues. No student organisation of the
country had to fight as much as SIMI had to in the
various courts of the country including the apex
court, in the last few years. Altogether four
tribunals were constituted, one each within every
period of the ban. The findings of the first tribunal
are still pending in the Supreme Court. And the appeal
of the second tribunal order has been challenged in
the Delhi High Court. The third appeal about the third
tribunal has also been pending in the Supreme Court.
Because of these pending cases the Supreme Court
judges, in the third appeal, referred the entire
matter to be heard by a larger bench. However, that
too is pending in the Supreme Court.
The democracy in India had completely failed to tender
proper justice to this banned organisation. Unending
legal processes have denied the organisation of its
valid and fundamental rights. We call up on the
Government
to stop further banning of Students' Islamic
organisations.
to decide upon the pending appeals filed in the
Supreme Court against the decisions of the tribunals
immediately.
to assure fundamental rights to the organisation
through meaningful remedies assured in the Indian
constitution.
6. Right to Read, Sell, Buy and Keep all Forms if
Political Literature
At present bail to 11 youth and students was rejected
for possessing some books. In Chandrapur, Maharashtra
a concerted effort has been going on to arrest and
detain publishers as well as readers of political
literature. Sunita from Daanish publishers, Delhi was
arrested in October 2006 along with Veera Sathidar
from her book stall at Chandrapur. Though she is only
a publisher, she was alleged to have Maoist links and
many false cases were foisted on them.
Recently a young publisher from Kolhapur along with 3
others was arrested because they were publishing/
selling progressive literature. After that 10 members
of Deshbhakti Yuva Manch, Arun Bhelke and others were
arrested under unlawful from their homes for
possessing Naxalite literature and. Activities
Prevention Act. Their bail was rejected.
This house not only demands their unconditional
release but we also uphold the right to freedom of
expression and right to write, publish, read, sell or
purchase any type of literature.
7. Stop torture through unscientific tests like, Narco
Analysis, Polygraph and similar third degree methods.
Of late the state is increasingly resorting to Narco
Analysis, Poligraph, Brain Mapping and similar
unscientific tests on the accused persons including
political prisoners/ accused as a part of
investigations. This is nothing but using third degree
method apart from abuse of science. It is also not out
of place to mention that many countries around the
world have stopped using such methods as they are
inhuman. Therefore we demand such third degree methods
should not be used in future.
8. Prisoners of War
The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
takes note of the Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh's
statement made in April, 2006 that Maoists constitute
the greatest threat to internal security of India.
The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
takes note of the fact that civil war situation
prevails in our country where Maoists have been
fighting against the present Indian state for
social-economic transformation and also where people
of some nationalities have been fighting for the
realization of the right of self-determination. This
Committee resolves that persons arrested on both sides
– the movements and the state security forces --
should be treated properly as human beings and be
regarded as 'prisoners of war' in accordance with the
Geneva Convention to which India is a signatory.
9. The secular democratic forum and people had joined
hands to stall the ascendancy of communal fascism and
imperialist globalization. The Government which
assumed of fire with the support of the secular forces
have not taken any tangible step to contain fascism
and imperialist policies. They have failed to give
even relief to the victim of fascism and
globalization.
The Indian state has already entered a strategic
alliance with US imperialism and joined the so-called
war on terror. The rulers are also hobnobbing with
communal fascism. The conference also calls for the
lifting the ban on democratic and political
organisations including the Student organisation SIMI.
The Government should snap the strategic alliance with
U.S.A.
All the left and democratic forces should withdraw
support to the congress Government.
10. The conference on political Prisoners resolves to
demand the Tamil Nadu Government should abolish
immediately the Chinglepet special camp for Srilankan
refugees, a shadow prison, and all the inmates should
be sent to the ordinary camps for refugees.
We demand Tamil Nadu Government to stop all kinds of
discrimination in granting general amnesty premature
release, remission and parole facilities.
We demand Tamil Nadu Government not to impose TADA on
prisoners arrested after its lapse. The TADA cases
imposed on the five farmers of ............. in August
2007 should be withdrawn immediately.
11. It is resolved that all the political prisoners in
Gujarat especially those arrested for allegedly
torching a train compartment in Godhra be released and
prisoners under the case DCB-6 should also be released
and people who were displaced in the post-Godhra
genocide be allowed to return to their homes and
lands.
12. All the parties, organizations listed in the
schedule of Unlawful Activities Act banned should be
lifted, which are termed by U.S.A. as terrorist
organizations as well as Indian Government.
13. The ban imposed on seven mass organizations
including `Damana Pratirodha Manch' should be lifted
by Government of Orissa.
14. Two young adivasis Sitinga a Magli and Moninga
Kondha (Tribals) who have been convicted for life on
wrong identification have been languishing in prison
for the last 5 years (appeal pending in High Court)
should be released unconditionally.
Sukhia Sab Sansar Khaye Aur Soye
Dukhia Das Kabir Jagey Aur Roye
The world is 'happy', eating and sleeping
The forlorn Kabir Das is awake and weeping
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