Thursday, November 10, 2011

[rti_india] Defending the defnders

 

Dear Friend,

Human rights activists have come under repeated attacks recently. Right to Information activists have been killed and many have had cases filed against them. Journalists have been jailed in criminal defamation cases, have been attacked, some of them killed, and media houses have had their offices ransacked.  Tribal activists particularly in conflict areas have been hounded by the police and many of them are in jail today. The situation has never been so dire. The need of the hour is to protect and defend human rights activists in India today. 

There have been many initiatives in the country on defending the defenders and several organizations have developed expertise in various areas such as documentation, action alerts, approaching the UN system, legal aid, medical aid, counseling and so on. These initiatives have developed as a response to the cry from the grassroot activists who have been hounded by the police in many states.

The Human Rights Law Network and the World Sikh Organization (WSO) in collaboration with human rights organizations from various states of India will be facilitating a National Consultation on Human Rights Defenders  in the memory of Shri Jaswant Singh Khalra who was extra-judicially executed by the Punjab Police after he disclosed the names of the disappeared from the Punjab. It is hoped that this consultation will give many of the participants, including the families of the activists who have been killed or victimized, a chance to interact and to develop better strategies to deal with the increasing use of violence by the state against social activists. The consultation will be on the 19th and 20th of November 2011 at the India Islamic Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi. 

We look forward to your participation. Please see below Tentative Programme Schedule.


Warm Regards,
Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar, Adv
Human Rights Law Network

National Consultation on Human Rights Defenders

19-20 November 2011

India Islamic Center, Lodi Road

New Delhi

 

Tentative Programme Schedule as on 4.11.2011

 

Saturday 19th November 2011

 

Time

Topic

Speakers

9.30– 9.45

Key-note address

Paramjeet Kaur, widow of advocate Jaswant Singh Khalra

 

9.45 - 10

Can we ever forget?

Prem Vinning

President, World Sikh Organisation

 

10 - 10.30

Threats to human rights defenders

Dr. Binayak Sen

Kavita Srivastav (PUCL)

 

10.30 - 11

Role of human rights organizations

Henry Tiphagne (People's Watch)

Harish Dhawan (PUDR)

Kirity Roy (MASUM)

 

11 – 12

Situation in the Punjab/'84 genocide

·         Adv. Phoolka

·         Adv R.S. Bains

·         Adv Navkiran Singh

·         Adv N.K. Jeet

 

12 -1

Defenders in Kashmir

·         Iftikhar Gilani

·         Parveena (APDP)

·         Adv Arshad Andrabi

·         Adv Mian Qayoom

·         Sanjay Kak

 

1 -2

Lunch

 

2 - 3

Defenders in conflict states

·         Sudha Bhardwaj (Chhattisgarh)

·         Himanshu Kumar (Chhattisgarh)

·         Kopa Kunjam (Chhattisgarh)

·         Zulekha Zabi (Chattisgarh)

·         Dayamani Barla (Jharkhand)  

3 - 5

Assaults on the media

·         Shoma Chaudhary

·         Manoj Mitta

·         Anirudh Behl

·         Harsh Dobhal

·         Ajay T.G.

·         Maqbool Sahil

·         Javed Naqvi

·         Kumar Badal

·         Gurbir Singh

 

5 – 6

Attacks on anti-communal activists

·         Teesta

·         Mukul Sinha

·         Adv Mohmmad Soheb

 

6 – 7

Attacks on trade unions

·         Gautam Modi

·         Rakhi Sehgal (NTUI)

·         Pradeep (Maruti Suzuki Union)

·         P.C. Tiwari

·         Gayatri Singh

 

8 p.m.

Dinner

 

 

Sunday 20th November 2011

 

Date

Issue

Speaker

9 – 10.30

 

 

Assaults on RTI activists

·         Shailesh Gandhi (Chair)

·         Shekhar Singh     (Chair)

·         Sandeep Shetty, Mumbai

·         Bimal Kumar Khemani (TRAP group of RTI activists)

·         Santosh Koli, Parivartan

·         Dr. Nutan Thakur (IRDS)

·         Vijay Kumbhar, Maharashtra

 

10.30 – 11.30

Role of lawyers

·         Prashant Bhushan

·         Maja Daruwala, CHRI

·         Maharukh Adenwala

·         Amarnath Pandey, Chhattisgarh

·         Shamim Modi  (M.P.)

 

11.30 -12.30

 

Situation of defenders in the North-East

·         Sharmila's case : Singhajeet

·         Akhil Gogoi Assam

·         Ajit Kumar Bhuyan

·         Rosemary Dzuvichu (Naga Mothers Association)

 

12.30 – 1.30

Attacks on environmental activists

·         Praveen Gawankar; Jaitapur

·         Abhay Sahoo (Orissa)

·         Nasir Bhai

·         P.K. Das

1.30 – 2

Lunch

 

2-2.15

2.15 – 2.30

Politics of hate

Discussion

Mallika Sarabai

 

2.30 – 3.30

Assaults on activists

·         Sandeep Singh (AISA)

·         Tenzin Tsundue (Tibetan activist)

·         Rajat Kalsan (Mirchpur case)

 

3.30 – 4

Shabnam Hashmi (Chair)

Open session with Sanjiv Bhatt

 

4.30 – 6

Defending the defenders: strategies:

·         Action alerts

·         Legal aid

·         Medical aid

·         Media coverage

·         Documentation

·         Counseling

·         Campaigns

·         Sharing resources,

·         etc.ss

 

·         Suhas Chakma, ACHR (Chair)

·         Henry Tiphagne, People's Watch

·         Satnam Singh Bains

·         Paramjeet Kaur

·         Balpreet Singh (WSO)

·         Lenin, PVCHR

·         Anil Choudhary, PEACE

  



Please think about the environment and do not print this e-mail unless you really need to.

Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar, Advocate
Cell: +91 9868002365, +91 9971519209
Email: divyajyoti@jaipuriar.com,
Visit me at www.jaipuriar.com

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