Forwrded Urgent Appeal Re INDIA--A Lawyer's Life is at Risk After Custodial Torture

8/14/2019 Forwrded Urgent Appeal Re INDIA--A Lawyer's Life is at Risk After Custodial Torture

1/5

Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC) is pleased to forward the following

Urgent Appeal issued by Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regarding risk of life

of Mr. Ramananda Taorem is a lawyer practicing in Imphal, Manipur, who is in severe

condition following torture in custody. So far no proper investigation has been conducted and

no complaint has been registered. It is believed that the victim's injuries may be fatal. You are

urged to send appeals to the concerned authorities and disseminate it widely.

Waliullah Ahmed Laskar

Information Division, BHRPC

Rongpur Part Part-IV, Silchar-9,Assam, India

Email:[email protected]@gmail.com

Guwahati, 26 February, 2010

BHRPC URL of the document: http://groups.google.co.in/group/bhrpc/web/INDIA--A

%20lawyer%27s%20life%20is%20at%20risk%20after%20custodial%20torture.pdf?hl=en

INDIA: A lawyer's life is at risk after custodial torture

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-015-2010

25 February 2010

------------------------------------------------------

INDIA: A lawyer's life is at risk after custodial torture

ISSUES: Human rights defenders; impunity; custodial torture

------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a lawyer in Manipur is

in a severe condition following torture in custody. So far no proper investigation has

been conducted and no complaint has been registered. It is believed that the victim's

injuries may be fatal.

CASE DETAILS:
mailto:[email protected]://groups.google.co.in/group/bhrpc/web/INDIA--A%20lawyer's%20life%20is%20at%20risk%20after%20custodial%20torture.pdf?hl=enhttp://groups.google.co.in/group/bhrpc/web/INDIA--A%20lawyer's%20life%20is%20at%20risk%20after%20custodial%20torture.pdf?hl=enhttp://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-015-2010mailto:[email protected]://groups.google.co.in/group/bhrpc/web/INDIA--A%20lawyer's%20life%20is%20at%20risk%20after%20custodial%20torture.pdf?hl=enhttp://groups.google.co.in/group/bhrpc/web/INDIA--A%20lawyer's%20life%20is%20at%20risk%20after%20custodial%20torture.pdf?hl=en


2/5

Mr. Ramananda Taorem is a lawyer practicing in Imphal, Manipur. He was arrested on 14

September 2009 at about 3pm at the office of the All Manipur United Clubs Organisation

(AMUCO) by officers from the Imphal West Police Commando Unit. According to our

information the arresting officers had no arrest memo, which is a statutory requirement in

Indian law. He was taken to a nearby police station, then to the Police Commando Complex

at Minuthong where he was allegedly assaulted and tortured with electric shocks to his

genitals.

Ramananda was accused by police of being a member of an armed opposition group that

operates in the state, and a case was registered against him under the provisions of the

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967; Official Secrets Act, 1923; the National Security

Act, 1980 and under Sections 121 and121-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The police

produced him in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Imphal, where the

magistrate ruled that he should be remanded in custody for 15 days.

The authorities detained the victim at the Sajiwa Central Jail until December 2009, where,

like most other detainees he was denied the basic facilities necessary to sustain his life,

including warm clothes and a bed. The victim was forced to sleep on the cement floor despite

his injuries from the police torture.

At the time of arrest Ramananda was receiving treatment for cardiac ailments, and his

conditions of detention and torture worsened his condition. We are told that the police denied

requests by Ramananda's family to send him medicines from outside the jail.

The authorities released the victim on 24 December and the state government withdrew all

cases against him, raising serious doubts regarding the grounds for his arrest. The AHRC

would like to note that this is a routine occurrence, as you can read in our reports on the

detention and torture of Mr. Jiten Yumnam, a human rights defender (UAC-122-2009).

Yumnam was arrested in similar circumstances in Manipur on the same day.

After his release from custody Ramananda was admitted to Manipur's Regional Institute of

Medical Sciences (RIMS) on 27 December in poor physical condition and unable to speak.

His right leg is suffering from monoparesis (paresis affecting a single extremity or part of a

limb), which badly affects his mobility, and he was also diagnosed with pneumonia, cerebral

embolism and as a result, facial nerve palsy. Doctors have told him that advanced and

specialised medical treatment will be necessary otherwise his injuries could become fatal. He

is finding difficult to return to normal life.

For further details regarding incidents related to this case involving other persons arrested

along with Ramananda, please see AHRC-UAU-026-2009. Please also read: Impunity must

END in Manipurand The state of the republic is showcased in Manipurfor further detailsregarding the use of force by state agencies in Manipur and related issues.
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3266/http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3273/http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3273/http://www.ahrchk.net/pr/mainfile.php/2010mr/713/http://www.ahrchk.net/pr/mainfile.php/2010mr/713/http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2383/http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3266/http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3273/http://www.ahrchk.net/pr/mainfile.php/2010mr/713/http://www.ahrchk.net/pr/mainfile.php/2010mr/713/http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2383/


3/5

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities named below to guarantee Ramananda's safety and to urge an

investigation in the incident.

The AHRC has written a separate letter to the Rapporteur on the situation of human rights

defenders and the Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment calling for an intervention in this case.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear .,

INDIA: The government must investigate the case of torture of Mr. Ramananda

Taorem

Name of the victim: Mr. Ramananda Taorem, human rights lawyer, Manipur

Name of the alleged perpetrators: Officers associated with Imphal West Police Commando

Unit, Manipur

Date of incident: September 14, 2009

I am writing to express my concern regarding the case of torture of Mr. Ramananda Taorem,

a human rights lawyer working in Manipur. I am informed that he was arrested by officers

from the Imphal West Police Commando Unit on 14 September, 2009.

I am concerned to know that after arrest the police tortured Ramananda in custody, and later

accused him of having committed crimes registered under the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act, 1967; Official Secrets Act, 1923; the National Security Act, 1980 and under

Sections 121 and121-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. I am also aware that the victim was

produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate and remanded in custody. I am informed that

until his release from custody on 24 December Ramananda was denied proper medical

treatment.

From the injuries he suffered from torture and the illegal treatment meted out against him in

custody Ramananda is now is in a critical state. I have been informed that his physical as well

as mental health is deteriorating rapidly since then.

I am informed that soon after release the cases against Ramananda were withdrawnunilaterally by the government, an action that raises serious suspicion regarding the reason
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-015-2010


4/5

for his arrest. I call for your immediate intervention in the victims case and demand a full

investigation into the behaviour of the police.

I urge you to take necessary actions to ensure that:

1. The statement of Ramananda must be recorded by a magistrate immediately;

2. If the statement reveals a case of torture and ill treatment, an investigation must be ordered

into the case, which must be supervised by a Judicial Magistrate as allowed in the rules laid

down by the Supreme Court of India;

3. Ramananda must be provided immediate security;

4. The officers suspected in the case must be immediately suspended from active service;

5. The state government must provide immediate assistance to Ramananda so that he could

seek appropriate medical assistance.

Yours Sincerely,

------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Pratibha Patil Devi,President, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhawan,

New Delhi, 110004

INDIA

Fax: +91 11 23017290

E-mail: pressecy@Sansad. nic.in

2. Mr. Okram Ibobi

Chief Minister & Home Minister of Manipur,

Chief Minister's secretariat Babupara,

Imphal 795001 Manipur

INDIAFax: + 91 385 2221817

Email: [email protected]

3. Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India

Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg

New Delhi-110001 INDIA

Fax: +91 11 23340016

E-mail: [email protected]

4. Dr. P. Chidambaram

Minister, Ministry of Home AffairsGriha Mantralaya Room


5/5

No. 104, North Block Central Secretariat, New Delhi 110001

INDIA

Fax: +91 11 2301 5750, 2309 3750, 2309 2763

---------------------

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission ([email protected])

Posted on 2010-02-25
mailto:[email protected]://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-015-2010mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Forwrded Urgent Appeal Re INDIA--A Lawyer's Life is at Risk After Custodial Torture