ON HUMAN RIGHTS, JUSTICE AND PEACE ISSUES, LABOUR RIGHTS, MIGRANT RIGHTS, FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY, TOWARDS AN END OF TORTURE, POLICE ABUSES, DISCRIMINATION...
Malaysian Human Resource Minister did something 'questionable' for workers - NOPE not for all workers but just for CIVIL SERVANTS - government workers.
the programme is targeted at civil servants
especially the B40 before being extended to government and private
sector retirees to enable them to buy motor insurance via monthly installments, or every four-month or in one payment.
WHAT? A scheme to buy annual car insurance by installments (without interest??) How much is this insurance normally - well, it is about RM200-500 on the average - so, does paying installment for car insurance help the worker? If it was interest free home or car loans, then it is significant...and will help all WORKERS in Malaysia
Why then is this NOT for Private Sector workers, or self employed workers in the B40 class? They need it more..
For civil servants(government employees) they can get a lot of BENEFITS because they have regular employment, that is SECURE - so they can get easy loans...they can even do renovations and small construction to their homes/property on installment payments/loans ... a benefit NOT available to Private Sector or the self-employed workers...
So, if Saravanan wanted to help workers - help first the Private Sector workers...
2nd PROBLEM - Is Saravanan now giving large business to ONE insurance provider? The company mentioned in the news report is A Tech Insure Sdn Bhd (ATECH)
Human Resource Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the
Syariah-compliant scheme was implemented with a RM100 million funding by
Social Security Organisation (Socso), MyAngkasa Amanah Berhad (MAAB)
and A Tech Insure Sdn Bhd (ATECH).
What about all the other car insurance providers - were they even given the chance to be part of this 'government plan/scheme'?
So, who is A Tech Insure Sdn Bhd (ATECH)?
Chairman - Tan Sri Dr. Abu Kassim bin Mohamed
- well, he is a former MACC Chief Commissioner - and after retirement. he seems to be receiving a lot - WHY? Is it some kind of 'pay back' for doing the right thing whilst in MACC - well, these kind of thinking can arise. After retirement, he already will receive a big pension - and rightly there should be a '3 year break'( a cooling off period) before he takes up other 'beneficial/enriching positions' in private or government companies...being part of Commissions may be OK...a lecturer teaching young MACC officers is OK ..When people in law enforcement gets offered and/or take up big high paying position after retirement - was this the 'Bribe' for favors done? Was this a strategy to suppress MACC from investigating this company and/or those associated - bosses still have influence over junior officers in MACC?
According to Prasarana’s website, MACC former chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed (picture) was appointed into the company’s board of directors effective Feb 15....handles several multi-billion projects, particularly rail construction
and development including the ongoing RM16.63 billion Light Rail Transit
3 project.
AND, GUESS WHAT....THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT IS PUMPING IN RM100 MILLION
As it is, this project/scheme only helps government employees - not ALL workers
Why exactly is the government pumping in MONEY - when really, that car insurance service provider will be making GREAT profit from the about 1.7 million civil servants(government employees) - with all its competitors put at a great disadvantage?A Tech Insure Sdn Bhd (ATECH) must be giving the government/US maybe RM100 Million or Billion after all Saravanan and/or the Ministry just gave them a potential gold mine...
Was there OPEN TENDER?
Should MACC start investigating now - an appointment of a former MACC Chief Commissioner as Chairman does not prove that there is NO CORRUPTION - in fact, I become more suspicious...
B40 civil servants can now buy car insurance in instalments, says Saravanan
KUALA
LUMPUR (Nov 24): About 1.7 million civil servants especially those from
the B40 group can now purchase or renew their vehicle insurance with
interest-free instalments through MyezyCover scheme introduced by the
government on Wednesday (Nov 24).
Human Resource Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the
Syariah-compliant scheme was implemented with a RM100 million funding by
Social Security Organisation (Socso), MyAngkasa Amanah Berhad (MAAB)
and A Tech Insure Sdn Bhd (ATECH).
“In the initial stage, the programme is targeted at civil servants
especially the B40 before being extended to government and private
sector retirees to enable them to buy motor insurance via monthly
instalments, or every four-month or in one payment.
“Those who make a one-payment purchase would receive a 10% discount
with payment via salary deduction by Angkasa,” he said in a media
conference after witnessing the signing of MyezyCover Scheme Agreement
at Menara Perkeso here on Wednesday.
In the agreement ceremony, Socso was represented by its chief
executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed, ATECH by its chief
executive officer (CEO) Syed Alwi Mohamed Sultan while MAAB by CEO
Faudzi Mt Din.
Saravanan said the involvement of Socso in the programme was as an
investor because the government was aware that there were civil
servants, especially those in the B40 who could barely cover their
vehicle insurance payment.
“The situation caused them to wait for their salary to purchase their
car insurance if their car insurance expires in the middle of the
month.
“Some even buy road tax and car insurance with loans from illegal money lenders apart from cooperatives or with credit cards.
“So looking at their cash flow losses through such loans, I discussed
with insurance companies and was told they have no objection to
providing instalment payment scheme as some parties could put up the
payment first. So I discussed with Socso and other parties to
participate in the programme as investors,” he said.
Saravanan is confident the programme would assist the government to
eradicate poverty among the people especially civil servants to reduce
their financial burden.
Meanwhile, ATECH chairman, Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamad in a statement
said with an instalment for as low as RM50 a month, MyezyCover scheme
could assist civil servants to manage their cash in hand for other
expenses. - Edge Markets, 24/11/2021
India Must Release
And Stop Harassing Khurram Parvez, Sudha Bharadwaj And Human Rights Defenders
We, the 32
undersigned groups, organizations are appalled by the arrest and detention of
Indian Human Rights Defender, Khurram Parvez, who was arrested on Monday
(November 22) under the draconian the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
1967(UAPA).
This unjust law, which generally denies
bail, undermines the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the right
to a speedy fair trial has been used by India against human rights defenders,
women human rights defenders, labour and trade union activist, and many others.
Human Rights Defender Khurram
Parvez
44 years old Khurram Parvez, a
journalist by education and a human rights defender is a founder, and programme
coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), an
organization that has been documenting socio-political issues and human rights
concerns in the region for the past two decades. Amongst other human rights involvement,
he is also currently the chairperson of the Asian Federation against
Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD).
On the day of arrest, raids were
also conducted on the house of Khurram Parvez and the JKCCS office in the city
of Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory. Mr. Parvez’s mobile phone,
laptop, and several books were seized.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, 1967 – not about crime and justice, but suppression of HR Defenders and
dissent?
The UAPA was first introduced in
2008 by the then Congress party. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
government amended the law, allowing authorities to categorize even individuals
as terrorists. Previously, the designation was reserved only for organisations.
Between 2015 and 2019, 7,840
arrests were made under UAPA. Only 155 were convicted. In 2019 alone, there
were 1,948 arrests with mere 34 convictions. A reply by the government in the
Lok Sabha shows that only 2.2 % of cases registered under the UAPA between
2016-2019 ended in convictions by court.(The Hindu, 10/3/2021).
Only 22% of arrested accorded
trial, only 2.2% found guilty
In August 2021, the government
informed parliament that just 22 percent of people arrested under the law
from 2017 to 2019 were sent to trial. It said no charges had been filed so
far in the remaining cases. (Aljazeera/AP 16/8/2021).
Not only are most victims of UAPA
not accorded a fair trial, but even when they do get their cases tried, it is
unjustly delayed.
We note the case of Mohammed
Irfan, who when he was 24, newly married and expecting his first child was
arrested in August 2012 for allegedly plotting to kill Indian politicians.
Irfan was finally released in June 2021 after an Indian court acknowledged he
was wrongly jailed. By then, he had already spent nine years in prison.
It must be noted that the
sentences on conviction unjder the UAPA ranges from a maximum of 2 years, 3
years, 5 years and 7 years. Life imprisonment or death only if and when any
victim is killed. and as such delayed trials, without bail, may result in many
being incarcerated for a much longer period than the maximum sentence if found
guilty after a fair trial.
Tribal Rights activist dies in
custody
Tribal rights activist and 84
years old Jesuit priest, Stan Swamy, a victim of UAPA died in custody on
5/7/2021. He had previously contracted Covid-19 in detention and recovered. Swamy
was arrested in October 2020 for his alleged role in Bhima Koregaon violence in
2018 and his links with Maoists. When, he died, he was in the midst of a court
battle to be released on bail.
Women HR Defender still waiting for
trial after 4 years in detention
Sudha Bharadwaj, a trade union
activist, lawyer and teacher celebrated her 4th birthday in custody
on 1/11/2021. Since her arrest and detention in August 2018, she continues to
be incarcerated without a trial.
There are so many victims of this
draconian law. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, the number
of people arrested under UAPA has gone up to 1948 in 2019.
Therefore, we
-Call for the immediate and unconditional release
Khurram Parvez, Sudha Bharadwaj and all human rights defenders. Put an end to
all acts of harassment - including at the judicial level – against human rights
defenders in India, and ensure that they are able to carry out their legitimate
activities as human rights defenders without any hindrance and fear of
reprisals in all circumstances;
-Call for the repeal of the Unlawful
Activities(Prevention) Act, 1967, and an immediate moratorium on usage of this
UAPA pending repeal;
-Call for the immediate release on bail pending
the end of trial of all those currently detained on allegations of committing
offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,
-Call for the immediate just compensation to be
paid to Mohammed Irfan and others who have been found not guilty after trial,
or have never even been tried; and
-Call for India to respect justice and human
rights, and protect the rights of Human Rights Defenders.
Charles
Hector
Adrian
Pereira
For
and on behalf of the following 32 listed groups/organisations
ALIRAN
MADPET (Malaysians Against Death
Penalty and Torture)
North South Initiative(NSI)
ADPAN (Anti Death Penalty
Asia-Pacific Network)
Amnesty International Australia
Association of Human Rights
Defenders and Promoters- HRDP, Myanmar
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha
Mancha (MASUM)
Black Women For Wages For
Housework
Building and Wood Worker's
International (BWI) Asia Pacific
Capital Punishment Justice
Project(CPJP), Australia
Center for Orang Asli
Concerns(COAC)
Citizens Against Enforced
Disappearances (CAGED), Malaysia
Democratic Commission for Human
Development, Pakistan
Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND),
Philippines
Foundation The Day Of The Endangered Lawyer
International Women’s Rights
Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific)
Karapatan Alliance Philippines
National Union of Flight
Attendants Malaysia (NUFAM)
Network of Action for Migrants in
Malaysia (NAMM)
Odhikar, Bangladesh
Parti Rakyat
Malaysia
Payday Men’s
Network (UK-US)
Persatuan
Komuniti Prihatin Selangor & Kuala Lumpur
Persatuan
Sahabat Wanita Selangor
SETEM
Catalunya, Spain
Singapore Anti
Death Penalty Campaign (SADP)
Taiwan Alliance to End the Death
Penalty (TAEDP)
Teoh Beng Hock Trust for
Democracy
The Dutch League For Human Rights
WH4C (Workers Hub For Change)
Women Of Color/Global Women’s
Strike
Workers Assistance Center, Inc. ,
Philippines
UN criticizes arrest of rights activist in Indian Kashmir
Story by Reuters
Updated 0820 GMT (1620 HKT) November 23, 2021
Khurram Parvez, head of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a group of rights organizations working in the region.
Rights
groups including the United Nations have criticized the arrest of a
prominent activist in Indian-administered Kashmir on terror funding
charges.
Khurram
Parvez was arrested late on Monday by India's federal National
Investigation Agency (NIA), an Indian official briefed on the situation
told Reuters.
His residence and office were searched and a mobile phone, laptop and books seized, he added.
A spokesperson for the NIA confirmed Parvez's arrest on Tuesday.
He is being held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, that allows for detention of up to six months without trial.
His lawyer, Parvez Imroz, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, called Parvez's arrest "disturbing."
"He's not a terrorist, he's a human rights defender," she said in a tweet.
Parvez,
one of Kashmir's best known activists, is head of Jammu Kashmir
Coalition of Civil Society, a group of rights organizations working in
the region.
He
was arrested and detained on similar charges in 2016, after being
prevented from boarding a flight to attend a UN human rights forum in
Geneva. He was eventually released without being convicted of any crime.
The
Muslim-majority Kashmir region has been the source of decades of
tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan.
Both countries claim the Himalayan territory in full but rule it in part, and have fought two wars against each other there.
India has long faced allegations of rights abuses in its portion of the territory, charges New Delhi denies.
It tightly controls access to Kashmir for foreign observers, including the UN.- CNN/Reuters 23/11/2021
As Sudha Bharadwaj Spends 4th Birthday in Jail, a Reminder That UAPA Enables Her Incarceration
In addition to her legal battles, Sudha Bharadwaj also fought to seek justice for the marginalised in Chhattisgarh.
Sudha Bharadwaj. Photo: IANS
On
Monday, November 1, Chhattisgarh celebrated 21 years of its statehood.
On November 1, 2000, the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. It was a
result of longstanding demand and sustained struggles of local
organisations and the population. One of the organisations which played a
key role in the formation of the new state is Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha
(CMM) or Chhattisgarh Liberation Front. The CMM was formed in the early
1980s under the charismatic leadership of trade union leader Shankar Guha Niyogi.
He was murdered in September 1991. And one of those who decided to
carry forward the unfinished work of Niyogi is his fellow comrade from
early years of activism – Sudha Bharadwaj, a trade union activist,
lawyer and teacher.
Incidentally, Sudha Bharadwaj’s birthday coincides with the
Chhattisgarh state formation day on November 1. This Monday, November 1,
when the state celebrated Chhattisgarh Rajyotsava amid much fanfare,
Bharadwaj was lodged in Byculla (Mumbai) jail – her fourth birthday in
prison since her detention in August 2018. She continues to be
incarcerated without a trial.
While the trial in her case is yet to start, she has been continuously denied bail
despite suffering from medical issues and the pathetic conditions in
the prison, where she is lodged. A little over a month ago, her daughter
and friends issued a statement
expressing concern about congestion in prisons in the state and a
possible outbreak of the pandemic as several cases of Coronavirus were
reported amongst the inmates.
Sudha didi or Sudha ji as she is called by most is best
known for her trade union activism and long years of struggle to undo
the injustices meted out to Adivasi and other marginalised communities
in Chhattisgarh. However, there are several aspects of her life and work
which are less discussed, if not totally unknown.
She has been equally concerned about the rights of religious
minorities, educational empowerment of marginalised communities,
including the urban poor, and their health rights. She has been,
perhaps, not just the truest believer in Niyogi’s ideology — Sangharsh Aur Nirman (struggle and construct) — but also its ardent practitioner.
Moreover, like Niyogi, she believes in building larger solidarities.
She once told this writer that things like sectarianism or fighting over
small ideological matters only elite people (mostly urban
intelligentsia and armchair activists) can afford. Those fighting on the
ground neither have time nor luxury for all this. On the ground, it is a
matter of survival. Hence, we have to build larger solidarities and see
who can walk with us, and how far.
Does this mean Sudha ji is devoid of ideology and her only
concern is mere upliftment of the marginalised? No, that’s not true. She
can hardly stand things like communalism, casteism, corporatisation,
among others. But she is not dogmatic in her fight against all these,
unlike most of the right thinking and committed workers and lawyers
often are.
I must confess that in my nearly two decades of activism and
subsequent journalism, I must have met hundreds of activists, lawyers
and trade union workers across the country, but none like Sudha ji. The most remarkable trait about Sudha ji
is her non-sectarianism. In a ‘civil society’ like ours, where each one
of us leaves no stone unturned to prove ourselves as holier than thou,
she exemplifies a rare combination of commitment, articulation and
humility.
Sudha ji would often talk about the importance of sadak ki ladai (fight on the ground), as she believes, and rightly so, things are not going to change just by approaching courts.
According to her, “There are two types of fight: kagaz ki ladai (fight on the paper) and sadak ki ladai (fight
on the ground). If you only rely on paper, it is not going to work; you
have to agitate on the ground level as well. What keeps me going is the
hope that our legal strategy can be enmeshed with people’s struggles. I
don’t think that things are going to change just by going to court.”
It is pitiable that she is in jail, that too for an alleged crime,
she never committed. And her continued incarceration is made possible by
draconian laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA].
Sudha ji always knew the dangerous nature of these laws, warned people about and tried to fight against them, both through kagaz (paper) as well sadak kiladai (fight on the ground). I clearly remember Sudha ji
vehemently arguing against the stringent amendments in UAPA law in 2012
during the national conference of the People’s Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL) at Jaipur.
Ravi Kiran Jain, national president of PUCL in his foreword to the book, A Life in Law and Activism: Sudha Bharadwaj Speaks
(2020), rightly notes, “Sudha’s arrest under the draconian UAPA only
demonstrates yet again why the UAPA is at odds with the vision of a
democracy founded on the basic principles of any rule of law
jurisprudence: namely, that a person is presumed innocent until proven
guilty, that when the liberty of the individual is at stake the trial
must be conducted expeditiously, and that the state must not use the
criminal justice machinery in a vindictive manner.”
Hence, “the struggle against the UAPA is not just for the release of
the many detained but is really a struggle for the protection of the
right to dissent. The protection of the right to dissent is at its heart
a call to defend the values of the freedom struggle, which stand
embodied in the Constitution”.
It is high time we demand the immediate and unconditional release of Sudha Bharadwaj, her co-accused in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case
and all the others implicated and charged under UAPA. There must also
be a sustained and nationwide campaign against UAPA and other draconian
laws. This is because as long as these laws are part of our statute
books, Sudha Bharadwajs will be put behind bars for no crime.
Moreover,
not just that these laws should be summarily revoked but also it should
be ensured that no such law is passed in the future. If that is not
done, the cycle of structural violence will go on, as it has been
happening because of the enactment of one law after the repeal of
another — UAPA after the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act
(POTA), POTA after the repeal of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities
Prevention Act (TADA) and so on. - The Wire
How Father Stan Swamy’s “custodial murder” is sparking new demands for justice in India
The untimely death
of the elderly activist could mark a turning point for India’s human
rights law. But international pressure will be key.
Protests take place over the arrest of Father Stan Swamy, in October 2020 (Photo By Mayank Makhija/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Father Stan Swamy, India’s oldest person accused of
terrorism, died in judicial custody on Monday 5 July. One week
later many people across the country say that, in fact, a martyr of
human rights was born: “Father Stan did not die, he was
killed,” placards held by protesters have read from Mumbai to Kolkata.
In October last year, detectives from India’s counter terrorism task
force revved up in an SUV into the serene tree-lined compound in the
eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. They entered the ochre-coloured
building which housed an indigenous people’s education and training
centre, and arrested its founder, the 83-year-old Jesuit priest Father
Stan Swamy. The octogenarian, known to his friends as a soft spoken
gentle giant, was escorted onto a flight to Mumbai. There, despite
suffering from several ailments, frail and unwell, he was remanded in
judicial custody and thrown into the overcrowded Taloja jail at a time
when prisoners across the world were being released because of the
raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Stan was the last of 16 intellectuals, human rights activists
and artists to have been imprisoned in what has become known as India’s
infamous Bhima Koregaon case. In 2018, communal violence, which left one
person dead, erupted at an annual New Year’s Day celebration of Dalits,
India’s previously untouchable low caste groups, in the village of
Bhima Koregaon some 165 kilometres southeast of Mumbai. A group of
around 30,000 people was attacked by a mob of higher caste men, after
gathering to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of Dalit victory –
as soldiers in the British Raj – over an upper caste regime that had
enslaved them for centuries
The authorities said
that activists had provoked the violence at a conference held the day
before, that they were linked to banned Maoist insurgents – also called
Naxalites – who for decades had been fighting a war against the Indian
state, and that they were involved in a plot to kill Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. But the activists denied these allegations; a Boston
based computer forensic service showed that incriminating evidence was
planted on the computers of at least two of the accused, and most, such as Stan Swamy, claim not to have even been present in Maharashtra at the time
I first met Father Stan amidst 100 young men and women licking rice
and dal off their fingers at his training centre in 2008. The youth were
from India’s tribal or indigenous communities, popularly known as
Adivasis, and had come from mud hut forest villages in which I had also
been living for some years as an anthropologist conducting research.
When we finished eating, Father Stan led me to a line of sinks where,
alongside the youth, we washed our steel plate and cup, dried and
stacked them, ready for the next meal. This was no ordinary India, a
place where men of authority and status are usually waited upon. “Here
we all pitch in to cook and clean,” Father Stan explained. That spirit
of equality is what he was battling to protect for India’s indigenous
people.
***
Born in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, at aged 27 Father
Stan undertook a training period of Jesuits priests in a tribal area of
Jharkhand. Here, he was moved by the philosophy and ways of life of the
Adivasis which question dominant ideas of growth, progress and
development, and that aim to chart more ecologically sustainable
futures. Although he travelled to the Philippines to study sociology, to
Belgium to undertake an MPhil, and even took a lead in running the
Indian Social Institute in Bangalore for 15 years, the Adivasis drew him
back to Jharkhand in 1991
India had just liberalised its economy, welcomed foreign investment
and trade, and national and multinational corporations of every hue,
backed by public officials, were waiting to seize tribal lands. Although
the indigenous people had been impoverished for centuries, India’s
richest mineral reserves lay underneath their forests. Father Stan
travelled to remote villages to show Adivasis the plans for the dams,
mines and factories to be built on their land, warn them about how their
forests and water would be taken away without their consent, and to
educate them in how to fight for their constitutionally protected
rights.
But from 2008, hundreds of thousands of Indian security forces were
sent to surround and clear the Adivasi forested hills in the name of
battling the threat of the Maoist insurgents who had made their
guerrilla strongholds there. A brutal counter-insurgency escalated.
Father Stan and his colleagues documented how India’s anti-terror laws,
and in particular the notorious Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
(UAPA), were used to jail without conviction thousands of low caste
youth as alleged Maoists, and to prolong their trials. Finding gross
misuse of the criminal justice system, in 2018 he led a Persecuted
Prisoners Solidarity Committee on behalf of about three thousand Adivasi
prisoners and filed a case against the state in the Jharkhand High
Court.
Father Stan was clearly getting in the way of powerful corporate and
government interest in Adivasi areas. It should perhaps then be no
surprise that in October 2020 he was jailed under the same anti-terror
laws whose misuse against the Adivasis he was fighting against. Two days
before he was taken into custody, he recorded a video message. Slowly, carefully and sincerely he spoke:
“What is happening to me is not something unique, happening to me
alone. It is the broader process that is happening all over the country.
Prominent intellectuals, writers, poets, activists, student leaders,
they are all put into jail because they have expressed their dissent or
raised their questions about the ruling powers of India…I am happy to be
part of this process because I am not a silent spectator…I am ready to
pay the price, whatever it be.”
***
Father Stan knew his actions would likely lead to prison. And yet,
the cruelty with which he was then treated, in what is often celebrated
as the world’s largest democracy, needs to be marked. His lawyers had to
go to court just to get him a sip cup to enable him to drink by
himself, for his hands shook from Parkinson’s disease and he could not
hold a glass to his lips. His health deteriorated significantly in
prison so that he could not walk, hear or eat without support but
repeated applications for his bail were rejected even after he
contracted COVID-19. He died as the Bombay High Court was considering an
appeal against the rejection of his bail appeal.
Now, not only are writers, intellectuals and human rights activists across the nation, such as Arundhati Roy, calling Father Stan’s death a “custodial murder” but, the day after his death, leaders of major national opposition parties wrote
to the Indian president, urging his intervention in holding accountable
those responsible for the detention, “inhuman treatment” and death of
the human rights activist. They demanded the release of all those jailed
in the Bhima Koregaon case and other politically motivated cases.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also expressed
concern last week over Father Stan’s death and called on the government
of India “to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their
fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of
association”.
Responding to this mounting international criticism, the Ministry of External Affairs, said
on Tuesday that due process of law was followed in Father Stan’s case.
While influential supporters of Modi’s regime, such as film-maker Vivek
Agnihotri, have tweeted
that this is a shameful moment, in which “enemies of India” are being
glorified by “elite intellectuals”, and that social justice and human
rights activism is a façade for urban Naxalites to hide their terrorism
against the state.
The lines between social justice and terror are being drawn ever
deeper in Indian sand. In this context, as Amnesty and eight other
international human rights organisations have said
his death “must be a wake-up call for the international community to
finally put human rights at the centre of all aspects of their bilateral
relationship with India”.
Father Stan’s death may yet become a turning point in Indian history:
an opportunity to challenge an increasingly authoritarian regime
brutally silencing dissenters, to overhaul the judiciary, eliminate
draconian anti-terror laws, and to seek the release – at least on bail –
of all those arrested under the UAPA, and certainly his co-accused in
the Bhima Koregaon case. For this to happen, however, international
solidarity will be crucial.
Alpa Shah is professor of anthropology at LSE. Her prize-winning
book, “Nightmarch”, was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2019. = The New Statesman,12/7/2021
Story in Numbers: Pending cases under UAPA on the rise, shows data
Each year (between 2014
and 2020), on an average, 985 cases under the UAPA were registered and
the number of pending cases rose by 14.38% every year
Mohammed Ilyas, 38, and Mohammed Irfan, 33, were arrested in August
2012 by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act (UAPA) (among other charges) and accused of being
linked to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba. After being in jail for nine
years, they were cleared of all charges by court, owing to lack of
evidence, and released on June 2021.
This is neither the first time nor the last that the UAPA has made headlines for alleged wrongful arrest.
In fact, this month, police in Tripura are facing ire for invoking the
UAPA against 102 social media account holders, including those of
journalists and activists, over alleged clashes and attacks on mosques
in Tripura.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was first passed on December
30, 1967 for the "effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of
individuals and associations, (and for dealing with terrorist
activities), and for matters connected therewith".
The Act defines an unlawful activity as any action that is taken by an
individual or association, "whether by committing an act or by words,
either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or
otherwise", which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to
disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; causes or is
intended to cause disaffection against India; and which is intended or
supports any claim to bring about the cession or secession of a part of
the territory of India.
Each
year (between 2014 and 2020), on an average, 985 cases under the UAPA
are registered and the number of pending cases rise by 14.38% every
year. Moreover, an average of 40.58% of the cases up for investigation
in the seven years were sent for trial and 4.5% of them are completed. - Business Standard, 22/11/2021
Courts, if
not Singapore President, justly ought to commute mentally challenged Malaysian
Nagaenthran’s death sentence to imprisonment
Stay Of Execution
Until President Halimah Decides On Pleas For Clemency
MADPET(Malaysians Against Death
Penalty and Torture) applauds caring Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and
the Malaysian King when they pleaded for clemency to the Singapore government
and Singapore’s President Halimah Binte Yacob to spare the life of Malaysian Nagaenthran
K Dharmalingam, who have been sentenced to death for drug trafficking by the
Singapore courts.(Malay Mail, 7/11/2021; FMT, 23/11/2021).
MADPET calls on Opposition Leader
and all Malaysian political parties to also plea for the life of this
Malaysian, whilst noting that a failure to care for the lives of individual Malaysians,
especially those at risk of being executed overseas, indicates a lack of care
of individual Malaysians by these political parties. This augurs negatively for
parties and politicians on a quest for power to represent the people and/or to
govern, if the lack care for life, human rights and justice.
It must be noted that Malaysia at
present has a moratorium on executions, in line with the United Nations General
Assembly Resolution, that Malaysia too voted in favour in 2018, and again in
2020 calling for a moratorium on execution pending abolition of the death
penalty.
Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam
Court Date – 30/11/2021
Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who
was scheduled to be hung to death on 10/11/2021, managed to get a stay of
execution until the Court of Appeal heard and decided on an application now
pending before this court. That case, that was scheduled to be heard on 10/11/2021,
was thereafter postponed when Nagaenthran was infected by Covid-19.
It has recently been revealed
that the Singapore Court has now re-scheduled the hearing for
30/11/2021(Malaysian Insight, 25/11/2021). It was reported that Nagaenthran
Dharmalingam’s appeal against his death sentence will be heard at Singapore’s
Court of Appeal on November 30, his family said, after receiving information
from the lawyer.
Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009
and sentenced to death in 2011 under the Misuse of Drugs Act for illegally
importing 42.7g of diamorphine. This case has sparked public outcry with
particular attention on his lower-than-average IQ of 69 and other mental health
issues.
Despite what Court decides,
President has power of clemency/pardon
Irrespective of whether the
Courts uphold the death sentence, the Singapore President still has the power
to grant clemency, and commute the death sentence to imprisonment, and
historically, this has happened several times in Singapore in, amongst others, in the following cases:-
a)1978:
Mohamad Kunjo s/o Ramalan, death sentence for murder commuted to life
imprisonment by then President Benjamin Sheares;
b)1980:
Bobby Chung Hua Watt, death sentence for murder was commuted to life
imprisonment by then President Benjamin Sheares;
c)1983:
Siti Aminah binte Jaffar, death sentence for drug trafficking commuted to life
imprisonment by then President Devan
Nair;
d)1993:
Sim Ah Cheoh, death sentence for drug trafficking in 1985 was commuted and she released
on 16 February 1995 by then President Wee Kim Wee;
e)1992:
Koh Swee Beng, death sentence for murder was commuted to life imprisonment by then
President Wee Kim Wee; and
f)1998:
Mathavakannan Kalimuthu, death sentence for murder was commuted to life
imprisonment by then President Ong Teng Cheong.
As such,
MADPET pleads for clemency by President Halimah Binte Yacob in this case of Nagaenthran
K Dharmalingam, who has recently been shown to be mentally and/or intellectually
disabled or challenged – as such, it would be a gross injustice to continue to
execute such a person.
Stay Of Execution
Until President Halimah Responds To Pleas Of Clemency
MADPET recalls
the case of convicted murderer Malaysian Jabing Kho, 32, who was executed on the same day, hours after a five-judge appeal
court denied his latest bid to escape the gallows. (Straits Times, 20/5/2016),
and hope that the same does not happen with Nagaenthran.
Time must be
given, as a sign of respect, to the Singapore President to consider the many pleas
for clemency, and as such MADPET urges that execution be stayed until President
Halimah decides whether to grant clemency and commute the death sentence or
not.
MADPET
reiterates its call for abolition of the death penalty, and for a moratorium on
execution pending abolition.
Charles
Hector
For
and on behalf of MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture)
****
Nov 30 to hear Nagaenthran’s appeal against death sentence
Elill Easwaran
Updated 19 hours ago ·
Published on 25 Nov 2021 7:24PM ·
0 Comments
Nagaenthran Dharmalingam’s
appeal against his death sentence will be heard at Singapore’s Court of
Appeal on November 30, his family says. – The Malaysian Insight file
pic, November 25, 2021.
NAGAENTHRAN Dharmalingam’s
appeal against his death sentence will be heard at Singapore’s Court of
Appeal on November 30, his family said.
“Our lawyer M. Ravi informed us this morning through a phone call,” said Nagaenthran’s sister Sharmila.
The 35-year-old said her family is now hopeful that the court would overturn the death sentence.
On Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarudin Jaffar told the Dewan
Rakyat that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had also asked the Singapore
president to review the sentence imposed on the 32-year-old.
Earlier this month, the appeals court in Singapore extended the stay of execution on grounds that Nagaenthran has Covid-19.
Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to death in 2011 under
the Misuse of Drugs Act for illegally importing 42.7g of diamorphine.
He was caught with a bundle of heroin strapped to his thigh when
entering the city-state from Malaysia via the Woodlands checkpoint in
April 2009.
The Malaysian on death row for drug trafficking was slated to be executed on November 10.
The Singapore Court of Appeal upheld the sentence in November 2011, and further resentencing applications were dismissed.
Nagaenthran has been diagnosed with intellectual disability and has
an IQ of 69, which is lower than average. – November 25, 2021.Malaysian Insight
King wrote to Singapore president on Nagaenthran’s behalf, Dewan told
Deputy
foreign minister Kamarudin Jaffar said the King had joined the prime
minister and the foreign minister in appealing for Nagaenthran K
Dharmalingam’s life. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong had written to the president
of Singapore, appealing for clemency for a Malaysian who has been
sentenced to hang in the island republic, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
“We tried all we could to help and I can reveal that apart from the
foreign minister and the prime minister, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had
also written to the Singapore president for the sentence to be reduced
for a certain case, or the individual to be freed,” deputy foreign
minister Kamarudin Jaffar said, referring to Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam.
Kamarudin said this when winding up the Supply Bill 2022 at the
committee stage in reply to Kasthuri Patto (PH-Batu Kawan) who had asked
what was Putrajaya’s rolling plan to uphold human rights in the
country.
Kasthuri also thanked the foreign minister and the ministry for intervening in Nagaenthran’s case.
Earlier this month, a Singapore court stayed until further notice the
execution of Nagaenthran on the grounds of “common sense and humanity”
after confirming he had tested positive for Covid-19.
Nagaenthran was detained in 2009 for trafficking in 42.72gm of heroin and was set to be executed on Nov 9.
The court had convened for a ruling on a last-ditch appeal that
argued the Malaysian should not be hanged because he was not of sound
mind.
List of death row inmates granted clemency by the President
1978:
Mohamad Kunjo s/o Ramalan, a Singaporean convicted of murdering a lorry
driver in 1975 and sentenced to death in 1976. After losing his appeals
against his sentence over the next two years, he filed for clemency,
which was granted by President Benjamin Sheares in 1978. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.[169][170][171][172]
1980: Bobby Chung Hua Watt, a Singaporean convicted of murdering his
brother-in-law's brother in 1975. He was found guilty of murder and
sentenced to death. After losing his appeal against his death sentence,
he was initially scheduled to be executed on 18 January 1980. However,
on 15 January 1980, President Benjamin Sheares granted him clemency and his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released from prison in 1993 for good behaviour after serving at least two-thirds of his life sentence.[173][174][175]
1983: Siti Aminah binte Jaffar, a Singaporean convicted of drug
trafficking in 1977 and sentenced to death in 1978 along with her lover,
Anwar Ali Khan. The two of them appealed to President Devan Nair
for clemency in 1983. Anwar's plea was rejected and he was executed,
but Siti's was accepted and she had her death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.[176][177][172]
1993: Sim Ah Cheoh, a Singaporean convicted of drug trafficking in
1985 and sentenced to death in 1988 along with her two accomplices.
President Wee Kim Wee accepted her plea for clemency in 1992 and her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment; her two accomplices, however, were executed in 1992. While serving her life sentence, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1993 and had at most a year to live. She appealed to President Ong Teng Cheong
for clemency so that she could be released in order to spend the final
moments of her life with her family. The President accepted the
petition, and she was released on 16 February 1995 and eventually died
on 30 March that year.[178][179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186][175]
1992: Koh Swee Beng, a Singaporean who killed a man who assaulted
his foster father in 1988. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to
death in 1990. He lost his appeal against his death sentence in 1991 but
was eventually granted clemency by President Wee Kim Wee on 13 May 1992 (two days before he was scheduled to be executed) and had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. He was released from prison in September 2005 for good behaviour after serving at least two-thirds of his life sentence.[187][175]
1998: Mathavakannan Kalimuthu,
a Singaporean convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1996 along
with his two friends. After losing their appeals in 1997, the three of
them petitioned to President Ong Teng Cheong for clemency in 1998. The President accepted only Mathavakannan's plea so his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment;
the other two had their pleas rejected and were subsequently executed.
Mathavakannan was eventually released in 2012 after spending about 16
years in prison.[188][189][190] - Source: Wikipedia
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Each
year (between 2014 and 2020), on an average, 985 cases under the UAPA
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year. Moreover, an average of 40.58% of the cases up for investigation
in the seven years were sent for trial and 4.5% of them are completed. - 
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