[Reader-list] Joint Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka

[Gurminder Singh]

Interaction with the victims in Janmanch on 14th 0ct.at Constitution 
Club--3 to 6pm

October 2nd ,2005
Dear friends,
We the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) and the Campaign 
for Relief and Rehabilitation of JSTF victims, are seeking justice on 
behalf of more than 500 families abused and victimized at the hands 
of Joint Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (JSTF). 

The operations of the Joint Special Task Force (JSTF) set up in April 
1993 with the express purpose of nabbing Veerappan were marked by 
several instances of atrocities and human rights violation on the 
people of the region, this included custodial torture, rape, sexual 
harassment, disappearance of men and women and so on. 

Persistent efforts by the civil rights groups and other conscious 
citizens led to the setting up of the justice Sadashiva panel of 
enquiry on June 28, 1999. The panel submitted its report to the NHRC 
on December 3, 2003 after holding as many as 10 sittings in the 
course of which it recorded evidence from 192 victims and 28 officers 
of the JSTF.

Rather than putting pressure on the two state governments to act on 
the report the NHRC has been graciously extending deadlines for the 
state governments to respond.   The last instance was a deadline 
issued by the NHRC that the two state governments to respond was 
February 25, 2005. This too has passed.

And the situation is now taking a new turn with police officers 
against whom the people had testified and those who were notorious 
for inflicting torture and shooting down men in the name of encounter 
are being posted in-charge of the police stations in the region in 
both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. These men are gain on the prowl in the 
villages, particularly in the past couple of weeks terrorizing the 
villagers in general and targeting those who testified against them 
before the Sadashiva panel. 

There have also been instances of men being picked up, taken into the 
forests and tortured. One such instance that has come to our notice 
is that of Muthusamy of Yeamnur village of Penagaram Taluk of 
Dhamapuri district who was taken into the forest on 17.9.05 and let 
off with torture wounds still visible. Similarly, several women like 
Lakshim, whose evidence before the Sadashiva panel is illustrative of 
the ways of the JSTF have been approached by unidentified men and 
offered money. 

As part of our intervention in the matter, NFIW is organizing a 
meeting on 14th October at Speakers Hall in Constitution Club, VP 
House, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001 at 3 p.m to 6 p.m, with a view to 
building pubic opinion, and pressurize the state authorities to look 
into these cases and punish these guilty of committing atrocities on 
helpless, innocent people.


A group of women who have been victims of unspeakable violence and 
torture, and have spend almost a decade of their lives in prison only 
to have found innocent and released at the end of it will speak about 
human rights violations which they are facing . With their families 
lost and their lives destroyed, these women are today non-people, 
ignored by the state and with no future, much like the victims in 
Manipur or Kashmir.

We invite you to participate in the Janmanch on 14th October, 2005 so 
that we can all jointly work towards helping these people to get 
justice and compensation. Your presence will definitely instill 
confidence among the victims. 

In solidarity

Annie Raja

(General Secretary, NFIW)


forwarded by 

Gurminder Singh
BERC, Bhopal-462016
98932 99169


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