Press Statements
Immediately stop the brutal police assault on peaceful protesters opposing POSCO project in Odisha
01 Feb, 2013Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti about brutal police assault on villagers who were peacefully protesting against forcible acquisition of their lands. The 12 platoon strong mobilisation that culminated in the assault started around midnight and the p...
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay Applauds Indian Movement to Eradicate ‘Manual Scavenging’
31 Jan, 2013GENEVA (31 January 2013) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today welcomed the strong movement that has been developing over the past few months in India to eradicate the practice known as ‘manual scavenging’ which, because of the stigma attached to it, has traditionally been carried out by Dalit wom...
Joint Statement: Issued on behalf of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Citizens for Democracy (CFD)
30 Jan, 2013Police Action against Ashis Nandy Condemned We deprecate strongly the police action being taken against Ashis Nandy. The accusation that Nandy has made derogatory casteist remarks against dalits and OBCs are utterly baseless. Ashis Nandy has been longstanding friend and guide of the OBC and dalit cause and his record for such depr...
Tell the Nation the Truth on the KKNPP
28 Jan, 2013Angered by moral and political corruption, disturbing developments and the overall mismanagement of the body politic, Marcellus tells Horatio in utter disgust and disappointment in Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” We, the people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, who have been fighting...
Civil Society Groups’ statement Against Conferment of Honours on Perpetrators of Sexual Violence against Women
25 Jan, 2013We, the undersigned, are appalled at the conferment of the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service to SRP Kalluri, IGP of Chhattisgarh. Mr. Kalluri raped a tribal woman, Ledha Bai, when he was the SP of Sarguja District, ordered her gang-rape by his juniors, and then terrorized her and her lawyer when she decided to fil...
PUCL Statement on Latehar Incidents, Jharkhand
12 Jan, 2013The PUCL condemns the recent incident of mutilation and placing of IEDs inside the bodies of CRPF personnel killed in an encounter with the Maoist forces in the forests of Latehar in Jharkhand. Placing IEDs inside the abdomen or stomach of dead men seriously endangers lives of uninvolved others like doctors and medical personnel w...
Free Aparna Marandi: Rights Violation by Jharkhand Police
01 Jan, 2013Aparna Marandi, her four-year-old son Alok Chandra, Satish (16 years old) her distant relative and her two friends Baby Turi and Susheela Ekka were picked up the police on 8th December. The manner in which they were picked up, interrogated and detained, are in clear violation of all established procedures and rules. Aparna was for...
Increasing Number of Rapes in Gujarat
01 Jan, 2013Total number of crimes against women have been increasing year after year. Anyone who thinks that Gujarat is a safe State for women will have to reconsider that opinion. From 14885 in 2010 to 15528 total crimes registered in 2011 there is an increase of 650 while the half yearly count of 2012 suggests that increase of more than 10...
Statement on the Second Death Anniversary of Shri Surendra Mohan
01 Jan, 2013On the occasion of observing the 2nd Death Anniversary of Late Sri Surendra Mohan ji, we, on behalf of the Chhattisgarh unit of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (CG-PUCL), would like to remember the creative and critical contributions that he made to the socialist movement in particular, and people’s movements in general. Hi...
(Justice) Ram Bhushan Mehrotra Is No More
01 Jan, 2013(Justice) Ram Bhushan Mehrotra, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court and former state President of the Delhi and the U.P. branches of the PUCL is no more. He breathed his last at about 10 pm at his Allahabad residence 3 Patrika Marg on 10 December 2012 at the age of more than 78 years leaving behind him a vacuum which canno...