India: Human rights organisations in Assam which focus on disappeared persons; treatment of human rights activists and of family members of the disappeared by the authorities
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 22 September 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND35515.E |
| Reference | 1 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Human rights organisations in Assam which focus on disappeared persons; treatment of human rights activists and of family members of the disappeared by the authorities, 22 September 2000, IND35515.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be3f28.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Assam-based human rights organization Manab Abhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS) works on a range of human-rights issues including instances of disappearances (MASS July 2000; ibid. Aug. 1998). Amnesty International writes that MASS is "ideologically close" to armed groups in Assam however notes that "MASS have on several occasions condemned human rights abuses by ULFA [United Liberation Force of Assam] and deny allegations that they are organisationally linked to the armed group" (26 Apr. 2000).
According to MASS:
Disappearances of both activists and ordinary people have become the norm in Assam. These cases are sometimes reported in the press but the families of the victim are often left with no clear answers on the whereabouts of their kin. Individual families and MASS regularly file Habeas Corpus but their outcomes are disheartening. Clear answers about whether the person concerned is alive or dead or even whether they have been produced before the police is not forthcoming from the respondents (July 2000).
According to MASS, there are "innumerable cases of rank and file MASS activists being tortured and arbitrarily detained, sometimes even killed" (ibid.). Their July 2000 newsletter contains reports of MASS staff being harassed: on 28 April 2000 the Secretary General of MASS was threatened over the phone with "dire consequences" if he continued his work and on 2 June 2000, an Assam police unit raided the house of the Chair of MASS (ibid.). MASS also reports that "in the recent past, state enforcement authorities have detained and tortured several human rights activists in Assam" and names three individuals and "others" who have been "harassed and jailed for no apparent reason" (ibid.).
Amnesty International corroborates some of this information in its 26 April 2000 report, Persecuted for Challenging Injustice: Human Rights Defenders in India. According to Amnesty International, "human rights activity has been a victim of the bitter and violent conflict which has raged in the state for many years" and alleges that human rights activity has "come under direct attack from the state" (ibid.).
In this report, Amnesty International writes that several "office-holders of MASS have been killed in recent years" and details the arrest and detention of the Vice-Chair of MASS in 1997, the shooting of the executive director of MASS in 1996, and the disappearance and subsequent death of the Chair of the Patacharkuchi Unit of MASS in April 1999 (ibid.). A 1996 publication by the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre also details the shooting of the executive director of MASS in 1996.
No information on other Assam-based organizations which focus on the disappeared or information on the treatment of family members of the disappeared by authorities could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Amnesty International (AI). 26 April 2000. Persecuted for Challenging Injustice: Human Rights Defenders in India.
Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS). July 2000. Voice of MASS.
_____. August 1998. Where Have They All Gone? A Report on Some Disappearance Cases in Assam.
South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC). 1996. Human Rights and Human Rights Instruments in India.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
LEXIS/NEXIS
World News Connection (WNC)
Internet Sources including:
Amnesty International, Annual Report
Assam News Database
The Assame Tribune [Guwahati]. August – September 2000.
Country Reports 1999
The Human Rights Actions Network (derechos.org)
Human Rights Watch
Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) [UK]
