PUCL demands action for all crimes commited by Salwa Judum and Security forces

Police chief faces flak
Telegraph India, 02 Nov 2006

People’s Union for Civil Liberties has charged the Chhattisgarh government with misleading the people over the alleged atrocities committed by the Naga IRB jawans. Reacting to Chhattisgarh director general of police (DGP) O.P. Rathor’s letter to the Nagaland government, the PUCL said the reports it compiled were not false and baseless.

The Chhattisgarh DGP had written to the Nagaland government dismissing reports compiled by certain NGOs who have reportedly accused Naga jawans of mass atrocities such as rape, murder and other human rights violation on the pretext of flushing out Maoists in the Bastar area.

PUCL president, Rajendra K. Sail said reports of human rights violations in Chhattisgarh during the last 30 years have never been found to be false and baseless. “This is true not only in Chhattisgarh, but all over the country. These reports and record of the PUCL have stood the test of time and also the scrutiny of the courts of the country,” the human rights group said. It said various courts, including the Supreme Court, have acted on the PUCL reports and recommendation and passed landmark judgments upholding the findings. It charged Chhattisgarh with not adhering to any form of democratic process to find a peaceful solution to the “civil war- like situation” in Dantewada district.

It has demanded that the government stop using people as a shield and create armed village defence committees as part of its anti-Naxal operations. It has also called for withdrawal of all paramilitary forces from the Bastar and Dantewada areas.

The PUCL demanded that an FIR be registered for all crimes committed by Salwa Judum and security forces and the culprits be prosecuted. The PUCL has urged both the government and Maoists to find a political resolution to the problem.