By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

AHMEDABAD, India– In cities across India that have been struggling with organized crime groups, the response of crime fighters has been to have officers designated to killing these gang figures – all in the name of justice. These officers, known as encounter specialists, gained reputations as heroes, and became known as local celebrities by the number and particular gangsters they had killed.

Although such practice has occurred for decades, Indians have become increasingly wary of police officers taking on the role as judge, jury and executioner. According to the National Human Rights Commission, 346 people have been killed since 2006 in what seem to have been extrajudicial police killing, though this figure is estimated to be a low approximation.

A sensationalist account in June 2004 shed light on the issue when four Muslims were pummeled with bullets when intelligence reports had identified the four as terrorism suspects. The group had bomb-making chemicals and a suitcase full of money in the trunk of their car. It was believed they planned to assassinate the chief minister of India’s richest state when police intercepted.

Jay Narayan Vyas, a spokesman for the state government, said that the four people killed had been identified by the central government as terrorism suspects. A government intelligence report said that the four were possible terrorism suspects, but the central government has said that these were merely suspicions and could not justify the killings.

As suspicion mounted, forensic evidence revealed that the four were actually shot at point-blank range, and earlier than the reports given by the police. Civilian animosity then began to rise against “encounter killings.”

In many of these killings, investigations have found, the motive was not vigilante justice. The police often staged such killings for personal gain: eliminating a rival of a powerful politician in the hopes of a big promotion; killing a crime boss on behalf of one of his rivals; settling scores between businessmen. According to the New York Times, lawyers had known for years that something strange was happening in the Gujarat police force and that the killings of terrorism suspects were dubious. Such acts are dubbed, ‘fake encounters.’

Reports continue to show that these human rights violations and fake encounter killings are still being carried out by security forces in India. In New Delhi, political parties, with the exception of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), criticized the Gujarat government in a recent meeting and demanded that Chief Minister Narendra Modi resign over the June 2004 killing of Mumbai collegian, Ishrat Jahan, which created mass public awareness as a exploitive fake encounter. Governmental and official tension remains amidst human rights activists’ continued beckoning for the cessation of this crude ‘justice’ tactic.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Questions on Executions Mount in India – October 3, 2009

Gulfnews: Modi government criticised for fake encounter killings – October 4, 2009

The Times of India – Another ‘fake’ encounter in Manipur – Septmber 11, 2009

Asia Human Rights Commission – INDIA: Encounter killing and custodial torture, a disgrace for the nation – September 14, 2009 

South Asia Citizens Web – ’Encounter Killings’ and the Question of Justice in India – September 6, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HONG KONG– While cheering crowds with red flags took the streets in celebration of its National Day and 60 years of Communist rule in China, protesters dressed in black lined the streets of Hong Kong denouncing China’s human rights record.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, did not participate in China’s nationwide celebration because Hong Kong is allowed to enjoy “Western-style civil liberties as part of its special semiautonomous status.”  Accordingly, Hong Kong is where Chinese frequently hold events that highlight China’s human rights abuses and other issues that cannot be discussed in mainland China.

Hong Kong protesters.  Courtesy of AP.

Emily Lau Wai-hing of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party said, “If China wants to emerge as a strong, big power[,] it should respect the human rights of its people.  Just having economic development is not enough.”

Residents of Hong Kong marched through the downtown financial district holding placards with reminders of China’s 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy march in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.  The marchers also chanted, “We want human rights.  We don’t want a sanitized National Day.” 

Followers of Falun Gong also marched in silence, holding signs that read, “Dissolve the Chinese Community Party” and “Get rid of the red menace.”

Hong Kong protesters criticized China’s slow progress on human rights and democracy.  Pro-democracy activist Szeto Wah said, “[W]e can serve as a window – information about China can reach the outside world and information from the outside can flow in,” referring to Hong Kong’s role in shedding light on China’s problems since Hong Kong respects freedom of press and speech.

Lee Cheuk-yan, legislative council of Hong Kong, said, “After 60 years of communist rule[,] we see a regression in human rights and we can see that the Community Party has stepped up the effort in squeezing and suppressing human rights in China.”

The protesters also carried a fake coffin, which symbolized victims who were persecuted by China’s authoritarian and communist regime, to the Central Liaison Office, which is the Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong.
For more information, please see:

AP – Hong Kongers protest on China’s National Day – 1 October 2009

New Tang Dynasty Television – Hong Kong Residents March for Human Rights in China – 2 October 2009

Tibetan Review – Protests dominate China’s National Day in Hong Kong – 3 October 2009

VOA – Protesters Denounce China’s Human Rights Record – 1 October 2009