Amnesty Accuses Delhi Police Of Being 'Complicit', 'Indulging' In Violence With Rioters
Amnesty said it spoke to 50 riots survivors, eye witnesses, lawyers, doctors, human rights activists and retired police officers and analysed several user-generated videos, that reveals "a disturbing pattern of grave human rights violations committed by the Delhi police" including "officers indulging in violence with the rioters; torturing in custody; using excessive force on protesters; dismantling sites of peaceful protests and; being mute bystanders as rioters wreaked havoc".
“The first step towards ensuring justice for the survivors of the February Delhi riots is to end the impunity that prevents Delhi police from being held accountable. Six months on, there has not been even a single investigation into the role of the Delhi police. This ongoing state-sponsored impunity sends the message that law enforcement officials can commit grave human rights violations and evade accountability. That they are a law unto themselves,” said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India. Amnesty's investigative briefing documents the build-up to the riots, providing a timeline of police brutality in university campuses and the hateful speeches made by political leaders including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Kapil Mishra in Delhi. It further documents the Delhi police's inadequate response in preventing the riots and its active participation in the violence. In one of the several videos analysed by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab, Delhi police officers can be seen kicking and hitting a group of five wounded men on 24 February, poking them with rifles and asking them to sing the Indian National Anthem. After the video was shot, the men were detained by the police. Amnesty International India analysed the video footage and spoke to the mother of 26-year-old Faizan, one of the men in the video. Kismatun, Faizan’s mother, told Amnesty International India that she had seen the video several times but did not realise until much later that her son was also there in the video. “I went to the police station along with my son’s photograph. I showed them his photograph and asked if he was there and they said yes. I asked them if they would let me see him and if they would let him go. The policeman said no. But I waited there till 1 o’clock in the night,” she said. Faizan was detained by the police for close to 36 hours without any charge. He was handed over to his mother after his condition deteriorated. The police refused to give any paperwork to the family to show that he had been detained.OUT NOW: With 50 testimonies & analysis of several verified user-generated videos, the new Amnesty International India investigation has documented a disturbing pattern of grave human rights violations committed by the Delhi police during the #DelhiRiots.https://t.co/edZcGFfWMk
— Amnesty India (@AIIndia) August 28, 2020
The ruthless treatment of the heavily injured men by the Delhi police violates the international human rights standards that allow for force to be used only as a last resort, as much necessary to achieve the objective of such use and proportional to that objective. It also violates Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a state party.
“Amnesty International India calls on the Ministry of Home Affairs to conduct a prompt, thorough, transparent, independent and impartial investigation into all allegations of human rights violations committed by Delhi police and the hate speeches made by political leaders. Delhi has witnessed two major communal violence incidents across a period of four decades - the 2020 riots and the 1984 Sikh massacre. A common link between both the incidents is the human rights violations committed by the Delhi police. The repetition of such violations point towards a climate of impunity. This impunity sends the message to the politicians and police who advocate for violence in their speeches and fail to prevent the violence that follows that they can get away with committing such grave human rights violations. This impunity needs to and must end in order to bring justice to the victims and their family members,” said Avinash Kumar.Amnesty International India calls on the Ministry of Home Affairs to conduct a prompt, thorough, transparent, independent and impartial investigation into all allegations of human rights violations committed by @DelhiPolice.
— Amnesty India (@AIIndia) August 28, 2020
The impunity must end NOW. pic.twitter.com/kPqSc7z5OG
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