Vol. 2 No. 3

Vol - 2, No. - 3

November - 2011

Voice of Voiceless
Torture, Testimonies of Survivor and Right to Health

Hindustan Times, Lucknow Monday, June 27 2011

Index 1. Torture, testimonies of survivors and Right to Health Dr. Mohan Lal Panda 2. A pilot project to improve psychological wellbeing among survivors of torture in India. Inger Agger, Lenin Raghuvanshi, Shirin Shabana Khan, Peter Polatin & Laila K. Laursen. (Scientific article from Torture Volume 19, Number 3, 2009) 3. Regional Convention: Atrocities upon minorities, SC, backward class, women and human rights defenders 4. Lucknow Declaration.

This document had been produced for Jan Mitra Nyas/PVCHR with financial assistance from Rehabilitation and Research centre for torture victim (RCT). The organizations are not liable for anything but the authors. Contact : Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)
SA 4/2A, Daulatpur, Varanasi 221002 (India) Mobile No. : +91-9935599333, E-mail : [email protected] www.pvchr.net

Voice of Voiceless

TORTURE, TESTIMONIES OF SURVIVORS AND RIGHT TO HEALTH “My name is Harinath Mushahar and I am 50 years old. Apart from working in the field as a landless labourer, I make leaf plates and sell it for making a living. On February 1988, two days after Basant Panchmi, we all family members were sleeping under one roof. Suddenly, at 4 a.m, there was a knock at the door. My wife opened the door then, she saw the police. Two policemen barged inside and pounced on me, grabbing my arms wanted to take me to the police station. When they pulled me outside, then I saw Ramdev Yadav, Rambali, Vikram Pehlwan, Kanhaiya, Dr. Bhaiyalal telling the police, 'Arrest Lalman'. Seeing them Lalman was trying to flee. Lalman and I, both of us were taken to Phulpur police station. Police continued thrashing me for 8 days and pressurised me to fall on their line and accept that we have committed the theft. Four policemen were moving over my body and pounding with wooden stick as it seemed they were walking on the field but not over a human being. While narrating the police's savagery tears jerks out of my eyes. There was no one to advocate for us. Whenever any high official visited the police station, police used to hide us. Police used to give us one meal a day, it's was quite difficult to take food, I used to writhe terribly in pain but then also neither they applied any ointment nor they gave any oral medicine for healing the wounds. The pain was unbearable. Facing continuous torture for 8 days in the lock up, I was sent to the jail. I was treated in the jail. It always crossed over my mind, what fate had befallen on me and suffering for whose sin, then I questioned myself is it not that I am facing it for being born a 'Mushahar'. Waiting for my bail after two and half months I was released. After that, I had to appear on the hearing of my case. My incarceration in jail pushed my family to languish in penury and my son died deprived of a proper treatment. Medicines vanish from the Government hospitals so my son also left this world without medicine. If he would have been alive then he would lend his helping hand in my hour of distress. On 16th April 2002, the Court awarded imprisonment, which distanced me from my family members. On that day I and my brother, Lalman reached the Court in the morning. Our name was called after the Judge occupied his seat. My advocate asked us to stand at the dock. Then, he whispered something on Judge's ear. At around 2 p.m. the Court broke for the lunch and the Judge went away. Filled with fear, I went to the Judge then he told me, “Go I am coming. I trusted him and I came back to my seat. Post to the lunch the Judge came. Staring at the door I was thinking would the advocate coming or not. I was getting frightened. Court's reader made an announcement in the post-lunch session. Then the Judge gave the ruling, “Sentenced for 10 years of imprisonment and booked under 382 and 459 IPC. Deposit a penalty of Rs. 17,000 to the Court.” It was shocking for me, my face grew red, and I started sweating. They did not know that I had been jailed. They were thinking that I might have gone to my sister's house. ..... When they went to the advocate to ask him he just bluffed and told that we had asked to be forgiven so we were sentenced for 10 years of imprisonment. When it was narrated to me it hurt me terribly and started crying.

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Some days after staying at Chokaghat District jail I was shifted to Central jail. ...... I was assigned the job of cleaning the barrack and filling up water where the Pakistani prisoners were kept. After two and half years, at Central jail's Shivpur farm, 6 jail inmates were allocated the work of cultivating 6 acres. Each prisoner had to do ploughing and weeding of an acre.... After putting up a hard toil covering whole of the day we were given Rs. 10 as a daily wage. On Sundays, we had to work but we were not paid single paise. When I asked twice why we were not paid wages for the work done on Sundays, then they responded Sundays are holidays so we do not pay. I used to think, are there holidays in jail but I could not ask them out of fear. We used to toil hard for 30 days in the month but 15 days were entered in the register and 15 percent from our wages went as commission to the contractor. At that time, I used to think 'what a fate had befallen on me!' Many a times I cried and mocked on my pathetic conditions. In the jail, I earned through sweat and blood of my hard toil but that's also being snatched away by others. I was put behind the bars on trumped up charges without committing any crime. I was afflicted by tuberculosis (TB) due to insufficient food and hard toil. Continuously I had to take medicines for 6 months to cure my TB. I was served milk and eggs but couldn't consume it as health conditions were quite precarious.... Whenever there were rains, I used to think if the thatched roof leaks then where would all family members sleep. Days passed by while working but my nights were sleepless as worries and anxieties filled up my restless mind. It was quite a delightful moment, though quite a shorter one, when family members came to meet me at the jail.... One day, when my family members came to meet me I handed over Rs. 5000 which I earned while working in the jail. Once I passed on Rs. 1,000 and then, Rs. 2,000 but took away Rs. 500 for my personal consumption to purchase soap and oil. In the jail I worked in the field for 7 years. In 2009, I asked the police officer, “When I would go home?” Then, his response was that my jail term had finished two months back as I was unable to pay the penalty due to tuberculosis. Then he told me that I would be released on 2nd February 2011. After this, I started counting the days and used to think if I had the penalty to pay and not afflicted by tuberculosis then I could have been in home. The days passed by. 2nd February was day of celebration for me. Earlier I had informed my family members. I was besieged by happiness and I did not take any food..... I was thinking I would go to my home and village. I would breathe in fresh air liberated from the shackles of bondage. Seeing the Superintendent of Police (SP) coming, I rushed to the office, and then he handed over a cheque of Rs. 6,081 and gave me Rs. 500. After being released I briskly walked towards my home. Then, tears jerked through my eyes and it seemed that happiness was all around me. Reaching home, I spent the entire night talking to my wife and children...... For earning a living she carried lanterns or tube lights over her head in wedding ceremonies at night. She made leaf plates to run the household. My son toiled hard to earn Rs. 35 as a daily wage. Listening to their woes I cried incessantly.

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False case was framed against me and jailed for 10 years. I lost 10 years which won't come back. What I want that it should not happen with others.... Coming back from the jail, I am no more interested to go anywhere. After being punished for so many years I started thinking myself as guilty. I think what people might be thinking about me. I am mentally disturbed. Due continuous police beating and the hard toil which I put in jail for years together, there is always terrible pain in my body.” (Excerpt of the Testimony of Harinath Mushahar and the testimony was recorded by Farahat Shaba Khanam and Meena Kumari Patel on 4th March, 2011, under RCT-PVCHR initiative for Testimonial Therapy) In this article detention refers to prison, police custody and custody under security forces. Why Testimony The testimony (truth telling and emotion-pain sharing of survivors) is a short psychological approach to trauma. Significance of truth is an important aspect of the justice process. Testimony is located within the broad framework of social construction and provides valid information of human rights violation without humiliating the witness. It has often resulted in the survivors overcoming depressive symptoms and cope with difficult situation. Survivors rediscover self worthiness and dignity. Regaining self esteem by recording their stories in a human rights context, private pain is reframed with a political meaning. Compilation and analysis of information emerging from testimonies indicates the rights abuse in the originating country and helps in initiating advocacy measures for institutional reform. It has played an important role as a central mechanism in the functioning of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, studying suppressive symptoms of the traumatised Bosnian Kosovo refugees, treatment of traumatised asylum seekers in Netherlands, rural community in Mozambique with survivors of prolonged civil war, traumatised Sudanese adolescent refugees in United states and also used for injured humanitarian aid workers who had survived the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Iraq. In India it has acquired psycho-legal form that emphasises on denunciation of human rights violation and initiates advocacy for justice. Testimony involves following three components: (1) Private: Psychological rehabilitation of the survivor leads to certain degree of restoration of physical and mental state. This opens the possibility of his/her participation in a community movement and ultimately becoming a human rights defender; (2) Legal: Testimonies provide a lot of subjective information about the plight of the victim which help the court to take into account when the bail application of the victim is considered. The human sufferings are never recorded in the court proceedings. However, these small references of human sufferings often go in favour of the victim in front of the well prepared perpetrator; (3) Political: Under testimonial therapy, public ceremonies are organised to honour the survivors of torture. These ceremonies provide an opportunity to bring back the survivor to the same society/ community that has isolated him/her for being tortured. Testimonies are read out in the presence of the villagers, invited guests, local politicians, elected representatives, and local media creating debate and discussion at the local level because it contains human sufferings, institutional malpractices, and failure of constitutional guarantees. Testimonies can be used as urgent appeals and advocacy work. Campaigns can be initiated by “psychological mapping” of the evidence of

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the severe effect of torture on large number of people. Considering the difficulties in getting the state's approval for visiting and monitoring the detention centres under the police, para-military forces and the military across the country, these testimonies are great source of primary data for research work. Organisations following developments relating to use of testimony emerging out of torture and organised violence can help building foundation for People's movement. The concept of testimony was brought into India by Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT). Both RCT and PVCHR worked together to learn and adapt it in Indian context. At present PVCHR and Wide Angle are two organisations using it in their work to strengthen rule of law. Both the organisations are documenting different kinds of experiences because psychological suffering of the victim has never been an area of concern for the state and civil society groups. The focus and content of the debates during Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 both inside and outside the Parliament prove the point.

Findings from the Testimonies of the Survivors of Torture Following findings have emerged out of the testimonies of the torture victims: (a) It is immensely difficult for an ordinary citizen to negotiate with the unlimited power and absolute impunity enjoyed by the security agencies and law enforcement agencies to get justice; (b) With court process becoming expensive and human rights institutions having limited mandate, the poor victims confront limited scope to access to justice; (c) Belief in 'masculinity' and 'body capital' are also reflected in the form of 'brutal nature' of forces; (d) Majority of the detainees are poor, marginalised and people from religious minorities charged with either unnecessary or unjustified sections. (e) If one tries to abjure violence and lead a normal life particularly, in conflict area, there is no scope for initiating process of social reconstruction and coexistence; (f) with state outsourcing legislative initiatives to non state actors like business houses and multinational companies, it will be futile to expect that door of justice will be closer to poor; (g) Growing urgency to address 'right to health' for victims in detention; (h) Present systems of governance hardly conform to the UDHR's language and ideology. PVCHR and Detention Watch As testimonies poured in, PVCHR got an insight into the multidimensional and multilayered issues related to and relevant to the justice process and survival of the victim. The available information convinced everyone in PVCHR to begin an initiative called Detention Watch. Under this initiative, whenever there is information of unlawful detention, the matter is immediately taken up with the concerned police station under which the accused is confined. Interventions are also done by communicating with senior police and civil administration of the state, State and National Human Right Commissions to protect the accused from physical and mental torture. Representations are also made in the court and other concerned authorities. Not surprisingly, no one has been subjected any kind of physical torture in all the cases of interventions under this initiative However, there are varying degree of psychological anxiety and fear prevalent among those detainees. In India custody does not mean “safe custody.” It is a place where one encounters the prevalence of opposite norms and practices of a civilised society. It drives one through the ugly side of the repressive character of the state. It is this place from where the victims start loosing faith in the state. Perhaps this is also a reason why no one in this country has ever come back from the police custody to say that she/he was respectfully treated as a citizen of this country.

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Every detainee is in a situation of particular vulnerability, both vis-à-vis their captors and in relation to their environment. The change in status from a free person to detainee means the loss of all points of reference and immersion in an unknown world where the rules are different and the valued unfamiliar. Life in a closed environment away from the outside world tends to dehumanise people by eliminating individuality and responsibility. Detention is thus a fundamental change for each individual person, even if he or she is prepared for it. This vulnerability is accentuated in situation of armed conflict and collective or political violence when the isolation and the temptation to use force in an abusive manner are even greater. Regulatory Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure a favourable environment for the detainees. The later ensures the dignity and well being of the detainee. The primary responsibility for establishing and maintaining such an environment rests with the authorities concerned. They are duty bound to provide the vital needs of the persons they arrest and detain and to guarantee that they receive decent, humane treatment. When they become aware of the problems, they have to take all necessary steps as soon as possible to remedy them. This also mean proceedings to make a prompt and impartial investigation whenever there are grounds to believe that abuses have taken place (This obligation is notably contained in Article 12 of the Convention against Torture), and then, if the facts are confirmed, imposing appropriate penalties.(In particular, on the basis of Article 4 of the UNCAT, but also under the provisions of the Geneva Conventions concerning grave breaches and other serious violations of International Humanitarian law, Article 40,50, 129, and 146 of GC I,II,III and IV respectively). This favourable environment, even if it does exist, is potentially unstable. Thus the risk of abuse is constant. Favourable environment therefore have to be monitored, developed and consolidated by mechanisms able to detect abuses as soon as they come to light and exert the necessary pressure on the relevant authorities to ensure that they take the appropriate steps. These regulatory mechanisms could include media, citizen's rights groups, lawyers, independent judicial system, and the traditional role of elders in the societies. There is no disagreement in the argument that structural deficiencies and politicisation of functioning of police and security agencies have adversely affected the latter's performance immensely. But it is also a proven point that social structure plays a great role in perpetuating custodial crime. Caste and religious loyalties decides not just ministerial posts but also official postings. Evidences indicate that postings are temporarily done to neutralise certain individuals in custody. These untold and unholy alliances, which can not be checked by law pose serious challenges to justice process of this country. Rights and guidelines laid down by the honourable court and Human rights institutions have not deterred the perpetrator to commit crimes in custody and in other places of detention where majority of the victims are youths belonging to poor families, minority groups and socially backward groups. To have a political, legislative, and institutional environment that would encourage the concerned authorities to undertake obligations and respect rights of the person in detention, Detention watch feels there is urgent need to, (a) ways must be found to register information regarding the accused the moment a person is taken into custody. It could be done through email, phone call, fax and telegram. This point of registration must remain within the supervision of the judiciary; (b) undertake media and legislative advocacy, a step ahead from monitoring of custodial violence. Harm to any defenceless person in the custody is a great betrayal by the state and (c) provide testimonial therapy for psychological support.

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Judiciary: Distancing away from Survivors Harinath's case is an indication of what is happening in the system. It is certainly not the case always and everywhere but this testimony has highlighted the glaring systemic loopholes affecting the future of citizens of the country in the absence of accountability in the context of right to life with dignity under Article 21 of Indian constitution. Unfortunately, majority of the detainees are illiterate and they do not understand what all documents they are signing. In some cases it has so happened that they have signed documents related to their land instead of court papers. As the legal process is becoming expensive, detainees who can not afford to pay even for their bail bond continue to languish in jail. The long and tedious process of verification of the bail guarantor has created more hurdles for them. So many years after Independence, the state has not been able to establish a scientific investigation process. Lack of investigative manpower from the field of forensic and medicine limits the fairness of trial. Investigation report of a Daroga (lower police official) who is often selected for the job on the basis of a minimum educational qualification and physical fitness is considered as the entry point of the trial. Impunity enjoyed by the state apparatus is an important factor that perpetuates the crimes in custody. Complaints against such perpetrator often results in acquittal as the accused person manages to influence all forms of departmental or judicial investigation against him. Rarely the solidarity behind the accused persons fizzles out in front of judicial activism generated due to media onslaught. For that to happen, either the victims or the accused has to be high profile in nature. Systems must be put in place to protect the life of people like Harinath by prosecuting the concerned investigating officer and provide immediate and adequate compensation to the survivors with an apology from the state. Given the conditions of detainees, the policy makers in consultation with judiciary should consider decriminalising certain offences. It would not only decongest number of detainees but also reduce burden on judiciary. People in India have the courts with great hope. Besides deciding the cases, the courts have done some exemplary work to restore the confidence of ordinary citizens in the judicial process. Few months back the Honourable Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court considered news report on the issues of suicide by farmers in Bundelkhand as Public Interest Litigation. The same court also considered complaints made by PVCHR on hunger death by weavers from Varanasi as Public Interest Litigation. Amidst this positive development, there are also areas of concern. The fast processing of evidences, particularly in Fast Track Courts has put immense pressure on all the concerned parties. These courts might have been very useful in reducing the backlogs, which is a matter of statistics and not about appreciation of evidence. The state must consider policy reform to provide relief to the poor and establish mechanism to assess the quality of judgements with accountability. Human Rights Institutions (HRIs): They can do better In most part of the world institutions are created as a result of learning from past crisis. Having an institution does not mean that the crisis will stop occurring, only damage could be moderated. “We do not learn spontaneously from our mistakes. This is why we need institutions in society,” says Prof Lars Magnusson of Economic History at Upasala University. Things are no different in India. Human Rights Institutions (HRIs) like National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) are of utmost importance in addressing issues related to detainees. The number of complaints received by NHRC has highlighted the extent of human rights violations taking place in India. According to its recent press release, in last eighteen years it registered 10,94,113 cases of human rights violation, maximum 6,22,635 number of complaints are from Uttar Pradesh. NHRC has also

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registered maximum number of 901 cases of complaints of death in police custody. In many respects, the human rights commissions have acted as a check. The problem though is that an institution like the NHRC in a country of India's size becomes too remote from the scene to be effective in many cases. A large number of police atrocities are committed in small towns and villages of India where people are not aware of the commission's existence or its procedures. The question that crosses everyone's mind is about the performances of the HRIs. And why their performances have not been debated or why a performance audit of these institutions has not taken place by the legislatures? A performance audit must provide space for public hearing too, so that victims, civil society groups and other interested parties get an opportunity to voice their concerns and suggestions. This exercise will provide an opportunity to find out whether the organisations have got enough mandates to fulfil the expectations and whether these institutions have delivered on their mandate. These institutions suffer from two types of problems. First, the state does not consider protection of human rights as its one of the most important responsibilities, so it makes the institutional short of full functional through delayed appointment in important posts, providing minimum infrastructure. Had it not been so, NHRC would not have remained headless for a long time. In States, the appointments in SHRCs are more of political in nature. Second, the major problem is about the mandate. The recommendatory power of NHRC is restricted due to non cooperation by the states. The states are also using the SHRC to stall the move of NHRC in sensitive cases. However, despite limited mandate, nothing restraints the HRIs to walk the extra miles for the victims or invoke its power to remain pro active. For example, the health and hygiene conditions in the custody and prisons are in a terrible condition due to overcrowding. This needs urgent attention of the HRIs to guarantee adequate health infrastructure and food quality. HRIs need to sensitise the security forces and law enforcing agencies that the guns they are holding are to respect individual freedom and protection of constitutions. These sensitisation programmes should also focus on having respect for women and their privacy. In conflict areas, the HRIs can help in strengthening the democratic institutions and create space for reconciliation. The political parties and the legislatures must realize adverse impact of failed institutions. They should also be aware of the consequences of power of information technology and network power of victims. The state is no longer in a position to hide its performance and intention. Its accountability for protection of human rights is no more limited to domestic constituencies instead, now it is a global commitment. The state positions are openly challenged and can be challenged by several other versions to drive opposite points at least in the web. Technology has empowered victims, perpetrators, NGOs, HRIs, state and non state actors. It has created opportunity for locals to go global. Remedies do not lie in just framing law. There are socio cultural factors heavily influencing the causes of torture and human suffering and it is very difficult to deal with those within legal framework, particularly how to deal with a social structure perpetuating culture of silence in majority part of India. Mechanisms must be created at the local level to debate causes of human rights violations and finds ways for preventive and containment aspect. The institutions must reach out to victims instead of waiting the victims to approach them. Institutions related to Medical and Victim Rehabilitation need to urgently highlight the importance of scientific investigation procedures and management of trauma, a precondition for a victim to be a part of justice process.

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Prevention of Torture Bill-2010 and Right to Health The Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems International (HURIDOCS) database of human rights violations tallies 73 forms of torture that takes place in detaintion. Each technique engenders short-term and long-term consequences, sometimes unique. The likelihood of profound and long-lasting psychological effects from torture is independent of the intensity, nature, or duration of the abuse, although such effects may be partly related to poorly understood psychological attributes of the victim. Torture may attack the body, but the ultimate target is the mind of the victim during, and after, imprisonment. Although the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) recognizes that torture can be purely psychological in character and bans “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted”, many policy makers and citizens underestimate the profound and intentional damage psychological forms of torture can produce. The psychological consequences for the individual can be more disabling than residual physical disabilities. Even after the memories of the pain of a physical assault have abated or disappeared altogether, torture survivors tell their therapists of intrusive memories of mock executions and watching or hearing the torture of others. A right to health care for survivors of torture is explicitly stated in the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment (UNCAT) that came into force on 26 June 1987. The treaty calls on the states to make it as an “enforceable right.” Few international treaties provide such an explicit statement of the right to care. The UNCAT calls on states to make the “means for as full rehabilitation as possible” along with other forms of redress, an “enforceable right”. The treatment and rights of torture victims are also addressed in other international instruments. Testimonies of the survivors studied by both PVCHR and Wide Angle highlight the urgency of addressing detainees' right to health. The prison jurisprudence recognizes the inalienable rights of the prisoners. This right has been upheld by the Supreme Court of India in its landmark judgement in Parmanand Katara vs. Union of India (1989). According to Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights, "everyone has a right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health." Under United Nations' General Assembly Resolution 44/111, "Prisoners shall have access to the health services available in the country without discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation." One way to ensure that all prisoners have access to health services is to link together prison and public health care. The World Health Organization made several recommendations to this effect in the Declaration on Prison Health as Part of Public Health (2003). This right to health care and a healthy environment is linked to the persons with HIV inside the prison, to rights, like non-discrimination, privacy and confidentiality. Prisoners cannot fend for themselves in their situation of detention, and it is the responsibility of the state to provide for health services and a healthy environment. In this context, the testimonial therapy especially emphasizes on the overall well being of the survivors. Various international and regional oversight bodies concerned with human rights systematically investigate and document the living conditions of prisoners. Two UN Human Rights bodies are particularly important to mention: The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) and the Special Rapporteur on Torture, both of which monitor the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which investigates cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily and monitors compliance with the relevant international standards. Since 2006 and the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, an international visiting mechanism for the prevention of torture has been set up. To date, 37 of the 62 countries that have signed the Optional Protocol have also ratified it, allowing regular visits on their territory.

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Similar mechanisms have been implemented at a regional level, within the member states of the Council of Europe, with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). The Committee, composed of independent and impartial experts from various backgrounds, exerts its control by means of regular visits to different places of detention (e.g. prisons and juvenile detention centers, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees and psychiatric hospitals). It surveys the conditions of detention and recommends, if necessary, improvements to the states visited. Prisons and jails in even the richest and most developed countries are still plagued by severe overcrowding, decaying physical infrastructure, a lack of medical care, security abuses and corruption, and prisoner-on-prisoner violence. Rates of infection with regards to tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis are much higher than in the general population, and chronic diseases, especially psychiatric conditions, are often neglected. The health status of prisoners has highlighted the urgency of the role of medical professionals in fighting impunity and establishing right to health. Although medical workers in general do not require knowledge of human rights and law, their ethical duties require them to assume the role of advocates on behalf of their patients. This is particularly true in the closed and isolated environment of prisons, where human rights abuses occur with impunity and where health workers are sometimes the first witnesses of such violations. Protecting the rights of the prison population imposes innovative thinking inspired first by patients' needs and expectations. The accumulated experiences of prison medicine could play a complementary role in documenting situations that could lead to health policy reforms. The systematic screening of violence at prison entry – which explores violence experienced by detainees during arrest or incarceration (violence expert testimony evaluation) – is a good example of how organized epidemiologic and clinical information collection could be used to defend prisoners' rights and improve prison practice. Such operational research, using equity as its conceptual “lens”, offers a means of monitoring the relevance and responsiveness of clinical activities in such settings. Prisoners are more likely to be in a bad state of health when they enter prison and have therefore more health-related needs, and higher consumption of health services, than the general population. Caring the prisoners reflect the values the state and the society in the form of justice and solidarity. Guaranteeing Prisoners should highlight (1) Separation of power between the judicial system and medical professionals. There should be proper medical cadre dedicated to service for the prisoner, including psychologists and psychiatrics; (2) specialized training programmes for the prison staff with focus on priority on humanitarian law and rehabilitation.; (3) a through medical profiling of the prisoner at the time of entering and leaving the prisoner; and (4) compulsory medical insurance of the prisoner. In a country like India where policy makers and politics juggle their priority for providing health care to its vast population within the available resources, need of victim of torture is often considered synonym with basic health requirement. The medical curriculum does not prioritise comprehensive rehabilitation of a victim. Neither the society is sensitised for that. Many health care workers underestimate the value of treatment. Despite criticism NHRC has provided landmark directives on Right to Health. It is time that NHRC makes a assessment of the trauma and psychological suffering of the victims of torture and detainees. Its opinion would matter a lot and possibly help in opening new horizons of hope for the victims of torture.

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Conclusion Political consensus should be built to create provisions for legislative resilience, institutional reliability, and social reconciliation. World wide there are examples to prove that violence perpetrated by the state in peacetime or during an extra ordinary situation has failed to win the trust of its own people. There is no need to justify that violence wins hearts. Politics of the state is responsible for prevalence of a peaceful situation as well as situation of emergency. Proportion of torture is directly proportional to the degree of alienation. Misuse of law enforcement agencies for political gain is as dangerous as the willingness of the former to be misused by the later for protection and indulging in unlawful activities. The values and rights of the constitution do not match with the procedural guarantees laid out by the legislatures and implemented by the administration. This needs urgent corrective measures before the victims lose their trust in the constitutions for being denied justice. It is different matter that dalits despite facing atrocity in every eight minutes in this country have not revolted perhaps because they still have trust in the constitution drafted by Dr Ambedkar. They do not find problem with the constitution but see biasness in its interpretation and implementation, rightly so. Nation building does not happen by showing the map of India. People's alienation from this process on the ground of denial of justice and well-being due to absence of political environment will bring dangerous consequences. Everyone in this country should see and realise that justice is done. And for that our men in khadi and khaki need to do serious thinking.
(This Article is written by Dr Mohanlal Panda, Ph.D, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Presently, he is working with People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) as an Advisor and Advocacy Consultant. PVCHR is a Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh based Human Rights Organisation.)

(i)

Inger Agger, Lenin Raghuvanshi, Sirin Shabana Khan, Peter Polatin, Laila K Laursen, Testimonial Therapy: A pilot project to improve Psychological wellbeing among survivors of torture in India, Scientific Article, Torture Volume 19, November 3, 2009.

(ii) Lenin Raghuvanshi, Shirin Shabana Khan, Giving Voice: Using testimony as a brief Therapy Intervention in Psychological Community work for Survivors of Torture and Organised Violence, June, 2008 (iii) www.pvchr.net, www.testimonialtherapy.org, http://wideanglesocialdevelopment.blogspot.com (iv) www.detentionwatch.blogspot.com (v) Vivien Stern, A Sin against the Future: Imprisonment in the World, Penguin Books, London, 1998 (vi) Alain Aeschlimann, Protection of Detainees: ICRC action behind bars, in the Booklet Detention, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 87, Number 857, March 2005

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(vii) Alain Aeschlimann, Protection of Detainees: ICRC action behind bars, in the Booklet Detention, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 87, Number 857, March 2005). (viii) S.S. Srivastava, Criminology Criminal Administration. Allahabad: Central Law Agency, 2007 (ix)http://www.huridocs.org/ (x) Douglas A. Johnson and Steven H. Miles, “As Full Rehabilitation as Possible”: Torture Survivors and the Right to Care, Realizing the Right to Health (Ed), Andrew Clapham and Mary Robinson, Swiss Human Rights Book, Vol:3, 2009, Page 217. (xi) Dr. Jose Quiroga and Dr. James M. Jaranson, 'Politically-Motivated Torture and Its Survivors: A Desk Study Review of the Literature', in 15(2–3) Torture: Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture (Copenhagen: International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), 2005. See also www.irct.org.) (xii) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm (xiii) These include: The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (1977); Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (1979); the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as elaborated in General Comment No. 14 (2000); the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002); the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (2005); and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007. (xiv) Slim Slama, Hans Wolff and Louis Loutan, The Right to Health in Prisons: Implications in a Borderless World, Realizing the Right to Health (Ed), Andrew Clapham and Mary Robinson, Swiss Human Rights Book, Vol:3, (xv) The status of ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is available at : http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/ratification/9_b.htm. (xvi) (Under the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CPT delegations have unlimited access to places of detention. They also have the right to unrestricted access inside secure units and can interview detainees in private. The last periodic visit (5th visit) to Switzerland took place in autumn 2007. It was one of 11 that the CPT undertook in 2007. Other countries include Spain, the Netherlands, Croatia and Moldova. After each visit, the CPT sends a confidential report containing its conclusions and recommendations to the country concerned. Preliminary observations by the CPT after its last visit to Switzerland are accessible at http://www.cpt.coe.int. (xvii) Lars Møller, Heino Stöver, Ralf Jürgens, Alex Gatherer and Haik Nikogosian (eds.) Health in Prisons: A WHO Guide to the Essentials in Prison Health (Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2007), available at http://www.euro.who. int/document/e90174.pdf (xviii)Slim Slama, Hans Wolff and Louis Loutan, The Right to Health in Prisons: Implications in a Borderless World, Realizing the Right to Health (Ed), Andrew Clapham and Mary Robinson, Swiss Human Rights Book, Vol:3, 2009 (xix) Dominique Bertrand, Laurent Subilia, Daniel S. Halpérin, Romano La Harpe, Jean-Marc Reymond, Donatella Bierens de Haan, Louis Loutan, 'Victims of Violence: Importance of Medical Testimony for the Practitioner' 87(12) Praxis (1997), at 417–420. (xx) Jean-Marc Feron et al., 'Substantial Use of Primary Health Care by Prisoners: Epidemiological Description and Possible Explanations' 59 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (2005) at 651– 655; Tom Marshall, Sue Simpson, Andrew Stevens, 'Use of Health Services by Prison Inmates: Comparisons with the Community' 55 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (2001), at 364–365. (xxi) Douglas A. Johnson and Steven H. Miles, “As Full Rehabilitation as Possible”: Torture Survivors and the Right to Care, Realizing the Right to Health (Ed), Andrew Clapham and Mary Robinson, Swiss Human Rights Book, Vol:3, 2009, Page 215. (xxii) Meaning: Politicians in general and Elected representatives in particular. (xxiii)Meaning: Police and other Security forces

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Testimonial therapy A pilot project to improve psychological wellbeing among survivors of torture in India Inger Agger, PhD*, Lenin Raghuvanshi, BAMS**, Shirin Shabana Khan**, Peter Polatin, MD, MPH***, & Laila K. Laursen, BA*** Abstract Introduction: In developing countries where torture is perpetrated, there are few resources for the provision of therapeutic assistance to the survivors. The testimonial method represents a brief crosscultural psychosocial approach to trauma, which is relatively easy to master. The method was first described in Chile in 1983 and has since been used in many variations in different cultural contexts. In this project the method has been supplemented by culture-specific coping strategies (meditation and a delivery ceremony). Methods: A pilot training project was undertaken between Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture victims (RCT) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) in Varanasi, India, to investigate the usefulness of the testimonial method. The project involved the development of a community-based testimonial method, training of twelve PVCHR community workers, the development of a manual, and a monitoring and evalu ation (M&E) system comparing results of measures before the intervention and two to three months after the intervention. Twenty-three victims gave their testimonies under supervision. In the two first sessions the testimony was written and in the third session survivors participated in a delivery ceremony. The human rights activists and community workers interviewed the survivors about how they felt after the intervention. Findings: After testimonial therapy, almost all survivors demonstrated significant improvements in overall WHO-five Well-being Index (WHO-5) score. Four out of the five individual items improved by at least 40%. Items from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) showed less significant change, possibly because the M&E questionnaire had not been well understood by the community workers, or due to poor wording, formulation and/or validation of the questions. All survivors expressed satisfaction with the process, especially the public delivery ceremony, which apparently became a “turning point” in the healing process. Seemingly, the ceremonial element represented the social recognition needed and that it re-connected the survivors with their community and ensured that their private truth becomes part of social memory.
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Discussion: Although this small pilot study without control groups or prior validation of the questionnaire does not provide high-ranking quantitative evidence or statistically significant results for the effectiveness of our version of the testimonial method, we do find it likely that it helps improve the well being in survivors of torture in this particular context. However, a more extensive study is needed to verify these results, and better meas*) Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, Denmark, e-mail: [email protected] **) People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights, Varanasi, India ***) Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, Denmark, e-mail: [email protected]

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ures of ICF activities and participation (A&P) functions should be used. Interviews with human rights activists reveal that it is easier for survivors who have gone through testimonial therapy to give coherent legal testimony. Keywords: torture, trauma, testimony, psychosocial interventions, cross-cultural psychotherapy, brief therapy, community-based interventions, psycholegal counselling Introduction In many parts of the world where torture is perpetrated, the human rights organizations providing psychosocial and therapeutic assistance to the survivors have few if any staff resources, such as trained psychologists, social workers, or doctors, and are often only able to see the survivors a few times on an individual basis. It is, therefore, important to identify community-based cross-cultural psychosocial interventions methods, which can be implemented by community workers or human rights activists, and which are brief and do not require large staff resources. This article presents a brief therapy method, testimonial therapy, which was explored in a pilot collaborative project between People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR), in Varanasi, India and the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT), in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the following, we first explain why RCT chose to start a project with this particular approach. Thereafter, different ways of dealing with trauma are discussed, including non-western, cross-cultural, and collective methods. Truth telling or testimony falls within this category. The development of the testimonial method is then presented, including the introduction of mindfulness, ceremony and ritual in our version of the testimonial method. The preliminary results are discussed. Developing knowledge Included among RCT's mission targets is the collection of new knowledge about the alleviation of human suffering and other consequences of torture.1 The partner organisations of RCT work in different cultural contexts in various parts of the world. They undertake counselling interventions to assist survivors of torture, but the concept of counselling has different meanings for different organisations.2 In the spring of 2007, an RCT team visited a number of human rights organizations in India and found that short-term legal counselling was the rehabilitation method of choice for survivors of torture.3 Most of the counselling methods observed were, in fact, variations of “psycho-legal counselling”, which has been the subject of an in-depth study by RCT and the Indian human rights organization, Jananeethi.4 Psycho-legal counselling is most frequently performed by individuals with relatively little mental health training.
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In psycho-legal counselling, “justice” constitutes the therapeutic entry point and is an important element in the healing process. It, therefore, made sense to apply the testimonial method in India. It is an approach that emphasizes the denunciation of human rights violations and advocacy to obtain justice. The method is also brief and can be used both in individual and community interventions, and by non-professionals with specific training in the methodology. Giving testimony about one's suffering is probably a significant component in the healing of trauma across cultures, whether the frame of reference is psycho-legal, psychodynamic, existential, spiritual, political, cognitive-behavioural, or narrative.

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Therapeutic approaches to trauma. There are a great variety of culture-specific therapeutic approaches to therapy for survivors of traumatic experiences. Wilson5 asks if “there are culture specific and universal mechanisms to help persons recover from psychological trauma” (p. 14) and wonders how “cultures develop rituals, medical-psychological treatments, religious practices” (p.13) to assist the survivors. He notes (p. 16) that at present “we do not have standardized cross-cultural treatment protocols for persons suffering from posttraumatic syndromes”. Clancy & Hamber6 ask what constitutes “best practice” for cross-cultural psychosocial interventions and note that “psychosocial, rather than psychotherapeutic, approaches are often better suited to address the 'extreme traumatisation' brought about by political violence” (p. 2). Extreme politically motivated trauma is not just a health problem, but also a socio-political problem, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is just one language of suffering among many others. These authors find that a rights-based approach can facilitate grieving and mourning processes through its factfinding and testimonial methods, but will need to be complemented by political advocacy, grassroots and government initiatives, and culture-based therapeutic approaches. They define psychosocial projects as: “…those which explicitly recognize the link between social agency and mental health through the utilization of a medical and/or psychological intervention to promote a social end, and/or a social, cultural or political intervention that promotes medical and/or psychological wellbeing”. (p. 19) Sales & Beristain7 suggest that because in Latin America, the centre of social life is in the family and the community, trauma should be understood from this perspective. They cite the importance of the various victim movements, such as the Association of Family Members of the Disappeared. Political violence causes social trauma, which is an “imprint on the collective identity of a people”(p. 15). The significance of Truth, the fight for Justice and Reparation are important aspects of a peace process and involve the whole community. In recent decades in South Asia, Western trained psychiatrists have dominated the treatment of emotional distress with a medicalised approach. Shah8 suggests that the incorporation of culturally specific South Asian “technologies of the self”,9 such as yoga, meditation, pranayama, and ayurveda guided by spiritual teachers can promote healing. Sonpar10 emphasizes the need to understand trauma induced distress from a non-western perspective. She suggests3 that spirituality and religion have been neglected in the western understanding of trauma, and that religious beliefs, prayer and pujas are important coping strategies (p. 16). She also finds that Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET),11 in which testimony is an important component, has the advantage of being a brief therapy and a technique for which nonprofessionals may be trained in situations in which professional help is limited.
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Igreja12 has shown that protracted civil war in Mozambique has profound and traumatic consequences for individuals, families and communities, and that suffering is collective in cultures with a community oriented self in contrast to cultures oriented toward an independent self. In these community oriented cultures, the suffering is not seen as an individual medical “illness” (such as PTSD) but as a social experience (social trauma), which requires a collective approach to promote healing. According to Hamber,13 coming to terms with human rights violations requires a distinction between healing or reparation at the individual or micro-level, and the granting of reparations at the societal or macro-level. It “is difficult to measure, if not impossible to satisfy” (p. 564) whether reparations at the macro-level lead to reparation at the micro-level. Lykes & Mersky14 have criticized a purely biomedical approach to survivors of organised violence, and suggest that questions of justice and truth must also be addressed. They see narrative, testimony, truth telling, and story telling as important resources for understanding and accompanying the survivors.

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Development of the testimonial method. In the version of testimonial therapy developed for this project, an attempt has been made to include a meditative, and ceremonial element (an “honorary delivery ceremony” in which the survivor receives his or her written testimony) so as to reinforce a culturally sensitive aspect of the method. Survivors of torture are often lonely and isolated from their community, group, friends and family. They feel that their dignity has been destroyed by a police force that has stigmatized them as “criminals”. They badly need to regain their dignity and honour through a form of social recognition in which their private truth is openly recognised and becomes public truth, and their suffering is acknowledged and becomes part of social memory. A general silence often surrounds political repression, as if it only exists in the minds of the survivor, but the narratives of the survivors will preserve history. 15 It is the hypothesis of this project that the ceremonial element represents the social recognition needed and that it re-connects the survivors with their community and ensures that their private truth becomes part of social memory. Testimony therapy was first described in 1983 when two Chilean therapists16 writing under pseudonyms presented and analysed testimony as a specific therapeutic technique used with torture victims and their relatives. The testimony was tape-recorded by the therapist and revised jointly by therapist and patient into a written document. The aim of the testimony was to facilitate integration of the traumatic experience and restoration of self-esteem. However the authors note that, “communication of traumatic events through testimony.may also have been useful (…) because it channelled the patients' anger into a socially constructive action – production of a document that could be used as an indictment against the offenders. The possibility of putting their experiences to use resulted in the alleviation of guilt” (p. 50). The method was further described in 1990 as a ritual both of healing and of condemnation of injustice. “When political refugees give testimony to the torture to which they have been subjected, the trauma story can be given a meaning, can be reframed: private pain is transferred into political dignity” 17 (p. 115). A 1992 textbook on counselling and therapy with victims of war, torture and repression18 recommends the testimony method as a brief psychotherapy for motivated clients, or as a supplement to other treatment approaches for clients with multiple problems besides the sequelae of torture. In 1994, a research project studying psychotherapeutic treatments for women victims of sexual torture19 utilized the testimony method, and in 1996 testimony was studied in a Chilean context as a therapeutic tool developed in the political framework of an active human rights movement during the Pinochet dictatorship.20 In 1998 the testimony method was studied in a South African context where public testimony constituted the central mechanism in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process. 21 The authors locate the testimony method within the broad framework of social constructionism and they find that “thematic analysis revealed that … overall, the narratives affirmed the therapeutic value of the testimony method”, and “the connectedness between individual healing and national reconciliation” (p. 257). The same year, the testimony method was utilized with a group of traumatised Bosnian refugees22 and provided “preliminary evidence that testimony psychotherapy may lead to improvements in PTSD and depressive symptoms, as well as to improvement of functioning in survivors of statesponsored violence” (p. 1720). In 2002 Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), integrated by components from the testimony method and cognitive behaviour therapy, was utilized with a small group of severely traumatized Kosovar refugees.23 The conclusion was that this case study “indicates that Narrative Exposure is a promising and realistic approach for the treatment of even severely traumatized refugees living in camps. In addition, it can provide valid testimonies about human rights violations without humiliating the witness” (p. 205).

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In the Netherlands, the testimony method has been applied in the treatment of traumatized asylum seekers and refugees.24 The therapy, consisting of 12 sessions, is described step-by-step and the working mech anisms of the testimony method are reframed in cognitive-behavioural terms, as “exposure to the traumatic memories, as well as the adjustment of inadequate cognitions” (p. 368-9). In 2003 in Germany, a testimony project for traumatized Bosnian refugees living with uncertain asylum status for many years was carried out in which the testimony method was used in combination with supportive therapy and advocacy.25 The authors concluded that “by giving testimony, survivors benefited psychologically and became better able to cope with the difficult present. Feelings of self-worth and dignity could be regained and a trusting relationship between the survivor and the listener facilitated the therapeutic process. The testimony material documented human rights abuses both in the country of origin and in exile, helped us to perform informed advocacy for this group and informed a larger public on the psychological costs of refugee resettlement policies” (p. 393). In 2004 the effectiveness of the testimony method was explored in a rural community in Mozambique with survivors of prolonged civil war.26 The study included an intervention group (n=66) and a control group (n=71) and trauma symptoms were measured during a baseline assessment, post-intervention and at an 11month follow- up. A simple version of the testimony method was applied with only one session for most participants. It is concluded in the study that, “a remarkable drop in symptoms could not be linked directly to the intervention. Feasibility of the intervention was good, but controlling the intervention in a small rural community appeared to be a difficult task to accomplish” (p. 251). Concerning clinical implications of the study, the authors find that the “introduction of the testimony method in a relatively small and isolated rural community was feasible and associated with the decrease of reported psychiatric symptoms” (p. 257). In the same year, testimonial therapy was used with traumatised Sudanese adolescent refugees in the United States who lacked experience with or interest in psychiatric care.27 “Testimonial psychotherapy's unique focus on transcribing personal, traumatic events for the altruistic purpose of education and advocacy make it an acceptable interaction by which to bridge the cultural gap that prevents young refugees from seeking psychiatric care” (p. 31). Also in 2004, a study was published comparing Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) with supportive counselling and psycho-education for the treatment of Sudanese refugees living in a Uganda refugee settlement. 28 “The results indicated that (it) was a promising approach for the treatment of PTSD for refugees living in unsafe conditions”.
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In 2005 the testimony method was also used for injured humanitarian aid workers who had survived the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Iraq.29 The method was found to be an effective tool: “The testimony method provided a safe structure to recall the traumatic event, while assisting in the reconstruction of the traumatic memories and associated emotions, and offered an acceptable motivation to do so” (p. 57). Also in 2005, testimony therapy was reframed30 as “an African-centred therapy that focuses on the personal stories of those who consult with the therapist, as well as the collective stories of the African experience in the United States” (p. 5). In this narrative approach “testimony therapy emphasises the person within community and is social constructionist in its outlook” (p5) The same year, Schauer, Neuner and Ebert published a systematic analysis and manual on the use of

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Including meditation, ceremony and ritual in the testimonial method The importance of cultural rituals and ceremonies for survivors of torture and organized violence (TOV) has also been emphasised by Somasundaram,32 who addresses the many problems following the exposure to conflict, war and disaster in Sri Lanka. The multi-level community approaches needed when assisting these survivors include (p. 19): Encouragement of indigenous coping strategies, support of cultural rituals and ceremonies, and community interventions (including support groups and the use of expressive methods). Somasundaram describes how culturally appropriate relaxation exercises can be taught to large groups in the community. These originally spiritual practices, such as meditation not only reduce stress, but also “tap into past childhood, community and religious roots and thus release a rich source of associations that can be helpful in the healing process” (p. 20). The holistic approach represented by the traditional relaxation methods work at the physical, mental, social and spiritual levels, promoting wellbeing and mental health. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)33 and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)34 have developed in the U.S over the last twenty years, and have good empirical support for their effectiveness. MBSR and MBCT are inspired by Eastern traditions such as Buddhist meditation and yoga. Mindfulness is defined by Kabat-Zinn as: “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”35 (p. 4). Mindfulness has proved effective for “narrative integration”, whereby the life story is “weaved together” in a process of “reflection and neural integration” 36(p. 30910). \ Community-based psychosocial and psycho-legal work in India People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) in Varanasi was started in 1996 as a membership based human rights movement. It operates on the grass-root level in 45 villages in Uttar Pradesh, one of the most traditional, conservative and segregated regions in India. Human rights activists in the villages work as volunteers with PVCHR and document cases of severe human rights violations. PVCHR works to ensure basic rights for vulnerable groups in Indian society, e.g. children, women, Dalits and tribes, and to create a human rights culture based on democratic values. One of the severest violations of human rights in India is the widespread use of torture in police custody, which is closely linked to castebased discrimination. In crime investigation suspects are tortured to force confessions. There is no independent agency to investigate cases, so complaints are often not properly reviewed and perpetrators are not prosecuted and punished. PVCHR investigates and documents human rights violations, and, in cases of custodial torture, also provides legal aid. To raise public awareness PVCHR is cooperating with media as well as national and international human rights networks. It also requests that local authorities initiate action to prevent further human rights abuses. The documentation is used for advocacy, and is published through local, national and international organizations. PVCHR helps provide education in the villages, reactivating defunct primary schools, encouraging the education of girls and promoting non-formal education to bridge the gap between marginalized children and children in government schools. PVCHR also focuses on organizational development of vulnerable groups and the implementation of village committees. In some of the villages a community centre has been established, forming the base for development activities.

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People are also actively engaged in community- based counseling, in the form of “Folk Schools”, one of the core activities in the model villages. In community meetings of the Folk Schools people can testify about their suffering and receive support from the group. Folk Schools also deal with conflicts with the village head or experiences of torture. Special forums for women focus primarily on health, but sometimes include such things as dowry issues. The statements of the villagers are recorded and their demands are forwarded to administration and governments. PVCHR has been a key partner in the European Union (EU) and Friedrich Neumann Stiftung supported the “National Project on Preventing Torture in India” which was implemented by People's Watch Tamil Nadu. The aim of the project, 2006-2008, was to initiate and model a national campaign for the prevention of torture in India, with a deliberate focus on torture practices employed by police. The project was carried out in nine states. Methods Development of a specific testimonial therapy model The testimonial method is not one, wellestablished method, but has been used in many variations and settings as described above. Usually its brief format has had the objective of alleviating symptoms, helping the survivor to re-establish emotional and social bonds and recover his or her resources. The testimony can be seen as a “map of pain” on which survivors can recover their history, working with chaotic fragments of memory of the past experienced as a traumatic present.15 For this project, a new version of the method was developed containing the following key elements: 1.A brief format (only 3-4 sessions). 2.Non-professional therapists (human rights activists or community workers). 3.Teams of therapists (one interviewer, one note taker). 4. A public or community-based delivery ceremony (normally in the third session). 5.Mindfulness/meditation included at the beginning or end of the first two sessions; 6.A context-specific manual to guide the teams. 7.A monitoring and evaluation system included in the testimony process. 8.A ten days training course for the therapists, with five days of theory and five days of supervision while taking testimonies with survivors.
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The testimonial procedure The testimonial therapy procedure in this model is performed over four sessions: – Session one: Opening the story – Session Two: Closing the Story – Session Three: The delivery ceremony – Session Four: Follow-up. The testimonial method can be used with survivors of torture only if they have complete trust in the therapists. Therefore, the therapists must be part of an organization the survivors already know and with which they have established a bond of trust. This will most likely be a human rights organization, which has already made legal testimonies with the survivors and supported them in their fight for legal justice and reparation.

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The duration of each session is normally from 90 to 120 minutes. The survivor should be informed before the session starts about the number and duration of the sessions. The first and second session includes a meditation (“mindfulness”) experience guided by the therapists, in which the survivor and the two therapists sit together for ten minutes in silent concentration on their breathing and with awareness of their thoughts and feelings. The meditation will usually take place at the end of a session. The testimony is written in note form by the note taker during the sessions. After the sessions, the interviewer and note taker collaborate on filling-in the missing parts of the story and produce a computer version of the narrative. The story in the written testimony is in the first person (“I experienced”, and not “he experienced”). The story about the traumatic events is in the past tense, while sensations and feelings produced by telling the story are in the present tense. In the training course, the steps for writing a good testimony is explained and practiced. A testimony should include detailed information about the torture experience, the perpetrator(s), emotional reactions of the survivor to the experiences at the time when it happened and now, the impact of the torture on the survivor's life (impact on relation to family and community), and the steps taken by the survivor to obtain justice. Session One: opening the story : When starting the first session the testimony procedure is explained, beginning with a psycho-educational introduction to the survivor in which his or her symptoms are explained both as a result of the torture and of the violation of universal human rights, which has taken place. A preparatory introduction to the therapeutic approach is given: the testimony should not be seen by the survivor as directly related to expectations of obtaining immediate justice and reparation but as a way of healing the psychological effects of the torture. Then the M&E questionnaire is completed, and it is explained that the data are confidential and will only be used for developing methods for helping survivors of torture. The survivor is then asked to give a short description of personal background and individual history prior to the first traumatic event or persecution. With open questions the survivor is asked to briefly describe the stressful events s/he has experienced and choose one major, overwhelming traumatic event. The therapist gives an overview of the different events to help the survivor trace one of the experiences and help him/her really begin the re-construction of the story. The therapist separates overlapping stories (if the survivor wants to tell about more than one event). The therapist organizes the themes and helps the survivor to explain unclear elements in the story. It is important that the therapist is “in control” of the situation and leads the survivor in getting to the main points of the story. The survivor narrates the facts concerning this event (time, place, duration and people involved), the survivor's role during the event (observer, participant, active or passive), the individual and social dimensions of the experience, the survivor's perceptions and feelings at the time of the event, and the survivor's perceptions and feelings at the time of the testimony therapy.26 The therapists (interviewer and note taker) are empathic and warm. Contradictions are clarified, and the survivor is urged to describe the torture in as much detail as possible and to disclose his or her emotions and thoughts at that moment. The therapists may use culturally appropriate touch, e.g. a hand on the arm of the survivor. A mindfulness meditation experience ends the session. Session Two One of the therapists starts the second session by reading the written testimony to the survivor in a loud voice so that the survivor hears that his or her story has been given voice. It often has a strong supportive effect on the survivor to hear his or her story of suffering told with another voice. The survivor is asked to correct the story or add any additional details that may have been missed, and the therapists continue the

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session as during the first session. They focus on the relationship between the stressful experience and the present situation and the survivor is encouraged to express his or her feelings about the future (individual, family and community). A mindfulness meditation ends the session. After the session, the therapists correct the document to produce a final version of the testimony. Session Three: the delivery ceremony The delivery ceremony can be performed in different variations according to the wishes of the survivor and the circumstances: a public ceremony (with a wider audience in the streets) or a more private ceremony (with the community, support group or family), a political ceremony (a demonstration), or a spiritual ceremony (with emphasis on cultural ritual and purification). In the ceremony,the interviewer (or note taker) reads the testimony out to the audience, and the survivor is presented with a printed copy of his or her testimony. Speeches could be given praising the courage of the survivor, who might be awarded flower garlands or some other symbol of honour. In this project, PVCHR held a public delivery ceremony in honour of the survivors. The ceremony was also a political demonstration against torture and was held in front of the District Government Headquarter of Varanasi where 14 testimonies were read out in public and delivered to the survivors who were also honoured with a cotton shawl (a symbol of honour in India) and a speech which praised their bravery and encouraged them to continue fighting for justice. Many of the survivors and their family members cried when they heard their stories read out, and said afterwards that they felt very happy. At the end of the ceremony the 14 survivors spontaneously sat down in a circle and spoke with each other bout their feelings. The ceremony was transmitted by local TV networks and written about in the press. Session Four: follow-up The fourth session is a post-therapy testing to monitor and evaluate the outcome of the testimony therapy. One of the therapists meets with the survivor one to two months after the last intervention (public ceremony, community meeting, or delivery of the testimony), and the M&E questionnaire is filled-in. Development of a training course in testimonial therapy The participants in the training course were human rights activists and community workers from PVCHR. The workshop was divided into two main parts with an equal balance between theory and practice: 1. Five days of theoretical input, and 2. five days of practical work. The theoretical part contained both theory and role play exercises in which the participants worked with communication (“active listening”), the filling in of questionnaires, the interview process and the group process. During the second part of the workshop, the participants took testimonies from survivors and received supervision and feedback. Development of a monitoring and evaluation system The questions that constituted the M&E were derived from a standardized instrument, WHO-Five Wellbeing Index (WHO-5),37 from the application of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Activities & Participation categories,38 and from the utilization of items from

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Results Twelve human rights workers from PVCHR were trained by RCT through an interpreter. The ages of the trainees ranged from 24 to 38 years. Six of them were male, and four were female. Six of the participants had an MA degree (in social work, sociology, history or human rights); three had a BA (in ayurvedic medicine, sociology or Hindi); and three had an intermediate school education. Seven understood English, and three spoke it well. Two did not understand any English. The trainees collected 23 testimonies as part of the training in a supervised pro cess. The 23 torture survivors who gave their testimonies were known to PVCHR. They had all previously given legal testimonies for use in court cases against the perpetrators (mostly the police). They were selected out of a group of approximately 80 clients of PVCHR because they had shown evidence of psychological distress. Nineteen of the twenty-three were male, and two belonged to the upper castes, while 13 belonged to the “backward” castes and eight to the “scheduled” castes. Twenty-one of the twenty-three were Hindus, while 1 was a Muslim and another was a Buddhist. There were 17 primary victims, and six secondary victims. A manual for community workers and human rights defenders in Uttar Pradesh, India on how to use the testimonial method was developed in collaboration with PVCHR.40 The manual has been illustrated by a local artist and it has been distributed to a large number of human rights organisations in PVCHR's network and has also been posted on the RCT international website. The manual has been translated into Hindi and was published in Varanasi in January 2009. An English edition will be published in the RCT Praxis Paper Series. Results of monitoring and evaluation process The majority of the individuals who participated in this pilot study were primary victims of torture (17 out of 23, 74%).b Prior to participation in testimonial therapy, most victims were having difficulties functioning under stress. Many were able to work and support themselves with mild to moderate difficulty, but all had been doing better before they were tortured and had much more difficulty with income generating activities immediately after being tortured. Quite a few had residual pain (high pain analog), and a low sense of wellbeing (low WHO-5 score). Many of them had three or more residual psychological symptoms subsequent to the torture event. Many did not understand the issue of basic human rights, or could not appropriately answer questions about issues related to politics and human rights. Most of them had received very low levels of health care after they had been tortured, even though many of them had ex perienced fairly extensive physical injuries. All had seen an attorney, reflective of the fact that they were involved with the PVCHR. After testimonial therapy, almost all survivors demonstrated significant improvements in overall WHO-5 score (pre-therapy average 7.7; post therapy average 14.9). Four out of the five individual items improved by at least 40%. ICF items showed less significantchange, possibly because the M&E questionnaire had not been well understood by the community workers and/or survivors. This is a common problem while working with questionnaires not validated to a specific context or culture. The questions that are derived from work done by western researchers might not be applicable to non-western populations. In the effort to get a more reliable clinical assessment, the questionnaire may have been too schematic in its design, resulting in many invalid answers. Because it was not field tested prior to use in the pilot study, the pilot study was the field test for the finalized M&E questionnaire, and it revealed certain problems with the questionnaire. Nevertheless, certain trends were noted. “Handling stress and other psychological demands” (D-240) demonstrated a trend toward improvement after therapy (i.e., a shift from “complete” or “moderate”difficulty toward “mild” or “no” difficulty). There was no decrease in the number of psychological symptoms (asked as items on a checklist) after therapy, but more sensitive psychological measures were not employed. However, the results are not statistically significant.

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Spontaneously, all survivors expressed satisfaction with the process of therapy, especially the public delivery ceremony Discussion This pilot study suggests that testimonial therapy adapted to a local context provides benefit to survivors of torture, as reflected by improvements in a measure of wellbeing as well as by informal interviews with the therapists and survivors. It is admittedly a preliminary project with a small number (23), and without a control group. The monitoring and evaluation questionnaire demonstrated certain shortcomings and therefore did not provide high-ranking quantitative evidence for the effectiveness of our version of the testimonial method. However, feedback from the therapists and note takers who participated in the study supports our impression of the cross-cultural applicability and effectiveness of the testimonial model developed in the collaboration between PVCHR and RCT during this project. The integration of meditation, yoga and mindfulness in the testimonial therapy needs to be further developed. Usually the justice process in India takes more than ten years, and many plaintiffs who are survivors of torture become discouraged and give up. However, our interviews with the survivors who had gone through testimonial therapy suggested that they felt more confident in pursuing their claims. The therapy appeared to have created new dynamics in the justice process. In some cases the pain and the agony expressed in the testimonies helped convince the judiciary and human rights institutions of the injustice committed against the plaintiff. An investigator from an international human rights organisation who, coincidentally, interviewed some of the survivors that had completed testimonial therapy, observed that it was easier to elicit a coherent story from them and it seemed less painful for them to narrate the torture story. Twenty-two of the twenty-three survivors participating in the study have become involved in the human rights movement, supporting other survivors, participating in demonstrations, and telling their stories in community meetings. However, a more extensive study is needed to verify these results, and better measures of ICF A&P functions should be used with a preliminary field test after contextualization and more intensive training in the use of the M&E questionnaires. Testimonial therapy offers a brief format to access a population in need. It can be delivered by trained non-professional personnel, and can contribute to improved emotional well being as well as better documentation of human rights abuses. References 1.RCT policy: RCT challenges and targets in a changing world. Copenhagen: Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, 2004. 2.Olsen JS, Haagensen JO, Madsen AG et al, eds. From counseling to psychosocial development: an anthology. Copenhagen: Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, 2006. 3.Haagensen JO, Agger I, Wendt E. Second factfinding mission to India: New Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, 26 March-3 April 2007. Copenhagen: RCT Report, 2007. 4.Agger I, Ansari F, Suresh S et al. Justice as a healing factor: psycho-legal counseling for torture survivors in an Indian context. Peace and Conflict: J of Peace Psychology 2008;14:315-33. 5.Wilson JP. The lens of culture: theoretical and conceptual perspectives in the assessment of psychological trauma and PTSD. In: Wilson JP, Tang CS, eds. Cross-cultural assessment of psychological trauma and PTSD. New York: Springer, 2007:3-30. 6.Clancy MA, Hamber B. Trauma, peacebuilding, and development: an overview of key positions and critical questions. Draft discussion paper presented at the Trauma, Peacebuilding and Development Roundtable hosted by INCORE and the IDRC, New Delhi, 9-11 September 2008. 7.Sales PP, Beristain CM. Trauma, development and peacebuilding: a Latin American perspective.Draft

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discussion paper presented at the Trauma, Peacebuilding and Development Roundtable hosted by INCORE and the IDRC, New Delhi, 9-11 September 2008. 8.Shah SA. Ethnomedical best practices for international psychosocial efforts in disaster and trauma. In: Wilson JP, Tang CS, eds. Cross-cultural assessment of psychological trauma and PTSD. New York: Springer, 2007:51-64. 9.Foucault M. Technologies of the self. In: Martin LH, Gutman H, Hutton PH, eds. Technologies of self: a seminar with Michel Foucault. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988. 10.Sonpar S. Trauma, development and peacebuilding. Cross-regional challenges: South Asia. Draft discussion paper presented at the Trauma, Peacebuilding and Development Roundtable hosted by INCORE and the IDRC, New Delhi, 9-11 September 2008. 11.Schauer M, Neuner F, Elbert Th. Narrative exposure therapy: A short-term intervention for traumatic stress disorders after war, terror, or torture. Gottingen: Hogrefe Verlag, 2005. 12.Igreja V. The monkey's sworn oath. Cultures of engagement for reconciliation and healing in the aftermath of the civil war in Mozambique. Leiden: University of Leiden, doctoral thesis, 2007. 13.Hamber B. Narrowing the micro and macro: a psychological perspective on reparations in societies in transition. In: de Greiff P, ed. The handbook of reparations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006:560-88. 14.Lykes MB, Mersky M. Reparations and mental health: psychosocial interventions towards healing, human agency, and rethreading social realities. In: de Greiff P, ed. The handbook of reparations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006:589-622. 15.Lira E. Human rights and political reconciliation: political and ethical dilemmas. The case of Chile. Lecture at conference: Peace psychology and protectionof vulnerable groups – psychosocial risk reduction and recovery. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 30 January 2009. 16.Cienfuegos AJ, Monelli C [Elizabeth Lira, Fanny Pollarollo]. The testimony of political repression as a therapeutic instrument. Amer J Orthopsychiat 1983;53: 43-51. 17.Agger I, Jensen SB. Testimony as ritual and evidence in psychotherapy for political refugees. J Trauma Stress 1990;3:115-30. 18.Van der Veer G. Counseling and therapy with refugees: psychological problems of victims of war, torture and repression. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1992. 19.Agger I. The blue room. Trauma and testimony among refugee women – a psychosocial exploration. London: Zed Books, 1994. 20.Agger I, Jensen SB. Trauma and healing under state terrorism. London: Zed Books, 1996. 21.De la Rey C, Owens I. Perceptions of psychosocial healing and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Peace and conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 1998;4:257-70. 22.Weine SM, Kulenovic AD, Pavkovic I et al. Testimony psychotherapy in Bosnian refugees: a pilot study. Am J Psychiatry 1998;155:1720-6. 23.Neuner F, Schauer M, Roth WT et al. A narrative exposure treatment as intervention in a refugee camp: a case report. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy 2002;30:205-9. 24.Van Dijk JA, Schotrop MJA, Spinhoven P. Testimony therapy: treatment method for traumatized victims of organized violence. Am J Psychother 2003;57:361-73. 25.Luebben S. Testimony work with Bosnian refugees: living in legal limbo. Br J Guid Counc 2003;31:393-402. 26.Igreja V, Kleijn WC, Schreuder BJN et al. Testimony method to ameliorate post-traumatic stress symptoms: Community-based intervention study with Mozambican civil war survivors. Br J Psychiatry 2004;184:251-7.

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27.Lustig SL, Weine SM, Saxe GN et al. Testimonial psychotherapy for adolescent refugees: a case series. Transcult Psychiatry 2004;41:31-45. 28.Neuner F, Schauer M, Klaschik C et al. A comparison of narrative exposure therapy, supportive counseling, and psychoeducation for treating posttraumatic stress disorder in an African refugee settlement. J Consult Clin Psychol 2004;71:579-87. 29.Curling P. Using testimonies as a method of early intervention for injured survivors of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Iraq. Traumatology 2005;11:57-63. 30.Akinyela MK. Testimony of hope: African centered praxis for therapeutic ends. Journal of Systemic Therapies 2005;24:5-18. 31.Schauer M, Neuner F, Elbert Th. Narrative exposure therapy: a short-term intervention for traumatic stress disorders after war, terror, or torture. Gottingen: Hogrefe Verlag, 2005. 32.Somasundaram D. Collective trauma in northern Sri Lanka: a qualitative psychosocial-ecological study. Int J Ment Health Syst 2007;1:1-27. www.ijmhs.com/content/1/1/5. 33.Kabat-Zinn J. Full catastrophe living: using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York: Dell Publishing,1990. 34.Segal ZV, Williams JMG, Teasdale JD. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: a new approach to preventing relapse. New York and London: Guilford Press, 2002. 35Kabat-Zinn J. Wherever you go, there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion, 1994. 36.Siegel DJ. The mindful brain: reflection andatunement in the cultivation of well-being. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 37.WHO-Five Well-being Index (WHO-5).www.who-5.org. 38.International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2001. 39.Personal conversation between Dr. Sharlenna Wang and Dr. Peter Polatin. 40.Raghuvanshi L, Agger I. Giving voice: using testimony as a brief therapy intervention in psychosocial community work for survivors of torture and organised violence. Copenhagen: Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, Praxis Paper Series (in press). Hindi version published in Varanasi, 2009. Notes a. Part of the procedures in Session One and Session Two has been inspired by Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)31 and Igreja et al.26 b. As the sample size is relatively small, the results will be expressed in qualitative terms. Most of the results are not significant on a 5%-level due to the small sample size.

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Regional convention: Atrocities upon minorities, SC, backward class, women and human rights defenders. The section 330, 331of the IPC and the section 29 of the Indian Police Act prohibits torture. Torture is an heinous offence and a blot on humanity. The Supreme Court and human rights commission have taken steps for eradication of torture on many occasions in the past but in this developed and so called civilized society there has been no curb in the torture in the name of caste-creed, class, sex, religion as it was expected after putting in the efforts. The face of torture gets further cruel when those who are entrusted with the task of safeguarding the interest and honour of suppressed and feeble groups o people through the constitutional powers, themselves exploit the weaker section in the name of religion, sex, caste. PVCHR has been working for the past 15 years to safeguard the interests and rights of minorities, SC/ST, women and children, their constitutional rights in the constitutional democracy and the human rights defenders working for this section of people. The regional convention on June 26, 2011 is another step. With it an attempt was made to bring forth voice of women, children, minorities, tribal, scheduled castes, in the mainstream. Regional convention is a platform for suppressed/victims to come together and raise a voice, which could make an intervention against the torture and suppression in practice since ages. On June 26, 2011 on the occasion of International Day Against Torture the regional convention at Lucknow the state capital of Uttar Pradesh was participated by likeminded sensitive people and organisations from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, New Delhi, Bihar and other states. In the convention Dynamic Action Group (DAG), Voice of People (VOP), National Alliance on Testimonial Therapy (NATT) and Right to Food and Work, Uttar Pradesh, Detention Watch played significant role. The other associated organisations were: Saathi, tarun Chetna, Gramya, Roji Roti Sangathan, Dalit Mahasangh, Disha Sansthan, Bundelkhand Sewa Parishad, PUCL, Dr Ambedkar Social Welfare Society, Jagriti Sewa Sansthan, Sanchetna, Shikhar Prashikshan Sansthan, Dwaba Vikas Samiti, Human Rights Law Network, CERT, Jan Adhikar Manch, Jan Shikshan Kendra, Gramya Swaraj Samiti, Kanhar Bachao Andolan, Musahar Vikas Manch, Gramin, Yuva Evam Bal Vikas Parishad, Pani, Insaf Uttar Pradesh, Swaraj Utthan Samiti, Institute of Social Development Trust, Sangram, Bahujan Kalyan Parishad, Astitva, Rojai Manav Vikas Parishad, Aman-Uttar Pradesh, Sonebhadra Vikas Samiti, Uttar Pradesh, Gramin Evem Khatihar Majdoor Union, Uttar Pradesh, Shahri Gareeb Kamgar Sangarsh Morcha, Vigyan Foundation, Shahri Garib Morcha, Mahila Foundation, Dehat, Asian Brij-India, Adiwasi Mahila Vikas Samiti, OM India, Parmarth, Pahuj Vikas Manch, Apda Niwaran Manch, Savitri Bai Phoole Mahila Panchayat, Rojgar Haq Abhiyaan, Prerna Kala Manch. Honorable Anil Kumar Parashar joint registrar focal point Human Rights Defenders National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) presided over the programme. The chief guest in the event was Dr PL Punia chairperson of the National SC/ST Commission, New Delhi, while the special guest for the programme were Ram Kumar, coordinator-DAG and Renuka Srinivasan from European Union. The programme started with the song "Tu jinda hain to jindagi kee jeet par mein yakin kar." Bindu Singh welcomed the victims and the guests in the programme. Dr Lenin general secretary of PVCHR presented the theme and agenda of the programme and discussed threadbare the objective of the programme. He also explained the work and objectives of PVCHR. On the occassion Mr. Ram Kumar -an icon of dalit rights,Mr. Parvez Ahmad, Ms. Rachna and Ms. Shanti were honored with the Jan Mitra Award. The program hall was named in the memory of Sri Hari Lal as Late Hari Lal Nagar. Dr. P.L Punia, Chairperson National Scheduled Caste Commission,“ today also the dalit, minority and poor people are implicated in the fake case under various section of IPC.He especially thanks to Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi & Ram Kumar for inviting him in this auspicious occasion to speak and he also appreciated the work of the Dynamic Action Group (DAG) and Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) During the event Ram Kumar, Dr. P.L. Punia, A.K. Parashar, and Renuka expressed their views. The campaign "There are rights even during an arrest" detention Watch: Giraftari Par Gasth was kicked off by Anil Parashar and Renuka Srinivasan. The victims present in the regional convention shared their experiences. Md. Inam is a resident of Meerut city where on the intervening night of April 24-25, 2011 his one and half year old daughter Akifah, wife Shaista, son Aman (5), a relative Farzana, Shahid, Asika (12 days), Saba and

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Shahida got severe burn injuries when hooligans set ablaze their house. The violent mob ransacked their house, set their car and bike on fire and took away valuables. The local Meerut administration didn't took note of their complaint neither the state administration. Even complaint at national level could not bring relief to the victims. Officials of the PVCHR raised their voice again after which the DIG handed over a probe to the SSP Meerut. The Governor too directed principal secretary (home) for action in to the case. Md Inam came with his family to participate in the regional convention. He says, "When I came here people asked me whether I have come from Meerut. I felt relief after many weeks as people in the convention know the suffering of each other. The riots had given me immense pain by people from the Hindu community. I feel relieved when I see people such as Dr Lenin and organisations such as PVCHR who stand by the victims and share their plight. Having came here I feel I should also stand with other the victims and fight for their cause. If other victims need me I shall always be ready to work for them" Jamshed has come from Aligarh Uttar Pradesh. His father Abdul Aziz (59) was picked up by cops on the night of May 8, 2011 and was tortured the whole night. The torture was such that he died in police custody. The post mortem report said death was caused due to pressure on the neck. The deceased Abdul was fighting against land mafia Rashid and builder Samarth Mittal. Himself, Abdul was a class four employee with the Aligarh Muslim University. The vicious nexus of the land mafia and builder with the police took life of Abdul Aziz. However the struggle of Abdul is now being taken ahead by his son Jamshed, who is fighting mafia as well as the police. Jamshed says, "All my close relatives and friends have left me and my family under threat from the mafia and police but the PVCHR-Aligarh team is giving me all support in my fight. Having seen victims like me and the success they have achieved after struggle I feel a boost and the self confidence level in me has gone up. I believe those who took life of my father will get punished." "Our belief upon the constitution and brotherhood was became weak after the communal riots in Sahaspur (Moradabad) took place on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2011 and the local administration took one side action against the Muslims. Even when the team of PVCHR came to the place and we saw 90% Hindu we were afraid but when the Governor took notice of the incident and ordered for a probe along with the DGP our confidence started coming back," Abdul Kuddus says and added that having come to the regional convention it seems torture is not being done only in the name of religion but at all levels. Anil Parashar spoke to the victims and assured that action will be taken. Hindustan Times, Pioneer and representatives of other news papers too spoke to the victims. The complaint of the victims was handed over to Anil Parashar and Dr PL Punia. The convention declaration was read by Ashish Awasthi while vote of thanks was given by Shruti Nagvanshi the managing trustee of PVCHR/Jan Mitra Nyas.

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Lucknow Declaration by Regional Convention on th 26 June, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture at Ravindralaya, Lucknow, India

We, the Regional Convention at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in India, desiring that State embodies the aspirations of the People, aver the need for greater efforts for promoting the sovereignty of the People through democratic values and structures based on nonviolence and justice. W e uphold social democracy and economic equity through sustainable development. We advocate optimum and equitable utilization of resources for the benefit of the people, providing them
adequate forum to influence and participate in decisions on natural resource use and management.

We reaffirm the inalienable right of the People of India to basic needs including food, clothing, shelter,
health, education, social security and productive work as dignity of labour. Democracy: We cherish and uphold the Rule of Law, sovereignty of the people, a system of governance that ensures devolution of power, People's right to self rule and control over natural resources. We advocate full independence of the judiciary, adhering to internationally recognized values and principles. People beneficial lawmaking process has to be participatory, representative and fully transparent. We believe that People have sovereign rights to take decisions on matters concerning their lives, and urge periodic review of all international commitments and national laws to enable people to exercise sovereignty. We maintain that governance improvements have to begin and end with the People and that their empowerment can result only when power is devolved through effective structural changes in character of Shraman Culture[i] based on justice, nonviolence and rule of law. We also maintain that existing social, economic and political imbalances hinder nation-building and that the legislature, executive and the judiciary must be fully accountable to the People. We uphold the information right to people through participation in decision-making and governance. To organize a force in against and oppose the attempt of the Saffron brigade to saffronise the rainbow culture of the country. We strongly support the pluralism of our Nation and are determined not to allow anyone to destroy the pluralistic atmosphere of the country. Fight State and non-state actors' suppression on the right to expression with democratic mindset to put them right. Equal, Secular, Free Compulsory elementary education is the responsibility of the government and the gimmicks with education should be stopped. Struggle to enact the anti- torture legislation and to ratify the UN convention against torture by India. Discrimination: . We affirm that discrimination based on gender, caste, creed, religion, ethnicity and disability is a major obstacle to meaningful participation of People in political, economic and social field. We call for patriarchy-free secular India, and support the individual's right to self-determination and

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development and uphold their duty to national integration. Demand laws and their enforcement in regard to bonded labour, child labor, sexual harassment, discrimination based on caste & gender and attack on minority. We resolve for an immediate and effective end to untouchability, the worst form of discrimination and demand interventions as follows to take in politics: Programs for the uplift of the Dalits and mechanisms to empower them for defend their rights. Reservations (affirmative action), in public as well as the private sector, to ensure participation of all at all levels starting from primary schooling and across all spheres of life. Reservations to enable at least 33% representation of women in all spheres of private and public life. Discrimination to be considered a real life problem. Review of existing laws and modifications to incorporate the implementation of international instruments. To implement the recommendation of report of Sachchar' Committee[ii] and Justice Rangnath Mishra[iii] on Muslim minority. Food sovereignty: We believe the right to food is a fundamental right and must be assured through guarantees to equality in work, justice, uniform minimum wages and land reform. We advocate that all aid and trade agreements and legal instruments be subject to public scrutiny to ensure their transparency and accountability. Demand National law for landless agricultural laborers and domestic workers as skill workers. Ensure purchase of weavers and farmers produce while the 'Public distribution System' prices should be brought at half of present process. Provide homes to the homeless and provide shelter to the homeless in urban [ii] http://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/sachar href="http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=js&name=main,tlist&ver=WN4SfweS2CA.en.&am=! 0sjC5tn1uey7Qv3hQuMIhfROCzfbg6U_7o5jmZdlhJQcUqIotZUmsouwMXN&fri#_ednref1" name="_edn1"> [i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shramana#.C5.9Arama.E1.B9.87a_in_contemporary_Western_culture

[iii] http://ncm.nic.in/pdf/compilation.pdf

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Justice, Liberty, Equality: Dalits in Independent India
By Lenin Raghuvanshi Price INR 295; £ 9.95; $ 14.95 In order to get an e-copy in PDF version, please write to [email protected]

(For India Only)

Cover image ISBN: 978 93 810430 4 2; Size: 215 mm X 140 mm; Pages: 144; PB; Year: 2012 It has been 64 years since India — the largest democracy in the world — attained independence. Yet, justice for all is still a far cry in the country where the caste system continues to determine political, social, and economic lives of a billion people. Money and muscle power, together with political stringpulling, often result in denial of justice for the hapless ‘have-nots’, especially the Dalits (untouchables), ravaged by poverty and illiteracy. Atrocities and extortion on the Dalits, fake encounters, refusal to register complaints against the well-heeled, arbitrary arrests on false charges, illegal detention and custodial deaths are in commonplace. In the absence of a modern social audit system, the keepers of the law often unleash a ‘police raj’, especially in rural India. A crippled National Human Rights Commission and its state subsidiaries with limited recommendatory control and a dysfunctional Legal Aid System depict a gloomy picture indeed. In a unique way, Lenin Raghuvanshi, a veteran human rights activist, citing the case-studies primarily drawn from Uttar Pradesh, registering the highest rate of crime against the Dalits, chronicles how with implicit support from the administration, the Dalits are tortured and subjected to humiliation by the higher castes, like being garlanded with shoes, their faces blackened or being forced to ride an ass; yet, in most of the cases, violence,

deaths or custodial tortures that are committed against the marginalised and deprived castes go unrecorded. Ironically, even after having shed the colonial yoke, its legacy continues in the administrative framework of our independent India marked with widespread corruption which has rendered many government-sponsored schemes in rural India a failure. Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi, an Ayurvedic physician by profession, has been working for the rights of bonded and child labourers and other marginalised people in Varanasi and eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, India. In 1996, he and his wife Shruti founded People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Right (PVCHR), a community-based organisation, to break the closed, feudal hierarchies of conservative slums and villages by building up local institutions and supporting them with a high profile and active human rights network. Already an Ashoka Fellow, Lenin was the President, United Nations’ Youth Organisation (UNYO), Uttar Pradesh (India) Chapter. Lenin’s work has been recognised with Gwangju Human Rights Award for 2007. In 2009, in collaboration with the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victim (RCT), Denmark, Lenin developed Testimonial Models for torture survivors in India. City Council of Weimar in Germany selected Lenin Raghuvanshi for the International Human Rights Award for 2010. General Editor: Bandana Purkayastha, Ph D, Head & Professor, Sociology and Professor, Asian American Studies, University of Connecticut, USA