Case IND 030407.CC
CHILD CONCERN
Arbitrary Execution of Children / Impunity
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in India.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the killing of two children of 13 year-old and 15 year-old on Sunday 1 April 2007 at 10.30 p.m., in the area of Raninagar, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India, 4 km away from the border with Bangladesh.
According to the information received, the two boys Asif Iqbal (13 year-old) and Jalil (15 year-old) were allegedly in the process of smuggling two cows across the border between India and Bangladesh, when the Commandant of the Border Security Force (BSF) belonging to the 140 Battalion posted at Kaharpara border out post saw them and ordered to catch them. Consequently, three or four subalterns caught them and fired them from point blank range, despite the young age of the two boys and the fact that they were unarmed. Two eyewitnesses were reportedly present during the incident.
The bodies of the two boys were allegedly brought and left for hours in front of the Raninagar police station, but no medical examination was undertaken to determine their condition and to confirm their death and the cause of it.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT is gravely concerned about this event and wishes to recall that India is party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and bound to the obligation therein to “[…] recognise that every child has the inherent right to life […][and to] ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child” (article 6). Furthermore, the OMCT wishes to reiterate the concern expressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its last Concluding Observations in 2004 as regards to the “numerous reports of alleged instances of killings of children by law enforcement officials” in India (CRC/C/15/Add.228, 26 February 2004, paragraph 42).
Requested action
Please write to the authorities of India urging them to:
i. order an impartial and exhaustive inquiry into the killing of these two children, identify all those responsible, bring them before a competent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
ii. ensure that, in case the allegations are proved, adequate compensation would be provided to the families of the victims;
guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards and particularly guarantee the safety and the physical and psychological integrity of all children throughout the country and adopt immediate measures to put an end to extra-judicial killings of children and youths;
Provide appropriate protection to the witnesses of these alleged arbitrary executions.
Addresses
- Raninagar Police Station, Tel: +91-3481-238038. Mr. Sunayan Basu, Officer-in-Charge of Raninagar Police Station, Tel: + 91 9732745592
- Justice Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110 001, Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: chairnhrc@nic.in
- Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen, Chairman, West Bengal Human Rights Commission, Bhabani Bhaban, Alipur, Kolkata - 27. Phone +91-33-24797727, 24791629, Fax - 24799633, Email: wbhrc@cal3.vsnl.net.in
- Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister’s Office, Room number 152, South Block, New Delhi, Fax: + 91 11 2301 6857
- Shri Shivraj Patil, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 104-107 North Block, New Delhi 110 001 India, Fax: +91 11 2309 2979.
- Justice K. G. Balkrishnan, Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, Email:supremecourt@nic.in
- H.E. Mr. Swashpawan Singh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Geneva), Rue du Valais 9 (6eme etage), 1202 Geneva, Tel: +41 22 906 86 86, Fax: +41 22 906 86 96, Email: mission.india@ties.itu.int
- Mr. Dipak Chatterjee, Ambassador, Embassy of India in Brussels, 217 Chaussee de Vleurgat, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 (0)2 6489638 or +32 (0)2 6451869
Please also write to the embassy of India in your respective country.
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Geneva, 3rd April 2007
