Recognise enforced disappearance as a distinct crime: activists, formerly incarcerated persons in South Asia at Sapan virtual session – Times of India

BATHINDA: South Asia Peace Action Network (SAPAN) organised a virtual session on the rights of the incarcerated in South Asia, particularly in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Held on the eve of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the meeting underlined the need to recognise enforced disappearance as a distinct crime. The recent commemoration of World Humanitarian Day on August 19 also pegged the need for compassion and empathy for vulnerable communities. It was felt the tragic situation in Afghanistan further highlights the need for solidarity in the region and to insist on upholding human rights principles.

Initiated in March 2021, Sapan is a coalition of organisations and individuals who advocate peace, justice, democracy and human rights in South Asia, working towards a visa-free South Asia.

“If the government becomes the monster that it can be, then the belly of the beast contains the people in jail”, said Nepali journalist Kanak Mani Dixit.

He was among the activists, legal experts and formerly incarcerated persons from across the region who came together online to discuss the issue.

The event featured gut-wrenching testimonies in various languages from those who have experienced incarceration in the region, including those who were picked up but not produced before the courts for months or years. Those who fill the prisons tend to be the poorest, as many pointed out.

The researched materials presented at the session included an overview of prison conditions and best practices around the region. Veteran journalist Bharat Bhushan, who anchored the roundtable with human-rights advocates, suggested that Sapan to publish a paper to take the issue forward.

Speakers in the testimonies’ section hosted by Bangladeshi journalist Zyma Islam included known photographer and educator Shahidul Alam in Bangladesh and Hamid Ansari, the civil engineer in Mumbai who was incarcerated in Pakistan for six years and has written a book with journalist Geeta Mohan about his harrowing experiences.

Shahidul Alam shared photographs of artwork by inmates at Keraniganj jail — an evocative expression of solidarity by and with the incarcerated persons at Keraniganj jail where he was imprisoned.

Activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal in India, imprisoned for over a year on stringent charges that are still under dispute, spoke about their time in jail and the inhumane treatment of foreigners and the children of incarcerated women. During this time, Narwal lost her father to Covid-19. Their testimonies highlighted the particular situation of incarcerated women, an aspect further highlighted by advocate Suresh V of PUCL.

Karachi President of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Majeed Motani who was incarcerated in Indian prisons for some months in 1986 and his daughter Fatima Majeed, vice president of PFF, highlighted the issues faced by the families of arrested fishermen and appealed to the governments to stop maritime arrests of innocent fishermen.

“If someone illegally crosses the border and is engaged in wrongdoing, by all means take action”, said Fatima.

Audio recording of Asif Iqbal Milton, who spent nearly 12 years in Indian jails, was played. He had been a college student when he was arrested across the border in a case of mistaken identity, wrongfully incarcerated in place of Indian national Milton Barman.

He was released from prison after a laborious legal campaign by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), working in collaboration with Indian activists.

A team from Anhad Films and PUCL Rajasthan travelled to the border area to obtain video testimonies. Some had returned from prison in Pakistan, while others are still waiting for loved ones who never returned.

“The families are devastated, most have died but no closure yet from either government”, said Kavita Srivastava of PUCL.

“Everything that is criminalised is not harmful and everything that harms is not criminalised”, said leading human-rights lawyer Ambika Satkunanathan in Sri Lanka, speaking at the experts’ session.

Emphasising the need to rethink the idea of criminal justice reform, Satkunanathan referred to American lawyer Alec Karakatsanis’ work on the “punishment bureaucracy”, raising the issue of who defines a crime and the dehumanising and demonising nature of the current system that states use to justify violence. She suggested a reimagining — a transformation, and not just of prison and existing criminal justice systems where structural violence is inherent.

Renowned human-rights advocate Vrinda Grover observed that prison populations comprise largely those who are under-trial, a major factor in the overcrowding of jails and detention centres. She also talked about the “vindictiveness” of the system, highlighting the case of Father Stan Swamy — the octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights’ activist who was repeatedly denied bail despite his ailing health, and passed away after contracting Covid in jail — as an instance of custodial death.

Jatin Desai, former secretary general Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) shared the story of a Pakistani prisoner Imran Kamran, who died in India having been incarcerated there since 2009. Despite having thrice been granted consular access since 2014, Pakistani officials had not been able to verify his identity. Verification of nationality is a prerequisite for the repatriation of the living and the dead.

Former Indian Navy chief Laxminarayan Ramdas commented on the undefined maritime boundary at Sir Creek, the logic of continuing to arrest fisherfolk and the need to find a more cooperative solution, like joint fishing licenses.

Reiterating that both India and Pakistan have agreed to respect the Maritime Boundary Agreement, Admiral Ramdas asserted that the matter is not really in the hands of either the Coast Guard or the navies alone. “Fundamentally, it is a lack of political will on both sides that has to be addressed”.

Aekta Kapoor in Delhi and Mohammad Waqas in Lahore, presented researched materials acknowledging vision about regionalism and a visa-free South Asia.

Researcher Priyanka Singh in Delhi shared an overview of prison conditions in South Asia and youth activist Sarita Bartaula from Nepal presented a brief outline of best practices in countries around the region.

Ten-point Resolution was presented by advocate Noman Quadri in Karachi which was endorsed by all.