DISCUSSION-MEETING ON COMMUNAL CRIMES BILL
Date & day: 14 August 2008, Thursday Time: 4 p.m. – 6.30 p.m.
Venue: ALTERNATIVE LAW FORUM, 122/4 Infantry Road, Opp. Infantry Wedding House, Near Bus Stop – Shivajinagar Depot, Bangalore 560001
Phone: (080) 22865757 / 22868757 email: contact@altlawforum.org
The demand for a law on communal violence emerged from a brutal record of recurring violence in our country, the increasing occurrence of gender-based crimes in communal attacks, and complete impunity for mass crimes. The reasons are many - lack of political will to prosecute perpetrators, state complicity in communal crimes, lack of impartial investigation and a lack of sensitivity to victims' experiences. But there is also, crucially, the glaring inadequacy of the law. Today, despite huge strides in international jurisprudence, India continues to lack an adequate domestic legal framework, which would allow survivors of communal violence to seek and to secure justice.
The UPA government, in its National Common Minimum Programme issued in May 2004, promised to enact a comprehensive legislation on communal violence. While the country does need a strong law on communal violence, the Bill - named Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill 2005 - drafted by the government, is a dangerous piece of legislation that would strengthen the shield of protection enjoyed by the State, its political leaders and its officials for their acts of omission and commission in these crimes. After intensive pressure on the present government through delegations, public meetings, signature campaigns and a successful media campaign that reflected the civil society's lack support for the Bill, the government shelved its version of the Bill and asked for a new draft from members of the civil society who have been active on the issue. A new draft was submitted to the government on 24 January 2008, incorporating important international standards, new concepts and procedures that are absent in Indian law, in order to make accountability of perpetrators of communal violence a reality. The UPA government is determined to pass a law on the issue during its tenure, and hence the Bill is likely to be introduced in the Parliament shortly.
The meeting is intended to
*Disseminate information on the present status of this law and the contents of the new draft;
*Build consensus and support among activists, women's groups and other human rights groups to extend solidarity to the issue; and
*Discuss and share strategies for advocacy initiatives in future.
This discussion-meeting is co-organized by Alternative Law Forum (ALF), South India Cell for Human Rights Education & Monitoring (SICHREM), PUCL–Karnataka and ICC-India campaign: an eight year old campaign addressing issues of impunity for mass crimes in India using standards set by the International Criminal Court. The discussion will be initiated by Ms. Saumya Uma, Advocate and Coordinator of ICC-India campaign, who has been closely involved with the advocacy initiatives on the Bill for the past four years.
We look forward to your participation at this discussion. Please note that the meeting will commence at 4 p.m. sharp. Please email a line of confirmation of your participation to arvind@altlawforum.org.
In solidarity,
Arvind Narrain (Alternative Law Forum), Ramdas Rao (PUCL – Karnataka), R. Manohar (SICHREM) &
Saumya Uma (ICC-India campaign)
Date & day: 14 August 2008, Thursday Time: 4 p.m. – 6.30 p.m.
Venue: ALTERNATIVE LAW FORUM, 122/4 Infantry Road, Opp. Infantry Wedding House, Near Bus Stop – Shivajinagar Depot, Bangalore 560001
Phone: (080) 22865757 / 22868757 email: contact@altlawforum.org
|
