IX. LACK OF GOVERNMENT COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS

Following the violence in February-March 2002, the government of Gujarat passed a series of orders designed to compensate victims for injury, loss of life, property, and livelihood. In many cases the compensation amounts were lower than precedents set by the state following the earthquake in Gujarat in January 2001. Most people interviewed by Human Rights Watch received negligible amounts to compensate for the destruction of their homes, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand rupees. Unable to prove that their loved ones were dead, and not simply "missing," many found it difficult to get compensated. No one interviewed by Human Rights Watch was compensated for injury or loss of employment or livelihood.

The victims of the communal violence in Gujarat in February-March 2002 have been denied the right to a remedy and reparation, a right enshrined in various international human rights instruments.²¹¹ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, widely viewed as customary international law, provides that everyone has "the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted" by the constitution or by law.²¹² The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party, requires in article 2 that states "ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity." Persons shall have their right to a remedy determined by "competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities," or other competent state authority. The state must "ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies when granted."²¹³ The U.N. Human Rights Committee, in its draft General Comment on article 2, states that without reparations to individuals whose rights have been violated, a state's "obligation to provide an effective remedy, which is central to the efficacy of Article 2, ...is not discharged. ... [T]he Covenant generally requires appropriate monetary compensation."²¹⁴

Compensation Guidelines
Soon after the Godhra train attack on Hindus, the Gujarat state government announced that the families of Godhra victims would receive Rs. 200,000 (U.S.$4,255) as "compensation." Their subsequent decision to issue only Rs. 100,000 (U.S.$2,128) to Muslims whose family members were killed in the revenge attacks following Godhra came under sharp criticism from numerous NGOs and Indian officials outside the Gujarat state government, including two former prime ministers.²¹⁵ Compensation for the families of Godhra victims was later reduced to parity with compensation for Muslim victims, but only after VHP activists stated they would be satisfied if families of Godhra victims received the same amount.²¹⁶

On April 4, 2002 Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee visited Gujarat and announced a federal relief package that included the following provisions: Families that lost loved ones would receive Rs. 150,000 (U.S.$3,191) for each member killed. Rs. 50,000 (U.S.$1,064) would come from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund while Rs. 100,000 (U.S.$ 2,128) would come from the state.²¹⁷ Those who suffered permanent disability would be given Rs. 50,000.²¹⁸ As a result of the Prime Minister's relief announcement, the Gujarat government decided to reduce its compensation amount for families of deceased victims from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 50,000. As described below, many Muslim victims who lost family members have been unable to prove their loss and have received no compensation under these guidelines.

Vajpayee also announced that those whose homes were completely damaged in rural areas would receive Rs. 50,000 (U.S.$1,064) while those whose homes had suffered partial damage would receive Rs. 15,000 (U.S.$319). Vajpayee added that victims would not be resettled in a segregated manner. The federal government would also bear all the expenditure for the reconstruction of damaged homes. Those who lost shops and commercial establishments would also be compensated.²¹⁹

On May 1, 2002, Vajpayee announced an additional Rs. 150 crore (U.S.$31,914,894) rehabilitation package for the victims of the violence, which included assistance for the reconstruction and repair of damaged homes and shops, and aid for the self-employed to restart their businesses and industrial activities. The package was also to provide for the revival of educational, medical, and other institutions in violence-affected areas, and for programs to support widows. The prime minister added that the package would be supplemented by loans and assistance from banks and financial institutions on relaxed terms similar to those enacted following the earthquake in Gujarat in January 2001.²²⁰ The Gujarat government has yet to account for how it is spending the Prime Minister's additional Rs. 150 crore relief fund.²²¹

A series of government orders following these announcements ultimately resulted in the following breakdown of compensation amounts. ²²²

Compensation for death	Rs.1 lakh [100,000] (U.S.$2,128)
Compensation for injury	Rs.1,000 - Rs.50,000 (U.S.$21 - $1,064)
Loss of household items (ghar vakhari)	Rs.1,250 (U.S.$27)
Cash for affected people not in camps	Rs.15 per day (U.S.$0.32)
Ex-gratia payment223	Rs.5,000 - Rs.10,000 (U.S.$106 - $213)
House reconstruction support	Maximum of Rs.50,000 (U.S.$1,064)
Compensation for loss of employment/livelihood	4% of annual income

Compensation for Damages to Homes
The Rs. 50,000 (U.S.$1,064) compensation for damaged homes, already low compared to the Rs. 90,000 (U.S.$1,915) amount commissioned to rebuild homes post-earthquake,²²⁴ was interpreted by the state as a ceiling and not as a fixed amount.²²⁵ As a result, even in cases where homes were completely destroyed the maximum amount of Rs. 50,000 was not awarded.²²⁶ Compensation was calculated on the basis of a survey conducted by the local revenue officer and an engineer. Though many family members in Ahmedabad were present for the survey of their homes, they were unaware of how the damage was calculated. By contrast, in Sabarkantha district, many were absent during the damage assessment survey. They only realized that a survey had taken place once they received a check.²²⁷ The Citizens' Initiative-sponsored report, Rebuilding from the Ruins, claims that surveys were also not standardized.²²⁸ When India's Election Commission visited Gujarat in August 2002, it found what it termed to be the "general apathy of the administration in handling this most sensitive issue of restoration of the places of habitation of the affected persons" and cited cases where the relief sanctioned for a completely destroyed house was as little as Rs. 200 (U.S.$4).²²⁹ The Citizens' Initiative report adds that, "unfair and unjust compensation has added to the sense of betrayal and humiliation that people feel towards the State."²³⁰

On April 25, 2003, fifty-eight-year-old Babulal Abdul Hamid received a check for Rs. 2,000 (U.S.$43) for damages to his three homes and his kerosene shop. He had estimated his loss at Rs. 800,000 (U.S.$17,021). Within minutes of receiving his check, Hamid suffered a fatal heart attack.²³¹ Thirty-year-old Mira Banu told Human Rights Watch that her family did not receive anything in the way of support from the government. Mira stayed in Shah-e-Alam camp for two months with her children and her husband. While in the camps, her husband became ill and was admitted to the hospital where he died four days later. After her husband's death, Mira moved into her mother's home. "Our house and everything in it was burned down," she said. "We came to the camp with only the clothes on our backs. We got nothing from the government even though we filled out so many forms. We just got two towels and some clothes from some relief workers. We got no money though."²³²

S. Banu, formerly of Naroda Patia, told Human Rights Watch that she was afraid to return to her home because one of the assailants she identified in an FIR continues to reside in her neighborhood. Banu, a mother of three young children, witnessed her husband's murder at the hands of the police.²³³ Banu and her children remained at Shah-e-Alam camp until it was closed in October 2002. Her children got very sick in the camps. They then moved into a small home bought for them by a Muslim charity in a Muslim-dominated neighborhood. During Human Rights Watch's interview with Banu, two repairmen arrived at her home to try and repair a metal armoire that was broken into during the violence. Following a visit by President Abdul Kalam, Banu received a check for Rs. 90,000 (U.S.$1,915) to compensate for her husband's death. She did not receive anything for the damages to her home. She told Human Rights Watch: "Even though the government did a survey we got nothing. They broke down the door and looted everything. I do not want to go back to Naroda Patia. If something happened again, how would I protect my kids? So I came here [location undisclosed]."²³⁴

Banu showed Human Rights Watch a copy of the affidavit listing the damages to her home, as well as a copy of the FIR naming the people she had accused. Banu received some financial support and a sewing machine from the NGO SEWA, the self-employed women's association.

One of the managers of the Shah-e-Alam camp summarized the experience of camp residents in getting compensation:

People in the camp were given nominal compensation amounts-Rs. 2,000 [U.S.$43], Rs. 1,000 [U.S.$21], Rs. 5,000 [U.S.$106]-but they couldn't do any repairs with that litte money. They were given Rs. 2,500 [U.S.$53] for damage to household items. One person whose house sustained significant damage was only given Rs. 75 [U.S.$1.6]. Two or three families got Rs. 25,000 [U.S.$532]. Many houses were destroyed by a chemical so they were not repairable. We raised money for rehabilitation from friends and by putting ads in the papers.²³⁵

The NGO Janvikas²³⁶ conducted a survey on the implementation of compensation guidelines. Gagan Sethi, the head of Janvikas, told Human Rights Watch that while the government had technically complied with its own guidelines, the guidelines themselves were abysmally sub-standard. He stated, "It has been the worst since setting such high standards of rehabilitation post-earthquake. In comparison this is shameful... Everything was done by the rule and not a with a reparation or empathy mindset." He added the following as an example:

There has been very little structural damage to the homes even though all the contents have blown up. The compensation package is based on structural damage so nothing is payable when there is no structural damage. The walls could be charred but if the home is structurally standing then you get nothing. Above and beyond that there is corruption and bribery. As a result even if someone has suffered a loss of Rs. 100,000 [U.S.$2,128], he may receive only Rs. 1,500 [U.S.$32]. It's like losing your pants and being compensated with underwear, and even the underwear has no elastic in it."²³⁷

For victims who were residing in rental homes, relief could only be obtained upon receipt of a certificate from the landlord that he or she had no objection to the tenant claiming compensation for the destroyed property. Such certificates, however, have not been forthcoming from landlords.²³⁸ There have also been significant delays in the processing of loans and advances to help victims resume their livelihood.²³⁹

Compensation for the Death of Family Members
Survivors of the Naroda Patia and Gulbarg Society massacres in Ahmedabad spoke to Human Rights Watch about their difficulties in claiming compensation for the deaths of their loved ones. Twenty-five-year-old Feroz Gulzar, a former resident of Gulbarg Society, lost five family members in the violence-his parents, his sister, and his two brothers. He now resides with his uncle in the Muslim-dominated Juhapura neighborhood. Gulzar told Human Rights Watch that he only received Rs. 10,000 (U.S.$213) from the government for damages to their home and added, "they gave me compensation money for my parents' deaths, but not for my sister, or my two brothers. They said they don't give money to a brother for his brother or sister's death. We also got Rs. 3,000 [U.S.$64] for damages to our shop but we don't go back there. We work at home. We have no hopes of going back and I am all alone. I was about to get married before all this happened."²⁴⁰

Afsara, a Muslim woman in her forties, is a former resident of Naroda Patia. Her eldest daughter, Noor Jahan, her father-in-law, and her brother's wife and his two children were all killed on February 28, 2002. Afsara's two remaining children, her son Sharukh, 9, and daughter Shah Jahan, 18, survived but suffered serious burn injuries.²⁴¹ They were immediately admitted to Civil Hospital where they remained for two months. The family then moved to Shah-e-Alam camp for three months and finally into a home in a Muslim neighborhood allotted to them by a Muslim charity. Afsara told Human Rights Watch that she received very little from the government:

We were supposed to receive Rs. 90,000 [U.S.$1,915] for each of the people killed in our family but we have received only one check so far, for my daughter Noor Jahan. The rest we are still waiting for. We don't understand what's happening with the money. Nobody is telling us whether it will come, or when it will come. We have no news about that, when we go to the collector's [a local official] office we just get pushed aside.... We only got Rs. 3,000 [U.S.$64] for household damages. They destroyed the whole house. They burned it. Nothing is left, and for that we got Rs. 3,000. There's nothing left.²⁴²

R. Bibi, whose thirty-six-year-old son was killed by the police in Naroda Patia, has not received full compensation because she could not prove that her son was dead. She told Human Rights Watch about her son's death and the bureaucratic obstacles she now faced:

A lot happened that day. The crowds came. Everything was destroyed. We didn't know what was going on, that something was going to happen. We were just doing our work. Suddenly there was an attack. People were grabbing their small children and trying to run. They were raping women. Then they were killing them, burning them and cutting them up into pieces. The police killed my son. They shot him. The police released tear gas on us, they attacked us, and shot at us. My son was about thirty-six years old. He was shot and killed right there. His two brothers-in-law, meaning his wife's two brothers, were also killed. Other people were shot as well. Some people died, some people were saved.²⁴³

When asked about whether she had received any compensation for her son's death R. Bibi added:

The government tells us to bring proof when we go to ask for money.... One month we got a check, and then after that they keep saying, "Bring proof, bring proof. Bring your birth certificate, bring your husband's death certificate." Where am I going to go and get these certificates when they destroyed our homes and they burned everything? Four months ago we got a check but for the last four months we haven't gotten anything.... Now how am I supposed to go in the middle of all these riots and prove that my son was killed, how am I supposed to find his body? We haven't gotten any more checks for his death; he has young children who need to be supported. They want proof, where am I going to go to get proof? My life was taken away when they shot my son. Everything has been taken away and now they want evidence, where will I get the body from? I wasn't even able to see his body. They're saying, "How was he killed? Bring the evidence. You're son must have participated in the riots. He must be off rioting somewhere." The Hindus are burning our homes and attacking our mosque and destroying our things. Now is my son going to help them in looting my home and setting fire to our community? Did we go into their neighborhoods and destroy their homes and set fire to their things and attack their temple? It was our home that was broken, it was our house that was burned, it was our lives that were taken, and it was our mosque that was destroyed. And they're asking us for evidence. I didn't even see his body.²⁴⁴

Bibi stated that the government awarded her Rs. 1,250 (U.S.$27) for household damages then added, "Is there ever just Rs. 1,250 worth of items in anyone's home? They stole everything, they burnt everything, they killed people, and that's all we got. Now my daughters go and do housework in other people's homes. They wash dishes, they sweep and clean." Bibi is now surviving on charity and food rations from the government. She explained that the government gives four kilograms of flour and one kilogram of rice per person per month on a ration card. "Some people got ration cards and others didn't. We had to fight so hard for it. We also have to travel far to collect our rations and spend Rs. 15, 20 and sometimes 30 [U.S.$0.32, $0.43, and $0.64] to travel to get the food. If you go twice then maybe one out of two times you'll be able to get food. So that's Rs. 50 [U.S.$1] or Rs. 60 [U.S.$1.3] just coming and going.... We find some way to fill our stomachs. Somehow we have to survive.... If you ask me, they've really abused and tortured Muslims here. It's too much. Even now we have no relief. We have no rest. For those who've saved us, many thanks to them. May God take care of them."²⁴⁵

Part of the compensation for families who have lost loved ones has come in the form of bonds. Typically the break down is as follows: Rs. 40,000 (U.S.$851) in cash and Rs. 60,000 (U.S.$1,277) in bonds. While the families are told that they have Rs. 60,000 in bonds, they have not, in some cases, been given any documents to prove their ownership.²⁴⁶

²¹¹ See, e.g., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 8; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 2; and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, article 14 (containing an express provision for an "enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.") Other non-binding international instruments also provide guidance on reparations. Principle 29 (2) of the U.N. Guiding Principles on International Displacement stipulates that internally displaced persons should be provided with compensation or other just reparation for property lost during the course of displacement. Further guidance on compensation can be found in the "Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law," drafted by M. Cherif Bassiouni, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation for victims of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is available online at http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/42bd1bd544910ae3802568a20060e21f?Opendocument (retrieved February 19, 2003).

²¹² Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948), article 8.

²¹³ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976, article 2. India ratified the covenant in 1979.

²¹⁴ U.N. Human Rights Committee, Draft General Comment on Article 2, The Nature of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant Unedited Version, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/74/CRP.4/Rev.3 (2003), paragraph 15.

²¹⁵ "Gujral, VP Singh Want Equal Compensation for All," Economic Times, March 8, 2002.

²¹⁶ Human Rights Watch, "We Have No Orders to Save You," p. 57.

²¹⁷ "Don't discriminate-PM tells Modi," Times of India, April 5, 2002.

²¹⁸ "PM Announces Relief Measures for Riot Victims," rediff.com, April 4, 2002 [online],
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/04train8.htm (retrieved April 17, 2002).

²¹⁹ "Don't discriminate-PM tells Modi," Times of India.

²²⁰ P. Sunderarajan, "Rs. 150 cr. for rehabilitation," The Hindu, May 2, 2002.

²²¹ A writ petition was filed before the Gujarat High Court asking, among other things, that court order a complete accounting from the Gujarat government of the Rs. 150 crore rehabilitation package. Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Crime Against Humanity, vol. II, p. 125

²²² Table reproduced from the report, HIC, YUVA, Rebuilding from the Ruins, p. 17.

²²³ An ex-gratia payment is a payment made to an individual for loss or damage to personal property in a situation where the party making the payment admits no liability for the loss or damage.

²²⁴ HIC, YUVA, Rebuilding from the Ruins, p. 74.

²²⁵ Mander, "Before it is too late."

²²⁶ HIC, YUVA, Rebuilding from the Ruins, pp. 73-74.

²²⁷ Ibid., p. 73.

²²⁸ Ibid.

²²⁹ Election Commission of India, "Press Note," p. 32.

²³⁰ HIC, YUVA, Rebuilding from the Ruins, p. 32. For a comprehensive analysis of violations of the right to housing-as interpreted by international and Indian law-and its application to the rehabilitation of victims of violence in Gujarat see Ibid., pp. 10-15, 90-102.

²³¹ Palak Nandi, "With paltry compensation, Govt deals riot-affected a body blow," Indian express online, May 7, 2003 [online], http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=17151 (retrieved May 20, 2003).

²³² Human Rights Watch interview with Mira Banu, Ahmedabad, January 2, 2003.

²³³ She told Human Rights Watch:

It started at 9 a.m. on February 28. It sounded like a rally. We thought the mobs would leave but then the police came and closed our shops. They started attacking Noorani Masjid [mosque]. My husband came out and the police shot him in the head. He was shot in the back of the head and the bullet came out in front. My daughter was with me and was only four months old at the time. Then the mob came in. It was the Bajrang Dal. They were wearing saffron bandanas. The mob burned my husband's body in front of the police... They were taking Muslim women to the maidan [open grounds] then throwing their kids into a large fire they had already prepared. They were raping young girls... Finally at 12:30 a.m. the army came and asked where we wanted to be taken. We said Shah-e-Alam camp. We arrived at 1:30 a.m. But the mobs kept stopping the cars along the way. The mobs surrounded our car and started shouting, "Pull out the Muslims!" The army fired shots in the air and then the mob dispersed. They were also stoning the car with big stones. They were shouting, "Pull out the Muslims and take out the women." When I went to the hospital to claim the body, I told the police that my husband's body was still in Naroda Patia. They dragged the bodies away but his hand was left grabbing a piece of the cycle. Everything was burnt. We buried his hand. (Human Rights Watch interview with S. Banu, Ahmedabad, January 5, 2003.)

²³⁴ Ibid.

²³⁵ Human Rights Watch interview with Shah-e-Alam camp manager, Ahmedabad, January 3, 2003.

²³⁶ Since 1987, Janvikas has been providing training and support to individuals and voluntary organizations in the development field, including legal, health, education, and agricultural training. See www.janvikas.org/aboutus.html (retrieved June 1, 2003).

²³⁷ Human Rights Watch interview with Gagan Sethi, Ahmedabad, January 5, 2003.

²³⁸ Election Commission of India, "Press Note," p. 35.

²³⁹ Ibid., pp. 35-36.

²⁴⁰ Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Feroz Gulzar, Ahmedabad, January 3, 2003.

²⁴¹ Sharukh suffered burn injuries on his hand and foot while eighteen-year-old Shah Jahan is almost completely covered in burns.

²⁴² Human Rights Watch interview with Afsara, Ahmedabad, January 5, 2003.

²⁴³ Human Rights Watch interview with R. Bibi, Ahmedabad, January 2, 2003. Another eyewitness to the killing of R. Bibi's son added:

He was home, he was in front of the house. The police came and fired upon him. The police released tear gas in front of Noorani Masjid, and started firing on our boys. Our boys had nothing in their hands, the police just started firing. The mob started yelling, "Kill the Muslims, cut them, kill them." They kept saying that, and then they just kept piling one body on top of another, cutting and burning them. That's how it happened. (Human Rights Watch interview with eyewitness, Ahmedabad, January 2, 2003.)

²⁴⁴ Human Rights Watch interview with R. Bibi, Ahmedabad, January 2, 2003.

²⁴⁵ Ibid.

²⁴⁶ HIC, YUVA, Rebuilding from the Ruins, p. 32.