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XII. RECOMMENDATIONS TO INDIAN AUTHORITIES AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
To bring itself into compliance with domestic and international law, the Gujarat government must act now to prevent further attacks, end impunity, and deliver meaningful assistance to those displaced and dispossessed by the violence. Those responsible for attacks against Hindus and Muslims in Godhra, Akshardham, and Godhra's violent aftermath, including members of the sangh parivar and the BJP, must be brought to justice.
To the State Government of Gujarat:
Justice
· Ensure that police register and investigate all cases of communal violence regardless of the religious background of the victim. Establish women's cells in police stations for the reporting and investigation of sexual violence cases and other crimes against women. These cells should have trained female police officers and referrals to health and other support services.
· The national government and the government of Gujarat should establish civilian review boards or civilian ombudsman committees composed of judges and lawyers to examine whether cases are being adequately investigated.
· Act without delay to implement the recommendations of the NHRC on the violence in Gujarat, including that:
· The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) take over investigations of critical incidents in Gujarat, such as the attacks in Godhra, Naroda Patia, and Gulbarg Society.391
· The chief justice of the High Court of Gujarat establish courts expressly to try cases investigated by the CBI.
· Turn over investigations implicating state and police officials to federal agencies such as the CBI. Ensure that these investigations address the conduct of state officials, including police and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, who incited, took part in, or were complicit in the attacks. The investigations should be sure to address:
· Instances in which government documents noting the religious affiliation of persons were given to groups responsible for inciting violence or conducting abuses.
· Malfeasance in investigating and arresting leaders involved in attacks.
· Excessive use of police force, including executions.
· Arbitrary detention and filing of false charges.
· Suspend all police officers implicated in the attacks, pending investigation. Police found to have violated their duties should be dismissed and prosecuted where appropriate. All officers who helped stem the violence and have since been demoted or transferred should be reinstated to their original posts.
· Ensure that police use deadly force only as a last resort to protect life and in accordance with the U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force or Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which emphasize that the use of force and firearms should be in consonance with respect for human rights, and that deadly force should not be used against persons unless "strictly unavoidable in order to protect life."
· Take prompt and appropriate action against any government official, including elected representatives and members of the state or local administration, who endorse, encourage or otherwise promote discrimination against Muslims or any other group.
Relief and rehabilitation
· Provide integration assistance to individuals and families who were victims of the communal violence and who are unable or unwilling to return to their homes. Such integration assistance should include housing, employment assistance, food and water, and access to education and healthcare.
· Allocate compensation for family members of those killed or the reconstruction of homes and places of business, and for the provision of food and other relief supplies for all persons displaced or dispossessed in a nondiscriminatory manner and in accordance with international human rights law and the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
· Reassess existing state and federal compensation packages that fail to cover all damage and destruction suffered by victims. Standards for compensation should be based on present market values of land, building materials, and household goods. Include both material and non-material costs, such as labor charges, costs for installation of water meters, electrical wiring, and sewage disposal systems, in assessing compensation. Compensation for rural families should include losses of assets such as livestock and crops.
· Parameters of damage assessment should be transparent and widely publicized. In addition to government representatives, the team of surveyors must include technically qualified and independent agencies, NGOs, and members of the affected communities.
· Make available adequate healthcare, including free medical care and psychological counseling, for all survivors of the violence. Healthcare professionals trained to deal with rape should be employed, and services should include testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
· Compile a list of persons missing since the 2002 violence and expedite the payment of compensation to family members who are eligible.
· Restore without delay all personal legal documents lost or destroyed during the communal violence. Included are passports, personal identification documents, and birth, marriage, and education certificates.
· Work with local NGOs to provide legal advice to persons having claims.
· Make available low-interest loans and institute other economic rehabilitation measures for businesses affected by the violence.
Legislative and administrative reforms
· Cease all government-sponsored surveys, unrelated to the census, regarding the residences and other information of members of Dalit, tribal, Christian, and Muslim communities that could place the security of those communities at risk.
· Repeal the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill, which on its face is contrary to the right to freedom of religion and belief under international human rights law.
· Disband the Gujarat state cell set up monitor inter-religious and other forms of mixed marriages.
· Launch public awareness campaigns in Gujarat and other states aimed at preventing future communal violence. Such campaigns should reaffirm legal provisions, explain what recourses are available to minorities, and publicize the procedures for filing a First Information Report (FIR). Campaigns should also include public service announcements aimed at condemnation of religious violence and extremism, and at raising awareness of human rights.
Security
· Adopt and implement measures to ensure the safe return and continuing security for all urban and rural families affected by the violence who wish to go back to their original residences and places of business.
· Adopt and implement measures to ensure the security of human rights defenders, journalists, and independent and secular NGOs working in Gujarat to promote human rights and non-discrimination.
To the Government of India:
The government of India should ensure that Gujarat state investigates and prosecutes perpetrators of communal violence and, where necessary, cooperates with federal agencies such as the CBI in doing so. The government should also take appropriate measures to ensure the security and safety of all citizens of Gujarat, including assisting those who have been displaced or dispossessed by the violence. In addition, Human Rights Watch recommends that the government:
· Investigate and prosecute officials of those organizations, including the VHP, RSS, BJP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, and their affiliates, implicated in continuing violence against Dalits, tribals, and religious minorities.
· Establish civilian review boards or civilian ombudsman committees composed of judges and lawyers to examine whether cases in Gujarat are being adequately investigated.
· Repeal the resolution that exempts trishuls (tridents) from the scope of the Indian Arms Act. Prohibit, in conjunction with state governments, the distribution of tridents and swords by members of the sangh parivar; and seize weapons that have already been distributed by these groups.
· End impunity for past campaigns of violence against minorities, including the anti-Sikh violence in Delhi in 1984 and the post-Ayodhya violence of December 1992 and January 1993; the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission on the post-Ayodhya violence in Bombay should be implemented without delay. Police responsible for excessive use of force should be prosecuted; those who had the power and duty to stop the violence but did not intervene should be appropriately punished.
· Repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which stands in violation of international due process norms and has been discriminatorily applied in the state of Gujarat and elsewhere.
· Establish state branches of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), and the National Commission for Women (NCW) in Gujarat, with adequate financial resources and powers to initiate prosecution where appropriate. The 1993 Protection of Human Rights Act should also be amended so that the NHRC is not excluded from inquiring into matters already pending before state commissions.
· Implement the recommendations of the Law Commission of India on amendments to existing laws relating to sexual assault so as to ensure prosecution of all instances of sexual violence.
· Implement the recommendations on police reform made by the National Police Commission in 1980.
· Request assistance from United Nations relief agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as well as international humanitarian organizations, to ensure the provision of relief and rehabilitation assistance to all those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence.
· Provide the U.N., international humanitarian organizations, and local nongovernmental relief agencies full, free, and unimpeded access to all those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence. Share with these agencies rehabilitation-related information in Gujarat.
· Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and enact the necessary legislation to implement its provisions.
· Invite the following United Nations human rights bodies and experts to conduct fact-finding missions in Gujarat:
· The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention;
· The special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment;
· The special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions;
· The special rapporteur on violence against women;
· The special rapporteur on adequate housing;
· The special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
· The representative of the United Nations secretary-general on internally displaced persons.
· Include information on the recent communal violence in India's future periodic reports to human rights treaty bodies established for the:
To India's Donors and Trading Partners:
· Assist the government of India in delivering relief and rehabilitation assistance to those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence and take steps to ensure that such assistance is delivered in a nondiscriminatory manner and in accordance with international human rights law and the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
· Support the adoption of preventative measures to ensure that communal outbreaks are prevented in the future. Such measures may include community education programs and the establishment of independent review boards to act as checks on the functioning of the police and other state and local government institutions during communal outbreaks.
· Urge the Indian government to prosecute those responsible for the violence in Gujarat, including state, government, and police officials, and call upon the government to invite relevant U.N. human rights experts and commissions to monitor the ongoing situation.
· Urge the Indian government to implement the recommendations of the NHRC concerning the violence in Gujarat; the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission on the 1992-1993 Bombay riots; and the 1980 recommendations of the National Police Commission on national police reform.
· Urge the Indian government to amend its laws on sexual violence according to the recommendations of the Law Commission of India so that all cases of sexual assault may be prosecuted. Provide funding for programs to provide health, economic, and legal services to sexual violence survivors.
To International Lending Institutions:
· Ensure that anti-discrimination measures built into World Bank and Asian Development Bank-funded projects are thoroughly implemented in areas where there are serious problems of communal violence and religious discrimination. As part of their commitment to good governance, the World Bank and other international lending institutions should establish ongoing dialogue with NGOs at all stages of the decision-making process, including before a loan is released, while the project is being implemented, and in the course of any post-project evaluation.
· Ensure that all social impact assessments prior to approval of projects investigate the effect of proposed policies and programs on communal violence and religious discrimination. In consultation with NGOs, explore ways in which programs could help address these problems.
To United Nations Agencies and International Humanitarian Organizations:
· Explore with the Indian government ways to expand existing relief programs to address the humanitarian needs of those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence in Gujarat, without discrimination and in accordance with international human rights law and the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Assistance should be focused on health and sanitation, food and nutrition, social and psychological support, shelter, and educational needs of the internally displaced, as well as on rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance to facilitate the safe return of internally displaced persons to their own homes and communities. Support services should address the specific needs of sexual violence survivors and ensure that widows and female-headed households have full access to reconstruction assistance.
· Establish mechanisms to monitor violence or abuse targeting displaced persons, returnees and Muslims communities.
· Provide appropriate protection and assistance to displaced children and other vulnerable groups, such as female heads of household and physically disabled displaced persons.
To the Indian Diaspora:
391 CBI is a federal investigative agency that handles cases of corruption and cases of interstate and other crimes of national importance. CBI inquiries are often demanded in cases where local or state investigations are perceived to be biased.
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