Please - Odhikar

Outcomes planned from the objectives
� First hand detailed fact-finding report
� Improvement in the behavior of police towards arrested persons.
� Awareness raising and advocacy to initiate change and to highlight police abuse and
create pressure groups to advocate for a better police system.
During the first project year (2003), from the activities it carried out, especially from fact finding
and police station monitoring missions, Odhikar learnt that although the police were violating
human rights, there were extremely few cases where legal action had actually been taken against
the police in this regard. Thus the police were enjoying a sort of impunity, despite violating
human rights. While they should be held accountable and punished for such violations they
remain out of reach from the ’long arm of the law’. For this reason, in 2003, the theme "Breaking
the Chain of Impunity: Human Rights Intervention in South Asia" was chosen for a projectbased
regional discussion meeting. The discussants and participants condemned the vicious
circle of politics, crime and corruption, which makes ordinary people victims of police abuse.
They condemned the fact that the denial of human rights creates conditions for social and
political unrest, sowing the seeds of violence and conflict. Impunity in any form, is a violation
of human rights as well as a direct threat to rule of law, which is a necessary basis of democracy.
The participants agreed that victims did not resort to the court and offences perpetrated against
them went unpunished because of several factors, including, in many cases, ignorance of law,
poor economic condition of ordinary people and fear of reprisal. The participants from the other
South Asian countries opined that impunity persisted in the region mainly due to government’s
intention to cling to power for a long period of time, thus abusing state power. Absence of the
independence of judiciary and virtually non-functioning parliaments were also identified as
causes of impunity to human rights violations.
The theme for the 2004 project-based regional discussion meeting was Criminal
Responsibility for Torture: South Asian Perspective in which prominent human rights
activists from South Asian countries spoke of having similar problems regarding abuses of
power by law enforcement agencies, enabling them to commit torture and other crimes. Odhikar
felt that continued monitoring could bring to light the reasons behind inefficiencies, abuse and
acts of human rights violation by law enforcement agencies so that a continued effort could be
made to sensitize policymakers and responsible people in government of the problem.
This year, 2005, the theme of the discussion program was Victim and Witness Protection
Under the National Legal Regime: South Asian Perspective. One of the main findings of the
Odhikar monitoring and fact finding component of the project, was that victims and witnesses
continued to remain in an environment of insecurity and uncertainty even after they took
recourse from the law. Thana monitoring showed that police were not very sympathetic or
understanding towards victims and complainants had to wait for a minimum of an hour or more
in order to lodge complaints - and that, too after ’paying’ the police. Research shows that the
Report 2005
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