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International humanitarian law requires that parties to a conflict never target
civilians, only military objectives. Police are only considered valid military targets
when the police force is incorporated into the armed forces 338 or during the time they
are taking a direct part in hostilities. 339 International humanitarian law prohibits the
use of weapons, including landmines and IEDs, in a manner whose effects cannot
discriminate between military targets and civilians. 340 When landmines are used,
particular care must be taken to minimize the indiscriminate effects. 341 Whether or
not a particular Naxalite attack is lawful under international humanitarian law, it still
may be prosecuted as a criminal offense under Indian law.
In February 2006 Vasanti Kumar’s sisters were returning from a Salwa Judum meeting
when their truck was blown up. An NGO fact-finding team reported that the blast
killed around 27 people and severely injured another 30, most of whom were
believed to be civilians residing in Salwa Judum camps. 342 Vasanti Kumar claimed
that out of a “truck-load of people only 20 survived the blast.” 343 She lost a friend in
the blast while her two sisters were injured.
In October 2007, three people—a civilian and two special police officers (SPOs)—
were being transported to a hospital when their tractor was blown up in a landmine.
Another SPO who was part of police party that was following the tractor said,
We [SPOs] were returning from Polampalli to Dornapal and bringing
three unwell people to Dornapal for treatment—two SPOs and a
civilian, in the tractor. Naxalites blew up the tractor using a landmine.
There were about 15 of us—following the tractor at a distance of about
338 See International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Henckaerts & Doswald-Beck, eds.,Customary International
Humanitarian Law, Volume I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), rule 4. India is one of only several states not
party to the 1997 Ottawa Convention prohibiting the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines
(Mine Ban Treaty).
339 Ibid, rule 6.
340 Ibid, rule 12.
341 Ibid, rule 81.
342 Independent Citizen’s Initiative, “War in the Heart of India, An Enquiry into the Ground Situation in Dantewada District,
Chhattisgarh,” 2006, http://rightsandresources.org/blog/WarintheHeartofIndia.pdf (accessed July 16, 2007), p. 12.
343 Human Rights Watch interview with Vasanti Kumar (pseudonym), IDP from Pandiguda, location withheld, December 6,
2007.
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Human Rights Watch July 2008