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Villagers who fled to Andhra Pradesh also often live in dire circumstances. Many had no financial resources to purchase or rent land when they fled, and thus settled in forested areas. Saying that these settlements are illegal, Andhra Pradesh forest officials have repeatedly evicted villagers, often using excessive force and destroying their homes and personal belongings. One hamlet that Human Rights Watch visited has been destroyed nine or ten times since January 2007. Forest officials have forcibly relocated many displaced families without prior consultation with them. As a matter of policy, the Andhra Pradesh government denies to these displaced persons the benefit of government welfare schemes such as food subsidies and rural employment guarantees on several grounds, including that they are not “local residents.” The experience of some villagers from Etagatta illustrates the nature of the Salwa Judum campaign and its impact. Government security forces and Salwa Judum members raided Etagatta, a 50-household village in Dantewada district, in the summer of 2006. One eyewitness told Human Rights Watch that the attackers came without warning, beat villagers, and took away their belongings, including their livestock. Salwa Judum members and government security forces then burned all the 50 houses in the village. According to the eyewitness, Salwa Judum people and police killed about 15 people from the village—5 women and 10 men. All of them were adults, about my age— in their 30s. They slit the throats of five people, one was a woman. I knew these five people well … There was no reason why they should have killed them. They attacked whoever fell into their hands … I cremated two of them. They raped and killed Ungi who was about 13 years old. They also repeatedly raped [name withheld]. First they raped her in the village and then they took her to the police station, raped her, and then released her. The same villager reported that Salwa Judum members and government security forces also forcibly took about four men and ten women from his village. He said that while all the women later returned, the men did not. He never learned what happened to them. 9 Human Rights Watch July 2008
Frightened, many villagers hid for several days in the jungle. Salwa Judum members and government security forces returned, found them there, and attacked them again. Finally, the villagers fled to Andhra Pradesh with the hope of reaching safe ground. As soon as they settled in Andhra Pradesh, however, forest officials burned their hamlet, saying that it was illegal because it was located on forestlands. Describing the treatment meted out by forest officials in Andhra Pradesh, the villager said, Forest officials used to beat us. About 12 to 20 of them would come in their vehicles, drag us out from our huts, and beat us. They beat both men and women, and abused us—“choothiya, bhosda, sala [derogatory terms], you have come here and cut forests.” Sometimes, they used to come two or three times a day … They burned our huts about five or six times and each time we rebuilt them. Until we rebuilt the huts, we used to live under the trees in the forests. Eventually, with the help of local residents, those displaced from Etagatta resettled to a safer part of Andhra Pradesh. However, much to their dismay, they found that Salwa Judum members from across the state boundary tracked them down. Salwa Judum members came to their new hamlet in mid-2007 in search of villagers from Chhattisgarh. The local sarpanch (village official) misled the Salwa Judum members by telling them there were no recent arrivals in the area. Still, displaced villagers from Etagatta live in constant fear. Abuses by Naxalites The Naxalites are responsible for numerous serious abuses. They claim to be leading a popular “people’s war,” including by seeking equity and justice for the poor, especially tribal communities. Nevertheless, their methods include intimidation, harassment, threats, beatings, looting, summary executions, and other punishment of villagers who either refuse to cooperate with them or are suspected of being police informers. They also forcibly demand money, food, and shelter from villagers, recruit children as soldiers for use in military operations against government forces, and use landmines and IEDs that have caused numerous civilian casualties. “Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime” 10
Page 1 and 2: India “Being Neutral is Our Bigge
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2008 Human Rights Watc
Page 5 and 6: VI. Plight of Persons Displaced by
Page 7 and 8: © 2008 John Emerson “Being Neutr
Page 9 and 10: Gram Panchayat/ Panchayat ICCPR ICE
Page 11 and 12: of villages in Bijapur and Dantewad
Page 13: Since 2006 local nongovernmental or
Page 17 and 18: Salwa Judum, particularly Salwa Jud
Page 19 and 20: of camp residents and other displac
Page 21 and 22: Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, People’s U
Page 23 and 24: egion between June 2005 and June 20
Page 25 and 26: through underground village committ
Page 27 and 28: health care. 17 Census data from 20
Page 29 and 30: The Naxalite problem has led to lac
Page 31 and 32: egular battalion to counter Naxalit
Page 33 and 34: NGO fact-finding teams have also ap
Page 35 and 36: The ‘Salva Judum’ movement is p
Page 37 and 38: persons also gave Human Rights Watc
Page 39 and 40: Sometimes senior police officials,
Page 41 and 42: were sick we had to go and report i
Page 43 and 44: to our village had bows and arrows,
Page 45 and 46: All able-bodied men had to particip
Page 47 and 48: them with escorts. We go with them
Page 49 and 50: there [pointing to a location about
Page 51 and 52: V. Abuses by the State Although the
Page 53 and 54: and my sister’s in the fields. My
Page 55 and 56: camps. 109 Two SPOs came forward to
Page 57 and 58: Gangi, one of the villagers, said t
Page 59 and 60: weeks [from the first visit to the
Page 61 and 62: One of the boys got beaten a lot wi
Page 63 and 64: A woman from Nendra said she saw th
Page 65 and 66:
member of the fact-finding team tha
Page 67 and 68:
In 2006 the Chhattisgarh government
Page 69 and 70:
under Indian penal law. 163 Many NG
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independent and report because ther
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eing beaten up by Salwa Judum membe
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the country, to liberty and freedom
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electricity, adult literacy centres
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only 10 health workers to attend to
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dependent upon the state for their
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camps were started. 233 Assuming th
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Impediments to return The Chhattisg
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villagers’ access to markets maki
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1. Prior to carrying out evictions,
Page 91 and 92:
our huts. About 10 forest departmen
Page 93 and 94:
A volunteer with an NGO that provid
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met with further retributive measur
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Despite the court’s orders, fores
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for at least 100 days a year. 303 T
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In many places, displaced persons d
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Naxalites beat and kill villagers,
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that they rubbed small stones [grav
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Similarly, Naxalites beat and haras
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not kill my uncle. They threatened
Page 111 and 112:
100 meters. The tractor driver—an
Page 113 and 114:
near the Boddiguda dam. We were abo
Page 115 and 116:
Errabore camp on July 17, 2006, whe
Page 117 and 118:
E. CPI (Maoist) Party statements Hu
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for this reason we are compelled to
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The Naxalites do not deny the recru
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I have seen SPOs younger than me in
Page 125 and 126:
The recruitment process The nationa
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I became an SPO last year in March
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of them. My brother actually surviv
Page 131 and 132:
Maraiguda stated that he was ordere
Page 133 and 134:
The Chhattisgarh state government r
Page 135 and 136:
ecruitment, but Naxalites pressure
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When he was part of the bal sangam
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I joined when I was 15 years old. I
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When Veka Idma was about age 12 or
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later on when I became a dalam memb
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Naxalites’ policy regarding recru
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IX. Impact of the Conflict on Educa
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other villages which do not have sc
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The ITDA project officer for Khamma
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uses all authority at its disposal
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To the Chhattisgarh state governmen
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• Release complete information, u
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• Cooperate with UNICEF and other
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 163 and 164:
) Chhattisgarh government assists t
Page 165 and 166:
protect the rights of the displaced
Page 167 and 168:
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
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government investigated any allegat
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“Being Neutral is Our Biggest Cri
Page 173 and 174:
We acknowledge with gratitude the f
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