India: Dr Binayak Sen

DOCTOR FACES TRIAL ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES

Dr Binayak Sen, a medical doctor and human rights defender, was arrested in May 2007, accused of passing letters between imprisoned members of a banned leftist group. Amnesty International believes the charges he faces are politically motivated and intended to prevent him carrying out his human rights work. Take action now

UPDATE 2 June 2009

Dr Binayak Sen was released on bail on 26 May 2009 after two years in prison.

Dr Sen thanked Amnesty International and other human rights organisations that have campaigned for his release. He said he would continue to defend human rights in Chhattisgarh despite the risks.

This is welcome news, and a step in the right direction, but we need to keep up the pressure until all the charges against Dr Sen are dropped. Please send the updated appeal below.

UPDATE: 13 MARCH 2009
Ilina Sen talks about her husband, Dr. Binayak Sen, who is still in prison in India. She would like to thank all those who've sent messages of solidarity to her husband as part of the Greetings Card Campaign.

UPDATE: 11 DECEMBER 2008
Dr Sen's trial did not resume at the end of November and has been delayed again. Please continue to take action.

Background Information

Dr Binayak Sen is a medical doctor and vice-president of a leading human rights organisation, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). Arrested on 12 May 2007, he is accused of aiding Maoist insurgents in Chhattisgarh state and if convicted could be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Police claim that he acted as a ‘courier’ for Narayan Sanyal, an imprisoned leader of the banned Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoist). Although Dr Sen met Narayan Sanyal in prison many times, his visits were supervised and facilitated by the prison authorities.

The charges against Dr Sen appear to be politically motivated and aimed at stopping his human rights work.

Dr Sen, a pioneer in providing accessible health care and education to mine workers and the rural poor in Chhattisgarh state, has been highlighting and documenting the impact of conflict in the region on the rights  of marginalised communities (including rural indigenous communities known as adivasis).

Adivasis have been caught in the middle of a conflict between Maoists and the Salwa Judum, an armed anti-Maoist campaign widely regarded to be state-sponsored. Both sides in the conflict have routinely targeted civilians, resulting in at least 300 deaths and the displacement of at least 30,000 adivasis from their homes. About 25,000 people are believed to have fled into the jungle and into the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, which is also beset by armed conflict. Dr Sen has publicly criticised the Salwa Judum campaign on a number of occasions. Several weeks before his arrest, Dr Sen publicised the alleged involvement of state police and Salwa Judum in the killing of 12 adivasis. As vicepresident of PUCL, he has helped bring to light unlawful killings of adivasis, sexual assault of adivasi women, abductions and forced displacement.

Human rights activists believe that Dr Sen’s arrest may also be an attempt to establish that meeting or having ideological sympathies with the armed Maoist left is in itself a crime. A conviction on this basis would have serious implications for thousands of human rights defenders and activists across India, and severely limit their freedom of association.

Amnesty International is concerned that Dr Sen will be denied a fair trial. He was held for seven months before being properly charged, denied bail, and kept in solitary confinement for three weeks.

• Find out about the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), an Indian human rights organisation

DOCTOR FACES TRIAL ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES

Dr Binayak Sen, a medical doctor and human rights defender, was arrested in May 2007, accused of passing letters between imprisoned members of a banned leftist group. Amnesty International believes the charges he faces are politically motivated and intended to prevent him carrying out his human rights work. Take action now

UPDATE 2 June 2009

Dr Binayak Sen was released on bail on 26 May 2009 after two years in prison.

Dr Sen thanked Amnesty International and other human rights organisations that have campaigned for his release. He said he would continue to defend human rights in Chhattisgarh despite the risks.

This is welcome news, and a step in the right direction, but we need to keep up the pressure until all the charges against Dr Sen are dropped. Please send the updated appeal below.

UPDATE: 13 MARCH 2009
Ilina Sen talks about her husband, Dr. Binayak Sen, who is still in prison in India. She would like to thank all those who've sent messages of solidarity to her husband as part of the Greetings Card Campaign.

UPDATE: 11 DECEMBER 2008
Dr Sen's trial did not resume at the end of November and has been delayed again. Please continue to take action.

Send an appeal to the Indian authorities calling on them to drop the charges against Dr Sen immediately.

Please could you also copy your letters to Shri Shivraj Patil, Minister of State for Home, North Block, Central Secretariat, New Delhi, India - 110 001.