From: Somnath Mukherji <mukherji.somnath@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 7:55 AM
Subject: Free Binayak Sen: Media Adv for Global Day of Protest on Jan 30th
To: ReachIndia@lists.aidindia.org
MEDIA ADVISORY
Jan 27, 2011
Contacts:
Boston: mukherji.somnath@gmail.com, 732-423-6662
San Francisco: amandavilli@yahoo.com 408-480-5805
"FREE BINAYAK SEN AND REPEAL DRACONIAN LAWS!"
INTERNATIONAL COALITION DEMANDS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF
JAILED INDIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Solidarity Actions Planned in 12 North American Cities
WHEN: Sunday, Jan 30th, 2011
WHERE: In cities across the US, Canada and Europe
WHAT: Global Day of Protest Against Repression of Human Rights Activists in India
A broad coalition of 55 civil society groups from the U.S., U.K., and Canada are coming together to demand the immediate release of the jailed human rights activist, Dr. Binayak Sen, who was sentenced to life in prison by a sessions court in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The coalition demands the repeal of draconian laws which give arbitrary power to the state and infringe on the fundamental rights of free speech, as well as the disbanding of state-backed vigilante groups in Chhattisgarh. Public events will be held in 11 North American cities between 26-30 January 2011.
The coalition consists of civil rights groups such as the Asian Law Alliance, health rights groups such as the People's Health Movement, anti-war groups such as the ANSWER Coalition and the Boston Mobilization, student groups from Harvard and Berkeley, women's rights groups such as the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, local peace and justice groups from a number of cities, as well as a large number of South Asian immigrant groups based in U.S., U.K. and Canada. (A complete listing of groups is available below). Over 10,000 signatures from individuals around the world have been collected on petitions asking for the release of Dr. Sen.
Dr Binayak Sen is a renowned pediatrician, public health specialist and the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties in India. An activist with a lifelong commitment to community health and human rights, Dr. Sen was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award by Global Health Council in 2008. Dr. Sen earned the ire of the government for opposing Salwa Judum, a private militia movement armed by the Government to combat 'Maoist insurgency'. Salwa Judum has led to a spiraling increase in violence and has displaced over 100,000 indigenous people over the last 5 years. He was arrested in May 2007 on fabricated charges of sedition, joining dozens of other human rights activists in Indian jails who were also arrested under draconian laws. Even the flimsy evidence of a purported letter that Dr. Sen had allegedly helped carry, and on the basis of which he was convicted, is widely believed to have been planted by the police.
Internationally acclaimed intellectuals including Noam Chomsky, Amartya Sen, Arundhati Roy, and George Galloway have all joined in urging the Indian government to free Binayak Sen and to stop the harassment of human rights activists. Amnesty International slammed the verdict, calling it a 'mockery of justice'. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, has publicly expressed concern over the situation and the shrinking space for civil society in India. "I am deeply concerned about the branding and stigmatization of human rights defenders, labeled as 'naxalites (Maoists)', 'terrorists', 'militants', 'insurgents', or 'anti-nationalists" Ms. Sekaggya said.
January 30th is the anniversary of the assassination of Gandhi. Several groups across India, North America, and Europe will hold solidarity actions including public demonstrations, vigils, and panel discussions to voice their opposition to the brutal suppression of peaceful democratic dissent currently underway in India. Coordinated actions are planned in 12 cities including Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Boston, Amherst, and Seattle in the US; Vancouver in Canada; and London in the UK. Details of individual events are available at www.freebinayaksen.org
###
For more information, visit www.freebinayaksen.org
Free Binayak Sen Coalition - Endorsing Organizations:
- Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, MIT (www.alliancesouthasia.org)
- Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, San Francisco (www.asata.org)
- A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism - San Francisco (www.answersf.org)
- Asian Law Alliance (www.asianlawalliance.org)
- Association for India's Development (www.aidindia.org)
- Association of South Asian Political Activists (ASAPA), Berkeley, (http://asapa.berkeley.edu)
- Action for a Progressive Pakistan
- Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal (www.boston4bhopal.org)
- Boston Mobilization (www.bostonmobilization.org)
- Birmingham Anti-SEZ Campaign, UK
- Campaign against Forced Displacement, UK (http://www.ilpsweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79)
- Campaign to Stop Funding Hate: CSFH (www.stopfundinghate.org)
- CMC Vellore Alumni Association - UK Branch
- Culture and Conflict Forum
- DEEP - Defenders of the Environment and Ecology of Panjab, UK
- Dharma Megha, East Lansing, Michigan
- Friends of South Asia: FOSA (www.friendsofsouthasia.org)
- Gadar Heritage Foundation, Fremont (http://gadar.homestead.com)
- Hillingdon Asian Women's Communication Service, UK (www.hillingdonwomenscentre.org.uk)
- India Foundation, East Lansing, Michigan
- Indian Muslim Council, USA (www.imc-usa.org)
- Indian Workers Association (GB)
- India Relief and Education Fund, Fremont (http://iref.homestead.com)
- International Accountability Project (http://www.accountabilityproject.org)
- International League of People's Struggles, UK (www.ilps-web.com)
- International Service Society, Okemos, Michigan
- International South Asia Forum: INSAF, NYC (www.insaf.net)
- Massachusetts Global Action (www.MassGlobalAction.org)
- Matahari: Eye of the Day (www.eyeoftheday.org)
- National Lawyers' Guild
- Our Developing World (http://www.magiclink.net/~odw)
- Pakistan Solidarity Network
- Peace and Human Rights Trust: UK
- Peninsula Peace & Justice Center (www.peaceandjustice.org)
- Peoples Health Movement, USA (www.phmovement.org/cms)
- SAMAR
- Sanhati (www.sanhati.com)
- San Jose Peace & Justice Center (www.sanjosepeace.org)
- SAPAC: South Asian Progressive Action Collective, Chicago (sapac.org)
- SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), Vancouver, Canada (http://sansad.org/Sansad)
- Seva International, Okemos, Michigan
- Sikh American Heritage Organization
- South Asian Alliance, UK: (www.southasianalliance.org)
- South Asians Stepping in Solidarity, Harvard: SASS
- South Asia Solidarity Group, UK: (www.southasiasolidarity.org)
- South Asia Solidarity Initiative
- South Bay Mobilization
- Students for Bhopal (www.studentsforbhopal.org)
- The 1857 Committee (http://1857.org.uk)
- Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, Okemos, Michigan
- Vedanta Society of East Lansing, Michigan
- Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) (www.wslfweb.org)
- Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - San Jose (http://www.wilpf.org/US_WILPF)
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