| Interventions |
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Minority Rights |
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Advocacyes |
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CSJ has been working on ensuring the protection of minority rights through various mechanisms. The Centre has been demanding the formulation of special laws for minorities, conducting research on the needs of security for minorities, and emphasising the need for reforming the Prevention of Atrocity Act.
During the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, CSJ organized itself to respond to the situation. The situation affected CSJ’s regular activities and thus the Central Resource Unit and the District Centres undertook the following activities:
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| Intervention in communal violence in Gujarat |
| Intervention in communal violence in Gujarat |
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CSJ appealed to the National Commission For Women demanding that the commission takes up the matter of sexual violence against women |
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CSJ as the focal point of Citizen's Initiative (a network of several organizations in Gujarat) initiated and assisted in bringing out a report entitled “Survivors Speak” on the way women were affected by the riots. The report was widely used by activists and media and was discussed in the legislators. |
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CSJ through Yuv Shakti provided support to the victims of sexual violence in Panchmahals. It helped in witness preparation and by providing psycho-social counselling. One of the cases was taken up at the Supreme Court and is still under process. In this process, women's activists from other States also provided a sustained support to our work. |
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| Legal Survey and Data Collection from Riot Victims |
CSJ undertook the responsibility of co-ordinating the legal survey undertaken by Citizen’s Initiative. The Litigation Team, as a part of the larger group of Citizen's Initiative, visited various relief camps immediately following the riots to collect information from the victims. The form for collecting information, which was finalised by CSJ in consultation with other NGO’s, served two purposes. It acted as a means of collecting complaints as well as a method of analyzing key trends during the riots. Volunteers from CSJ and other organisations collected about 3000 forms from 17 relief camps in Ahmedabad. |
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Based on the forms collected from the camps a consolidation was done in order to capture the incidents. 80 key incidents were identified and First Information Reports filed for them. Over 200 FIR’s were filed and a total of 65 complaints were sent by registered post to the Police Commissioner’s office in Ahmedabad. The District Centres undertook similar interventions. The FIR analysis also brought out the key trend of the communal violence. |
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| High Court and Supreme Court intervention |
CSJ was actively involved in the legal interventions around communal violence. The Centre filed a PIL asking for a CBI enquiry in Ahmedabad. Along with the Karuna Trust, CSJ petitioned the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) questioning the jurisdiction of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The Supreme Court has issued a stay on the proceedings. The Centre was also involved in drafting the PIL for the Supreme Court for an independent investigation of the incident. It also submitted its report to the minority commission and the NHRC. CSJ also submitted a notice to the concerned authorities regarding the disparity in the compensation amount announced by the government for the victims of Godhra and its aftermath. |
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| G. T. Nanavati and K. G. Shah Commission |
The Govt. of Gujarat has constituted the G. T. Nanavati and K. G. Shah Commission to enquire into the various aspects of Communal riots. CSJ has filed a detailed affidavit in the K. G. Shah commission based on the survey conducted in Ahmedabad. The survey has been published in ‘HARD FACTS’. The Litigation Cell had drafted and filed various affidavits on behalf of CSJ and its various constituents. Affidavits were also prepared on behalf of certain victims, which were later filed in the commission. The Litigation Cell also provided professional services to other NGOs/activists in filing affidavits before the Commission. The Litigation Cell has been closely interacting with the Citizens Initiative for the last one year on various issues regarding the riots.
The district centres at Sabarkantha and Bharuch have filed five affidavits in the K. G. Shah Commission based on the data collected from the survey.
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| Media scan |
CSJ systematically undertook a project of collection and classification of various newspaper reports. A photo documentation of the various incidents was also undertaken. |
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| Intervention at the District Level |
CSJ undertook intervention in the districts of Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Bharuch, Bhavanagar and Vadodara. Lawyers from the Centre have been in Shanti Samitis, filing forms in relief camps, and filing FIRs. A team of lawyers from Bharuch and Kutch has also helped the Centre in its endeavours in Ahmedabad. |
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| FIR Analysis of Panchmahals |
As a follow up of monitoring riot-related criminal cases in Panchmahals, the Litigation Cell spent two days at Halol and Kalol. Six important cases were undertaken there and various aspects such as details of the FIR, Charge Sheets, private statements, if any, etc. were analysed. This work was undertaken partly to create groundwork for Yuv Shakti to follow up later on and partly for information that was needed by NHRC. |
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| Support to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) |
CSJ aided in organising and facilitating the visits of the NHRC team. It also helped in categorising the complaints received by the NHRC and translating them into English. NHRC also sought the help of the Centre for their work in Gujarat. The Litigation Cell has through the Human Rights Monitoring Group been in constant touch with the Special Rapporteur and provide such service as and when required. The Centre also undertook two surveys to look at the extent of compliance of the NHRC directives. NHRC in its deliberations felt the need to assess the situation on the ground with a special focus on those who have been internally displaced. Therefore, NHRC appointed CSJ to conduct the survey, locate the displaced people, and to assess the economic rehabilitation of the displaced peoples. |
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