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24.04.2015 | News 18 | http://www.news18.com/news/uttar-pradesh/probe-forceful-eviction-of-sonbhadra-anti-dam-protesters-amnesty-international-to-up-government-723935.html

#Varanasi #Uttar Pradesh Days after over a dozen farmers and several cops were injured while the former were being forcefully evicted from protesting against building of Kanhar dam in Sonbhadra, the Amnesty International India on Friday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the use of “unnecessary force” against anti-dm protesters.

Police personnel on April 15 baton-charged hundreds of peaceful protesters demonstrating against land acquisition for the Kanhar dam project and seriously injured at least 15 people. They also fired live ammunition at them and also injured Akkhlu Chero - a local Adivasi activist. District authorities said that the firing was done in self-defence.

On 18 April, cops again baton-charged villagers and fired rubber bullets to force them away from the dam site and into their villages. A resident of Bheesur village, who did not wish to be named, said, “Early in the morning, they surrounded us from all four sides and started attacking us. They went up to Bheesur and started hitting people in their houses. Now we are afraid to even leave our villages. We don’t know who is where, who is in hospital, who has been picked up by the police. People are being asked to take compensation and vacate their houses.”

According to a civil society fact-finding team hundreds of villagers have had fabricated cases filed against them since the protests began last year in December. Three families are learnt to have said that some of their relatives had been detained by police without any explanation being given.

Probe forceful eviction of Sonbhadra anti-dam protesters: Amnesty International to UP government

Another fact-finding team said that villagers were being threatened into leaving their homes. “Many people are unable to meet their families, or cannot seek help for their injuries, as they are afraid of being arrested,” said Sudha Bharadwaj, general secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties in Chhattisgarh.

“The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by India’s Constitution and international law. The Uttar Pradesh government must respect local communities’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” said Aruna Chandrasekhar, Business and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International India.

“It must immediately investigate the use of unnecessary or excessive force against protesters, prosecute suspected perpetrators, and remove any restrictions on speech, assembly or movement.”

Under international human rights standards, the police must always exercise restraint in using force, and ensure that any force used is necessary and proportional. Firearms may be used intentionally only as a last resort and when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.


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