Judicial harassment of human rights defender Kirity Roy
On 27 September 2008, at approximately 4pm, a police team comprising of three plain-clothes agents from the Kolkata Police Department entered the office of MASUM. The agents were looking for Kirity Roy who was absent from the office at that time. Consequently, the police team served a notice, under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedural Code, requesting that MASUM present documents to the police department in Lalbazar, Kolkata, in connection with Taltolla police investigation No. 134/2008.
Kirity Roy is an Indian civil rights activist working in West Bengal. As secretary of a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Serampore, Hoogly, near Kolkata, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), he has been documenting alleged state atrocities, particularly in Indo-Bangladesh bordering districts of West Bengal. In 2003, Kirity was elected to the board of Amnesty International India.
Kirity Roy is known for fighting against alleged state atrocities, where victims —often among India's poorest citizens— report extrajudicial killings, custodial death, rape, mysterious disappearances, and police torture. Kirity documented 118 cases in 2006, 469 in 2007, 210 in 2008.
Front Line is seriously concerned about the judicial harassment of Kirity Roy, the former president of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Howrah, Kolkata, West Bengal. On 27 September 2008, police entered the offices of MASUM searching for Kirity Roy and affidavits from the People's Tribunal on Torture (PTT), which is organised by the National Project on Preventing Torture in India (NPPTI).
On 27 September 2008, at approximately 4pm, a police team comprising of three plain-clothes agents from the Kolkata Police Department entered the office of MASUM. The agents were looking for Kirity Roy who was absent from the office at that time. Consequently, the police team served a notice, under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedural Code, requesting that MASUM present documents to the police department in Lalbazar, Kolkata, in connection with Taltolla police investigation No. 134/2008.
The documents relate to three reported victims of police torture who had sworn affidavits for the People's Tribunal on Torture (PTT) organised by the National Project on Preventing Torture in India (NPPTI). The NPPTI provides the framework for the PTT which aims to identify and bring about justice in cases of police torture. The PTTs were held around India between 2 April and 13 August 2008, and will be followed by a national PTT in Delhi in October.
On 9 June 2008 the Kolkata Police had initiated a case against Kirity Roy, the then president of MASUM and others for organising the People's Tribunal on Torture. On 12 June the police raided the office of MASUM, searching it for several hours. They seized a number of documents from the office. On 18 September 2008, MASUM had filed a Writ Petition (25022(W)/ 2008 Kirity Roy VS State of West Bengal & others) before the Honorable High Court, Kolkata, challenging the authority of the police, the Commissioner of Police of Kolkata and the State of West Bengal to institute the case against Kirity Roy.
Front Line believes that Kirity Roy and MASUM have been targeted as a result of their legitimate work in defence of human rights in particular their work to expose police torture. Front Line expresses its concern for the physical and psychological integrity of Kirity Roy and other members of MASUM.
