Binayak Sen - Misplaced Pages

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Dr Binayak Sen is a paediatrician, public health specialist, political activist and national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) based in Chhattisgarh state, India. Dr Sen is noted for extending health care to the poorest people, monitoring the health and nutrition status of the people of Chhattisgarh, and defending the human rights of tribal and other poor people. In May 2007, he was detained for allegedly violating the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. In December 2007, his bail petition was rejected by the Supreme Court of India . His trial commenced on 30 April 2008. He remains in prison.

Career

Sen was an active political activist of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha from the early eighties. Dr. Sen helped to set up the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha's Shaheed Hospital.. The hospital is owned and operated by a workers' organization. Dr. Sen and his wife, Dr. Ilina Sen, are the founders of Rupantar, a community-based nongovernmental organization that has trained, deployed and monitored the work of community health workers spread throughout 20 villages. Rupantar's activities include initiatives to counter alcohol abuse and violence against women and to promote food security. Dr. Sen is an advisor to Jan Swasthya Sahyog, a health care organization committed to developing a low-cost, effective, community health programme in the tribal and rural areas of Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh. He was also a member of the state advisory committee. He started a community based health worker programme across Chhattisgarh, later known as the Mitanin programme. He also gives his services to a weekly clinic in a tribal community.

Human rights and peace

Dr Sen is the National Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and General Secretary of its Chhattisgarh unit.

In his PUCL capacity, he has helped to organize numerous fact finding missions into human rights violations. He participated in investigations which drew attention to severe human rights violations including murder of innocent civilians. Sen has been noted for his advocacy of peaceful methods. In an interview with reporter Purnima S. Tripathi of the magazine Frontline in March 2006, he said of the violence in Chhattisgarh: "These senseless killings are unfortunate and must stop and both sides should sit down to talk and find a way to peace." (Frontline, Volume 23, Issue 05 : March 11 - 24, 2006).

Awards and Honours

Dr Sen was the recipient in 2004 of the Paul Harrison award for a lifetime of service to the rural poor. This award is given annually by Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, to its alumni.

Dr. Sen was awarded the R.R. Keithan Gold Medal by The Indian Academy of Social Sciences (ISSA) on 31 December 2007. The citation describes him as "one of the most eminent scientists" of India. "The award is for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of science of Nature-Man-Society and his honest and sincere application for the improvement of quality of life of the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed people of Chhattisgarh." His "suffering and personal risk" would inspire scientists as well as the general public for a very long time, according to the citation.

Dr. Sen was selected for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008,.

Arrest

On 14 May 2007, Sen was arrested in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh state, India. Sen was detained on charge of passing letters from Narayan Sanyal, a Naxalite leader who he had been treating medically in the Raipur jail to Pijush Guha who was under detention since 1 May.

Sen was detained under provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006 (CSPSA), and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967), which was amended in 2004 to include key aspects of the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA), 2002. On 19 May 2007, the police searched Sen's house. On 22 May 2007, Sen appeared in court again and was sent on judicial remand to Raipur Central Jail until 5 June, 2007. The Court passed an order that Dr. Sen's computer, would be examined by a government expert in the presence of the District Head of the National Informatics Centre and a lawyer - with knowledge of computers - representing Sen. Sen protested against attempts to handcuff him, and the court ordered that he should not be handcuffed. Sen's lawyers then moved a bail application. On 7 June 2007, Ilina Sen in her submission to the National Human Rights Commission alleged that no "chargesheet" against Dr. Binayak Sen has been filed so far.

On 11 April 2008, it was alleged that Dr. Binayak Sen had been subjected to solitary confinement for nearly a month. According to a press statement, "Though Dr Sen's status as a regular prisoner has now been restored, following widespread protests against the move, activists have called for a thorough official investigation of the fact that he was kept in isolation for nearly a month. Police officials in Raipur have justified their action by claiming Dr. Sen was kept in isolation 'for his own security' but failed to explain the nature or source of the threat to him."

On 21 April 2008, the Global Health Council announced that Dr. Binayak Sen was selected for the highest international honour in Global Health and Human Rights, the Jonathan Mann Award 2008. The Mann Award is presented annually at the Global Health Councils international conference to "a practitioner who makes significant contributions toward practical work in the field and in difficult circumstances; highlights the linkage of health with human rights; works predominantly in developing countries and with marginalized people; and demonstrates serious and long-term commitment.".

The Global Health Council and several prominent global health organizations issued a statement of support for Dr. Sen, requesting that Indian authorities assure the restoration of due process, and find the means to allow the doctor to receive his award in person in Washington, DC on May 29th, 2008, at the 35th Annual International Conference on Global Health. Rajendra K. Sail, state president of PUCL, is reported to have said: "The Chhattisgarh government will get exposed before the world soon for targeting human rights activists, mainly from PUCL, under the cover of black laws such as the CSPSA (Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006), for carrying out campaign against fake civilians encounters, arrests and committing crimes against humanity through Salwa Judum. I have maintained since Sen's arrest last May that the Chhattisgarh government has no evidence against him. We challenge the government to bring charges against him under the Criminal Procedure Code and not hide behind the black laws."

In an interview with NDTV, Ilina Sen alleged that he has been isolated from the world during his year of imprisonment, with access to only one newspaper which is pro-government. On 29 April 2008, Human Rights Watch in New York issued a public statement regarding the trial of Dr. Sen due to begin in Raipur on 30 April 2008: "the district court’s limit of one supporter of the defendant at the trial is unnecessarily restrictive and raises broader concerns about the fairness of the trial."

On 12 May 2008, twenty-one Nobel laureates from around the world wrote to India's President and Prime Minister and Chhattisgarh state authorities. They said Dr Sen should be allowed to travel to the US to receive the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. "We also wish to express grave concern that Dr Sen appears to be incarcerated solely for peacefully exercising his fundamental human rights," the letter said. This is "in contravention of Articles 19 (freedom of opinion and expression) and 22 (freedom of association) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - to which India is a state party - and that he is charged under two internal security laws that do not comport with international human rights standards," it added.

Worldwide condemnation of arrest

Protests against Dr Sen's arrest have been led by prominent personalities such as Noam Chomsky, Amartya Sen, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy, retired judge Rajinder Sachar of the Delhi High Court, film maker Shyam Benegal and many eminent medical professors and scientists in India, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia. Many Indian human rights groups have protested the arrest. On 24 May 2007, Amnesty International issued a Public Statement supporting Sen. On 7 June 2007, the British House of Commons moved an Early Day Motion entitled "Arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen" supported by several Members of Parliament across party lines, including Diane Abbott (Labour), Peter Bottomley (Conservative), John Hemming (Liberal Democrat), Dai Davies (Independent, Wales), Mike Weir (Scottish NP), among others.. It concluded by calling for Dr. Sen's immediate release and an end to the harassment of the other human rights defenders in the state.

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