India: Two Indigenous activists face life imprisonment
Adivasi activists Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal have been arrested for their role in the resistance to forced acquisition of land for a steel plant. Both men also face numerous other cases, some of which are with regard to alleged actions ten years ago. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment.
UA: 3/18 Index: ASA 20/7690/2018 India Date: 18 January 2018
URGENT ACTION
TWO INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS FACE LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Adivasi activists Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal have been arrested for their role in
the resistance to forced acquisition of land for a steel plant. Both men also face
numerous other cases, some of which are with regard to alleged actions ten years ago. If
convicted, they could face life imprisonment.
Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal were arrested on 18 and 19 December 2017 respectively, in relation to a
criminal case registered against them in 2010 for their peaceful activism. Both are indigenous residents of Dhinkia
village in Odisha state in eastern India. They are two of many residents of Jagatsinghpur district who have been
active in resisting the efforts of the government to forcibly acquire farmland and common land for a plant previously
proposed by steel giant POSCO. Accused of numerous offences including rioting, criminal intimidation, attempt to
murder and unlawful assembly, they are currently being held in the Kujang sub-jail in Jagatsinghpur, while their bail
pleas are pending at the district court. If convicted, both could face life imprisonment.
The First Information Report on the basis of which the activists were arrested relates to an incident on 15 May 2010
when the police used tear gas and batons to disperse about 1,000 peasant protestors, some of whom threw stones
at the police. The report does not mention any names. On several previous occasions, anti-steel plant activists in
the region have been arrested on politically motivated charges. Amnesty International believes the charges against
Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal to be politically motivated as well.
Both Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal are active members of a local resistance group called POSCO Pratirodh
Sangram Samiti (PPSS) which was founded after the announcement by POSCO in 2005 that it would open
operations in the area. Indigenous residents of the area have organised peaceful protests to call for an end to
forcible land acquisition and the destruction of forests and vineyards. From 2006 to 2014, over 2000 indigenous
villagers, including Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal, had criminal cases filed against them after they exercised
their right to freedom of expression.
Please write immediately in English or your own language urging the authorities to immediately:
Release Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal, and drop all politically motivated charges against them;
Drop all politically motivated criminal cases against other activists, and end the repression of communities
in the project area;
Process individual and community forest rights claims before putting the acquired land to any other use.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 1 MARCH 2018 TO:
Chief Minister of Odisha
Naveen Patnaik
Odisha Secretariat
3
rd
Floor
Bhubaneshwar-751001
Odisha, India
Phone: +91674-2530700
Email: cmodisha@nic.in
Salutation: Dear Chief Minister
Minister of Home Affairs
Rajnath Singh
17 Akbar Road
New Delhi 110001
India
Fax: +91 11 23014184
Email: 38ashokroad@gmail.com
Salutation: Dear Minister
And copies to:
District Superintendent of Police
Jai Narayan Pankaj
Jagatsingpur Police Station
Jagatsinghpur,
Odisha 754103, India
Fax: +916724-220570
Email: spjsp.orpol@nic.in
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
URGENT ACTION
TWO INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS FACE LIFE IMPRISONMENT
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
In June 2005, South Korean steel company POSCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of
Odisha to invest in a project consisting of iron ore mines (an integrated steel plant) and a captive port, in Jagatsinghpur district
of Odisha. Much of the land that was proposed to be used for the project is common land – village property that falls under the
authority of local bodies – containing betel vineyards that many families depended on for their livelihoods. Local activists say
that state authorities have consistently failed to recognize local communities’ individual and community rights over common
lands, as recognized under the historic Forest Rights Act 2006. Many villagers said that they had submitted forest rights claims
to local authorities, but these claims were not processed. According to PPSS, the local resistance group, 2000 acres (8 km
2
) of
common land were forcibly taken over by the government in 2011. In 2013, an additional 700 acres (2.8 km
2
) of common land
were taken over in Dhinkia village. Residents were not consulted or given adequate notice, and those who refused
compensation had their land seized without their consent.
Since the MoU was signed, the project has faced staunch resistance from local communities’ as well serious questions from
human rights and environmental groups on its social and environmental impacts. Village assemblies in the affected areas have
passed numerous resolutions prohibiting the use of land for the POSCO-India project. In June 2013, a report by ESCR-Net
highlighted several human rights abuses linked to the project, and called for it to be suspended. In October 2013, eight
independent UN human rights experts, including the UN Special Rapporteurs on adequate housing, the right to food, the right to
health and freedom of peaceful assembly, called for a halt to the project, citing serious human rights concerns, including the
impact of forced evictions on livelihoods, access to natural resources, and fabricated criminal charges. In 2015, following an
international outcry over the environmental and human rights risks of projects run by POSCO, Norges Bank decided to exclude
the company from the investment universe of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global. In March 2017, POSCO stated
that it was withdrawing from the project and requested the Odisha government to take back the land transferred to the company.
However an Indian steel company, JSW Steel Limited, shortly afterwards announced its plans to open operations in the area.
Local resistance to the proposed plans are mounting following the ongoing construction of a boundary wall for the new project,
without the settling of forest rights claims to the lands. Local activists fear that the arrests of Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal,
citing old cases from the POSCO era, will be first in a series of a tactics to quash future peaceful protest.
Name: Judhishtira Jena and Babula Samal
Gender m/f: m
UA: 3/18 Index: ASA 20/7690/2018 Issue Date: 18 January 2018