Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

Extrajudicial Killings in Asia

In India, 17 persons lost their lives in Tirunelveli Town, South Tamil Nadu in July 1999. This was due to brutal police attack. According to reports, the deaths were due to injuries suffered due to brutal police beatings. The victims were Dalits who were participants in a procession demanding solution to a wage dispute and release of some workers who were in jail. The police used ÔlathiÕ and charged and chased them into the nearby river. The more serious injuries were alleged to have been caused when the police attacked the swimmers on the head while they were trying to reach the river banks. The human rights group inquiring into the incident found an enormous amount of evidence including press reports,.documents, statements, photographs and video coverage.

Another type of extra-judicial killings that has been taking place in India is the ÒencounterÓ killings. The victims of such killings are usually persons who have been arrested for committing serious crimes. The victim is then alleged to have tried to escape from police custody and in the process, was shot by the police. Human rights groups which have collected evidence of these cases often have found evidence to question the alleged stories of attempted escapes. Due to the increase of crime, a mass mood of insecurity has developed, particularly in the major towns. In this situation any form of suppression of crimes, even by extra-judicial means, is accepted by the community. One of the towns where large numbers of encounter killings have taken place is Mumbai (earlier known as Bombay).

In Sri Lanka, the extra judicial killings take many forms. There are over thirty thousand cases of officially recognised disappearances. A commission inquiring into cases of disappearances cases has stated that disappearances in Sri Lanka is simply another name for killings after arrests. Besides the officially recognised disappearances of the past, there are also large numbers of disappearances taking place in the areas where armed conflict is going on. This is in the North and in the East. There are also many instances where alleged terrorists taken into custody are later found to have been killed. Besides these, there are reports from many parts of the country, of alleged criminals being found dead after arrest. As in the case of India, the explanation is often that they have tried to escape arrest or have tried to resist arrest. However the public perception is that the disposal of persons who are alleged to be well known criminals, is taking place in this manner as a way of elimination of criminals.

There are reports from Nepal, of killings of persons alleged to be Maoist insurgents, or their sympathisers and family members. These persons are often arrested and thereafter go missing or are found to be dead. Such killings are the result of harsh measures adopted to suppress rebel movements. In recent years, the incidents of disappearance form custody and extra-judicial killings have become serious problems in Nepal. The Supreme Court of Nepal has made a few Habeas Corpus orders, but they have not been complied to by the state mechanism. Independence of the judiciary and the rule of law are therefore seriously jeopardised. Besides this there are also reports about incidents which are similar to encounter killings in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

There are also reports from the Philippines of killings after arrests. These are also killings of alleged criminals and the explanations regarding the killings are similar to the explanations of the encounter killings given in countries mentioned above.

Indonesia is another country where there are many instances of killing of those who are alleged to be rebels. Even after the fall of the Suharto regime there are many instances where human rights NGOs have investigated extra-judicial killings of rebels.

Extra judicial killings is a matter of serious concern. A matter that needs to receive greater international attention is the justification of killing of persons after arrest, either on the grounds thet they belong to rebel movements or that they are alleged to be serious criminals. There seems to be a tacit agreement among some law enforcement agencies that when it comes to serious crimes the judicial process of fair trial can be dispensed with and that immediate actions can be taken on their own. Given the large scale happenings on this score, the attention of the international community needs to be very much concentrated on this matter. The abuse of the international doctrines against terrorists by the law enforcement agencies so as to suspend any form of legal rights, to persons who are alleged as terrorists should be condemned by the international forums. This also applies to anti-crime drives. The anti-crime drives which lead to justification or suspension of judicial processes could have extremely serious effects on the society as a whole and lead to break down of law and order altogether.