Tribunal Sees State Complicity In Orissa Violence

ICC Note

Hindu radicals carried out attacks against Christians in Orissa in which about 100 Christians were killed and more than 55,000 displaced. Indian officials failed to protect the Christians and bring the perpetrators to justice.

08/24/2010 India (CathNewsIndia)-A people’s tribunal on Orissa riots concluded today in Delhi holding the state and Hindu radicals responsible for the violence and the continued miseries of the victims of the anti-Christian violence.

The three-day National People’s Tribunal (NPT) on Kandhamal was an initiative of National Solidarity Forum, a nationwide platform of NOGs and social activists across India.

The tribunal sought ways to ensure justice for the victims of violence in Kandhamal, which witnessed an upsurge of violence against the minority Christians in 2008.

The tribunal heard testimonies of murder, torture and sexual assault from 43 victim-survivors. Many of them also spoke about how they have been forced to disown their faith as the price for returning to the villages.

On the basis of the testimonies, the tribunal concluded the state of Orissa was responsible for the continued violence. The violence “was the consequence of the subversion of constitutional governance in which state agencies were complicit,” the tribunal said in its interim report.

The jury panel, which included senior judges such as retired Delhi High Court Justice A. P. Shah, recorded with “shock and deep concern” the “brutal manner” in which Christians were attacked.

It found evidence of “a shocking level of institutional bias” on the part of the state agencies, leading to their collusion in the violence and connivance in efforts to block the subsequent processes of justice and accountability.

The tribunal recommended that officials who held positions of in the district during the violence, be scrutinized and strict disciplinary action taken if they were found aiding the crime.

…