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PUDR: Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails / Statement by USCIRF

PUDR: Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails / Statement by USCIRF

Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails

10/09/2022

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Sep 10, 2022
On  8th September Vernon Gonsalves,  one of the 16 undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon case lodged in the anda cell of Taloja Central  Jail, was diagnosed with dengue and likely pneumonia.  Gonsalves age 65, had been suffering from fever since 30th August, but it took an appeal from his lawyer and the intervention of the Court for the Taloja Jail authorities to shift him to JJ Hospital for treatment. The fact that he was immediately put on oxygen support at the hospital, points to the apathy of the Jail authorities regarding the health of prisoners lodged in their custody.
The incident marked the two month anniversary of the Special Court rejecting Gautam Navlakha’s petition for a mosquito net. On 20th May the jail authorities had confiscated the mosquito nets of some inmates housed in the anda cell. Sagar Gorkhe and several others had gone on hunger strike expressing apprehensions about contracting malaria and dengue as Taloja is infested by mosquitos. The abysmal jail facilities and hostility of jail staff added to these fears which have all come true.
Read full statement

by The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (Sep 9):
+++ USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper: “We are relieved 65-year-old Dalit rights activist Vernon Gonsalves was finally able to receive medical care after being wrongfully denied it for over a week despite the severe deterioration of his health.” ++
+++ USCIRF Commissioner @StephenSchneck: “Medical neglect of prisoners of conscience like Gonsalves & others arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case continues despite the inhumane death of Father Stan Swamy. Pre-trial detention cannot be a de facto death sentence.” ++

Also read:
● NIA court rejects plea to use mosquito nets in prison (The Leaflet / July 2022)
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20)

Vernon Gonsalves Is Latest Victim of Prison Staff’s Medical Neglect

Vernon Gonsalves Is Latest Victim of Prison Staff’s Medical Neglect

NIA court demands explanation from Taloja authorities on delay of treatment

09/09/2022

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

Only on September 5 Gonsalves was shifted to prison hospital as his condition had worsened.
The special NIA court on Thursday directed the superintendent of the Taloja Jail to provide proper medical treatment to Vernon Gonsalves, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, who has been diagnosed with dengue.
It has also reprimanded the prison authority for failing to respond to Gonsalves’s plea for medical treatment till Thursday.
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Vernon Gonsalves Is Latest Victim of Prison Staff’s Medical Neglect

08/09/2022

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

JJ Hospital has confirmed that Gonsalves has been suffering from dengue for close to two weeks and that he could have developed pneumonia too.
Over 10 days ago, Vernon Gonsalves, a Mumbai-based human rights activist and one of the 16 persons arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, had a high-grade fever. He fainted several times in jail and at one point couldn’t move. The Taloja central prison staff, however, only administered him paracetamol and refused to refer him to a hospital.
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Vernon Gonsalves on oxygen support after contracting dengue in prison

08/09/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

His wife, lawyer Susan Abraham, told Scroll.in that the 65-year-old undertrial should have been admitted to hospital ‘long back’.
Activist Vernon Gonsalves, who is among those accused in the Elgar Parishad case, is on oxygen support in Mumbai’s JJ Hospital after contracting dengue in prison, his wife, lawyer Susan Abraham, told Scroll.in on Thursday.
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Pandu Narote’s Death: A Reminder of Stan Swamy’s Demise, GN Saibaba’s Struggles

08/09/2022

The Quint / by Mekhala Saran

When Pandu Narote died on 25 August, once again questions arose regarding the treatment of ailing inmates.
In February 2020, granting bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao, on medical grounds, the Bombay High Court had noted that “sending him back to prison is fraught with risk.”
… In May, 2021, while the second wave of COVID-19 wreaked devastation across the country, the family and friends of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, who have been lodged in Mumbai’s Taloja and Byculla jail, held a press conference drawing attention to the purportedly dangerous living conditions there. These included overcrowding, the lack of medical care, paucity of clean water, and flimsy access to basic human rights.
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► Also read/listen: Bhima Koregaon, COVID-19 And Custodial Apathy In Jails / Audio + Press Release (May 2021)
► Also read: Crowded Jails & COVID: 16 Bhima Koregaon Accused’s Kin Share Fears (The Quint / May 2021)

NIA court allows activist Jyoti Jagtap to receive books in prison

NIA court allows activist Jyoti Jagtap to receive books in prison

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Judge Rajesh J Kataria directed the Byculla jail superintendent to verify the books before handing them over to her.
A special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai on Monday allowed activist Jyoti Jagtap to receive five educational or general books every month inside the city’s Byculla prison, PTI reported.
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Also read:
● Yet to get money from Maharashtra govt to buy new books for library as asked by HC, say Taloja prison authorities (MidDay / July 2022)
● Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and Hany Babu denied books in jail, lawyer tells court (Scroll.in / Dec 2022)

Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail

Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail

Drawing by Arun Ferreira
Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Scroll.in / by Umang Poddar

They are often denied items of food and clothing that other inmates are allowed to access.
Over the past few weeks, prison authorities in Maharashtra have denied basic amenities such as mosquito nets and telephone facilities to undertrials in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, which pertains to caste violence as well as an alleged attempt to assassinate the prime minister. Nearly five years later, even as independent reports have pointed to the fact that the electronic devices of the accused were hacked using military-grade spyware available only to governments, the trial in the case is yet to begin.
Read more

Also read:
● Sipper and straw, to mosquito nets and phone calls: Elgar accused in court for relief (The Indian Express / Jul 2022)
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20)

On 5th birthday in jail, friends wish for Shoma Sen’s release

On 5th birthday in jail, friends wish for Shoma Sen’s release

Shoma Sen

Times of India / by Shishir Arya

“On your 5th birthday in incarceration, Shoma…we will fight for justice,” says a post by Tusharkanti Bhattacharya, for his wife who is one of the 16 accused in Bhima Koregaon case. With the message he also posted her picture that was published in a Bengali journal Azaadi which carried an article on various political prisoners.
On Monday, Shoma Sen, a Nagpur University professor when arrested five years ago, turned 64.
Read more

Also read:
● Part 1: ‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’ (Rediff.com / May 2022)
● Part 2: When Your Mother Is In Prison… (Rediff.com / May 2022)
● Part 3:’I have to get Ma out of prison’ (Rediff.com / June 2022)

4,484 People Died in Police Custody Since 2020: Govt Data

4,484 People Died in Police Custody Since 2020: Govt Data

The Swaddle / by Saumya Kalia

To what extent can impunity and oppression be quantified? An answer can be found in the chambers of the Lok Sabha, where the Union government on Tuesday shared data on the rise of custodial deaths in India. At least 4,484 people died in police custody over the last two years, with the state of Uttar Pradesh recording the highest share of custodial deaths. Overall, India’s documented custodial violence has steadily increased, with there being at least 2,544 cases in the last year itself.
Read more

Also read
● How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in / Aug 2021)
● Women prisoners recount Jail Horror Stories – Rape and torture common in jail (ICP / Jan 2019)

NIA argues against Gautam Navlakha’s bail application, State denies him telephonic facility

NIA argues against Gautam Navlakha’s bail application, State denies him telephonic facility

NIA argues against Gautam Navlakha’s bail application, State denies him telephonic facility

23/07/2022

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

On July 22, Special Public Prosecutor for National Investigation Agency (‘NIA’), Prakash Shetty, argued against the bail application of journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The application was being heard before the NIA’s special court in Mumbai, by special judge Dinesh E. Kothalikar.
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State denies phone call facility to jailed activist Gautam Navlakha

21/07/2022

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

The state prison authorities on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court (HC) that Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha, booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), cannot be permitted telephone calls from prison as per the existing rules
The state prison authorities on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court (HC) that Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha, booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), cannot be permitted telephone calls from prison as per the existing rules.
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Can’t let Gautam Navlakha make calls from jail, Maharashtra government tells HC

20/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The state government’s lawyer told the court that the activist could not be given the facility as he was facing charges of terrorism.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday opposed activist Gautam Navlakha’s request to make phone calls from prison, PTI reported.
Read more

Also read:
● NIA court rejects plea to use mosquito nets in prison (The Leaflet / July 2022)

Yet to get money from Maharashtra govt to buy new books for library, say Taloja prison authorities

Yet to get money from Maharashtra govt to buy new books for library, say Taloja prison authorities

Midday.com / by pti

The authorities of Maharashtra government to purchase more books for library as ordered by the Bombay High Court during a hearing of a bail plea filed by activist Anand Teltumbe.
Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case, is currently lodged in Taloja jail.
The prison authorities had refused a book by British author P G Wodehouse to Teltumbde in April this year, and was then directed by the high court to spruce up the library of the prison.
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Chidambaram: ‘Process is the Punishment’ / A former SC judge on the decay in the criminal justice system

Chidambaram: ‘Process is the Punishment’ / A former SC judge on the decay in the criminal justice system

P Chidambaram writes: ‘Process is the Punishment’

24/07/2022

The Indian Express / by P Chidambaram

P Chidambaram writes: Why are the accused denied bail? Pre-charge evidence, framing of charges, trial and arguments will — not may, it is will — take many years. Should the accused be in jail until the trial is over? Is pre-trial incarceration a substitute for trial, proof, conviction and punishment?
… In current times, there is no story more shocking than the story of the 16 accused in what is known as the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Liberty is too precious to be lost: A former SC judge on the decay in the criminal justice system

22/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Madan B Lokur

A starting point can be making some trial judges realise that they need to stop acting as a rubber stamp of the police in matters of arrest.
“What’s going on?” a young lady asks quizzically in a television advertisement. The same question must be asked of criminal justice and India’s prisons.
Bail, not jail has been reduced to a mere slogan to be whispered once in a while. The reality is jail, not bail. Another reality is that innocent until proven guilty has been transformed to guilty until proven innocent.
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Denied cot, Anand Teltumbde moves court

Denied cot, Anand Teltumbde moves court

Times of India / by TNN

Academician Anand Teltumbde has moved the special NIA court seeking that a showcause notice be issued to Taloja jail authorities for not providing him with a cot despite the court’s orders.
Teltumbde’s plea also said after the court’s order earlier this month, he was shifted to the hospital ward from the anda cell. It said it seemed like the jail authorities were using the hospital ward as prisoner holding cell to avoid complying with the court’s orders.
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