India: Continued harassment of human rights defender Ajimuddin Sarkar

The Observatory has been informed about the continued harassment of Mr Ajimuddin Sarkar, a District Human Rights Monitor with the NGO Banglar Manabadhikar Surksha Mancha (MASUM) in Murshidabad District, West Bengal State, since 2011. In this capacity, he has been working relentlessly to defend the human rights of local communities, particularly the right to health and the right to an adequate standard of living. He has carried out nearly 200 missions to monitor human rights violations occurring in the border areas between India and Bangladesh, assisting victims in filing complaints and in seeking justice, and documenting cases of torture, extrajudicial killings, human trafficking, violence against women and children, and deaths in custody.

On June 27, 2024, after returning home to Bardhanpur Village, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, after attending a court hearing in Lalbagh, Murshidabad district, in a case in which he was involved, Ajimuddin Sarkar noticed the presence of four police cars outside his house. The cars left as soon as they saw Mr Sarkar approaching. He was later informed by his family members that an altercation had occurred between some residents from Chuyapara village, Murshidabad district, and Mr Sarkar’s older brother, during which the residents threatened to submit false complaints against Mr Sarkar for “breach of modesty and honour of women”. Mr Sakar has reasons to believe that these actions were instigated by members of the Raninagar Police Station in retaliation for his human rights monitoring activities, as it already occurred in the past (see paragraph below). Following the incident, Mr Sarkar received confirmation that such a complaint had already been filed against him at Raninagar Police Station. He reported the acts of harassment to both the Inspector in Charge of Raninagar Police Station and the Superintendent of Police in Murshidabad. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, no corrective measures have been taken by these institutions to protect Mr Sarkar.

The Observatory recalls that Ajimuddin Sarkar has suffered from several acts of judicial harassment by local authorities in retaliation for his human rights work. In 2013, he was brutally tortured by Raninagar Police while in their custody. Mr Sarkar was arbitrarily arrested and detained for several months twice, in 2014 and 2015. To date, he faces five different criminal proceedings – alone or together with others – with trumped-up charges ranging from “possession of illegal substances”, to “attempt to commit culpable homicide”, “sexual assault” and violation of the 1967 Passports Act. Complaints have been lodged with the National Human Rights Commission of India, to no avail.

The Observatory condemns the judicial harassment against Mr Sarkar, which seems to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities, and openly contravenes India's international obligations regarding the protection of human rights defenders.

The Observatory urges the Indian authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr Sarkar and to guarantee that all human rights defenders in the country are able to carry out their legitimate human rights work without any hindrance or fear of reprisals.