On behalf of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and Women in Security, Conflict Mitigation and Peace (WISCOMP); a Fact Finding Team comprising following personalities visited Kandhamal on 21st-24th January 2009.
Please find their Observation Report for your information appended as well as attached herewith.
Bhubaneswar, January 25, 2009
Observations of the team of WILPF and WISCOMP
The team visited Kandhamal between January 22 to January 24, 2009.
The objective of the visits to three relief camps has been through interviews with victims and talks with relevant authorities – that is the Director General of Police, Orissa, Mr. Manmohan Praharaj, and the Collector and District Magistrate, Dr. Krishan Kumar - to research the background for and results of the violent incidents in the Orissa state. However there were some preconditions for the interviews and talks as well as for this interim report.
The first precondition is that the focus from the very beginning was meant to be on women, not that we find the situation of men irrelevant, but because women as a group is more vulnerable in situations like this.
The second precondition is that the international community through the United Nations has different instruments in handling the interpretation of and the response to conflicts like the one we have witnessed in Kandhamal. The examples of those instruments will be three: The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and the UN Security Council Resolution 1820 on Sexual and Gender Based Violence during Conflict.
In the Preamble of CEDAW it is noted, "that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the principle of the inadmissibility of discrimination and proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex." One of the rights we are all entitled to is the right to chose one's own faith without being threatened let alone persecuted.
It is also stated "despite various instruments extensive discrimination against women continues to exist." This is also what we have found by interviewing women in the relief camps.
The third paragraph from the preamble says, "in situations of poverty women have the least access to food, health, education, training". This was probably already a fact for these rural women before they ended up in the camps, and there are strong reasons to believe that their situation is much worse now.
One article in the Convention is important to mention when talking about the women in the camps: Article 14 (b) Their right to "access to adequate health care facilities".
We found that these rights were not protected, and we recommend that those rights will be protected in the future.
As for UN Security Council 1325 a lot can be said, however in order to highlight a couple of things that we have found inadequately handled by the authorities – just these examples from the preamble: "women and children account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally displaced persons."
In the preamble is also stressed: "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building," and later: the need to increase women's "role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,"
Here we want to draw the attention to the fact that there are no women in the peace committees.
The last couple of things we will emphasize in 1325 is article eight where the SC "Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: (a) The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;" and article 10, which brings us also on to the SCR 1820: the SC "Calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;"
When talking to the DG and the Collector we asked if there had been incidents of sexual violence, and if so also rape. It seemed from those talks as well as the interviews with the victims that there had been such incidents.
In the preamble to the SCR 1820 it is noted that during conflicts "women and girls are particularly targeted by the use of sexual violence, including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group; and that sexual violence perpetrated in this manner in some instances may persist after the cessation of hostilities;". We asked if there were police women with relevant training ready to handle such serious cases. There are obviously not many women in the police, and apparently they don't get such a special training.
It is well known that many women are too traumatized to even mention let alone report a rape to the police. The shame and also stigmatizing from the society is a huge hindering, and the victims need to get help by trained people. We strongly recommend that resources are allocated to this important purpose, which is also in line with the last article we want to focus on, number 13 that, "Urges all parties (…) to support the development and strengthening of the capacities of national institutions, in particular of judicial and health systems, and of local civil society networks in order to provide sustainable assistance to victims of sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations;"
Observations on the Conditions in the Relief Camps:
With this background, we felt the need to look into the conditions of victims in the camps and the role of the government in addressing their needs. With the above mentioned objective, the team visited three camps. Out of the three camps, Tikabali camp was toured on Jan 22, 2009, and G.Udaigiri camp was toured on January 23, 2009 and both are main camps still running at the original site. The third camp Mandasur which was visited on January 24, 2009 is seen as a half way camp. It was originally a part of Raikia main camp. The government took a decision to create this half way camp hoping that victims could move to a site closer to their villages and begin to visit and interact with their village folks, facilitating reconciliation process. All victims in this camp are from villages located between 1-6 km from St. Vincent School, locale of the half way camp.
Conditions of Women
Women victims do not have adequate sanitation facility. The two main camps have vast number of tents. In each tent, 10-15 families were asked to reside. Young as well as old women have been staying without having an iota of privacy. None of these camps have separate bathrooms for women. They take bath in an open place. In one camp, we learnt one sari and a blouse were distributed in the beginning to each woman. For last five months, there is no arrangement of electricity in these camps. We expect some women friendly measures need to be taken to address the following issues: need for adequate lighting, securing their privacy, improved sanitation facilities, provisions for health care facilities, none exist now.
Observations on Food Supplies:
The victims are provided three meals a day which include a breakfast and two meals. Though in Mandasur camp no breakfast was served for last four days between January 21-24, 2009; and in Tikabali, bad quality jaggery was served. They are offered rice and dalma for their lunch and dinner which appears to be survival diet. Even after five months, no provision of nutrition appears to have been made. The kitchen place is located in unhygienic conditions. In Mandasur and G.Udaigiri camps, cows were roaming about in the place. Drinking water was found to be muddy and full of worms. We suggest all the above issues to be addressed on an urgent basis so that a better quality of food supply is maintained.
We were inundated with complaints about incomplete damage list. Some of these victims have made repeated plea before the Block Development Officer (BDO) to look into the matter. The District Collector has informed us in our meeting with him on January 23, 2009 that a decision has been made that the damages that have occurred between August 23rd and October 30th was incorporated in Official damage list. Any damage that is reported to have occurred beyond the above mentioned period could not be included in the official damage list. We met several victims who have damages inflicted during this period but their complaints were left out from the official list. We request another opportunity to be given to these victims to place the damage list before the government, and the reassessment of the financial assistance for these damages should also be made.
As the majority of victims are dependent on agriculture and related activities including rearing livestock which has been looted and burnt, the government ought to think of providing compensation for the loss.
In order to facilitate the return of victims to their respective villages, Peace Committee Meetings are organised by the government. We learnt from the victims who took part in peace committee meetings that Hindu majority population of their villages had placed many conditions (from 9-19) in order to let these victims enter their villages. These conditions include reconversion to Hinduism, vote for BJP, commitment not to eat beef, not to indulge in cow slaughter and often abide by everything that Hindu villagers want them to do. Victims were asked to withdraw First Information Reports (FIR) that they have lodged against the perpetrators of violence. In such cases, victims have resisted the decision of going back to their villages. In some cases, we were told few victims were re-converted to Hinduism and they returned to their homes in the villages.
In some Peace Committees people were asked to move to their houses and no conditions were laid down. It was reported that these committees were attended by Collector and other officers. Such Peace Committees and their outcome are most welcome. To continue this atmosphere, it is proposed that psycho-social inputs were made in those villages for some months to come. This could help reconciliation between the communities.
The victims, especially the women and children, even in the end of the month of January, i.e., five months after the mayhem occurred, appear to be traumatised. We were told by the District Collector, during our meeting, that psycho-social care was being provided. Unfortunately, we did not come across any evidence of such care. On the contrary, we found a number of women still wailing and depressed, unable to coherently express themselves. They also felt that their children were being neglected without proper food and care.
Tikabali and G. Udaygiri camps are located inside school premises. It has disoriented the students studying in those schools and so their learning is disturbed. For the children living in camps, the efforts of the state do not seem to bear fruits largely because the children are traumatised. We also noticed that in the half way camp at Mandasur the tutoring by teachers was disrupted. It would be helpful if the examination dates were postponed by at least six weeks, keeping in mind the trauma that the students have undergone and its aftermath. This was also the suggestion that we have received from their parents.
We gather the impression that the state officials are working on the deadline for the return of the victims to their villages on their own, without taking into consideration factors like prevailing conditions of ethnic tensions, and animosity among villagers. There is a very strong uneasiness among victims to return to their villages according to this deadline. Many of them have not returned to the villages at all. The current prevailing environment is very intimidating for these victims. In some cases we were told that when they visited their native villages, an alarm was set off by the Hindu community to alarm villagers that they were returning. Instead of arriving at one deadline, government should work out different deadlines in different villages keeping in mind the prevailing ethnic tensions in respective villages.
We appreciate setting up of special investigating teams to examine the crimes committed from August 23, 2008 onwards. It is suggested that the police force be trained into investigating sexual crimes in situations like this. We request setting up of the special fast-track courts to provide speedy justice to the victims because we do believe that justice is the cornerstone of all reconciliation efforts.
It was learnt during our visits that recently i.e., in last year there have been no conversions to Christianity. As we spoke to the victims, each one of them said that Christianity was practised in their family for last three to four generations. We, therefore, wonder whether the claim that there has been a rise in the number of Christians during last ten years is accurate. If there is any specific data available regarding this, we would like to study these data to make a sense of the conversion puzzle.
When we met the officers (such as Director General Police, Orissa, whom we met on January 21st, 2009), we were told that the causes of riots were very complex and required looking into ethnic dimensions, problems concerning land rights, conversion to Christianity, reconversion to Hinduism etc. But, their emphasis was not on the last two issues regarding religion. However, during our visits to the camps and dialogue with victims, we came to conclude that the only cause for violence was religion. This conclusion was arrived at after listening to the descriptions of what happened at the time of disruption of their lives. The crowds that attacked the Christians shouted pro-Hindu slogans, wore headbands denoting Hindu affiliation, identifying only Christians as their target, may they be Dalits or Tribals, Panas or Kandhs. This inter-religious conflict has to be addressed in order to bring peace to Kandhamal. Simultaneously, the government has to address issues concerning land rights.
The purpose of this exercise is not to put blame on anyone in particular or on the State in general. Our intention has been to identify the problems and facilitate the humanitarian solutions for the people in distress.
Dr. Annelise Ebbe, President of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF),
Dr. Ila Pathak, President, WILPF-India Section,
Dr. Jharna Pathak, Vice-President, WILPF, Gujarat, India Section,
Dr. Mujibur Rehman, representative, WISCOMP and Jamia Millia University, New Delhi
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). The team consists of Dr. Annelise Ebbe, President of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Dr. Ila Pathak, President, WILPF-India Section, Dr. Jharna Pathak, Vice-President, WILPF,Gujarat, India Section, Dr. Mujibur Rehman
