A Supreme Court Bench headed by CJI SA Bobade has issued notice in a petition seeking release of those detainees who have completed two years in Assam’s detention camps. There are six detention camps in Assam, all housed in district prisons, in which currently there are about 800 inmates. These detention camps house persons who have been “declared foreigner” by a Foreigners Tribunal.

The petitioner, Raju Bala Das, who himself is a detainee himself, has completed 2 years in detention and has appealed to the apex court to consider the issue of over-crowding in these detention centres which should be a matter of concern given the health crisis in the country due to COVID19 pandemic. While people are being advised to practice social distancing to save themselves from being infected by the novel corona virus, detainees are forced to live cheek-by-jowl in these camps. The petition states that the court should take into consideration the unhygienic and crowded living conditions in detention camps especially when there is no chance of the declared foreigners being deported in such times.

This petition comes close at the heels of another representation filed by an organization called “Justice and Liberty Initiative” seeking unconditional release of all the detainees languishing in detention camps. This plea had stated, “being human beings they also have at least the basic right to live and to not die of COVID-91 in the precincts of a prison, which has despicable living conditions”. It pointed out that the detainees are neither criminals, nor a threat to the society.

In May 2019, the Supreme Court had already given an order for release of detainees who have completed three years or more in detention camp. This release was however, conditional on execution of bond with two sureties of Rs. One lakh from Indian citizens and on providing verifiable address after release. After this order was passed, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) was successful in seeking release of eleven such detainees. This includes a family of three, husband, wife and son detained in Tezpur detention camp. Owing to poverty, Jainuddin, Hajira Bibi, and Kamal Ali were unable to file any bail application and CJP fought long and hard to help them get released. Further, two brothers, Samsul Ali and Abdur Rashid were also released from detention after CJP’s Assam team battled legal formalities for four months.

While these detainees have been fortunate enough to be released, there are as many as 802 people still living in detention camps, away from their families. Yesterday, a woman inmate, Robida Begum (60) died of cancer in the Kokrajhar detention camp. With her death, the toll has risen to 30 deaths since 2016. Her daughter is also an inmate of the same detention camp.

When even prisoners, who have been punished for criminal acts, are being released on parole, these detainees who are living in civil prisons in deplorable conditions feel they deserve to be released without having to go through tedious legal formalities in these times of crisis. Now that the apex court has issued notice to the government, there is still a ray of hope for these detainees. The court has scheduled the hearing for April 13.

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The post Assam Detention Camps: Another plea in SC seeking release of those who have served two years behind bars appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Government recently admitted that as on November 28, there are 970 detainees in 6 detention centres in Assam. On the same question asked a few days ago the government had revealed that there were 988 detainees in Assam as of November 22. Eighteen detainees released in six days ?

The data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs also revealed that there are 646 males and 324 females among these detainees, with Kokrajhar having the maximum number of women.

The government also claimed that men and women are kept in separate rooms and are provided with sufficient essential and basic facilities. It also claimed that the detainees are living with human dignity and they are allowed to meet their family and legal advisors without any restriction to this regard.

Earlier, the government had claimed, “All the basic facilities including medical care facilities are provided to foreigners in the detention centres in Assam. Basic facilities include food, clothing, daily newspapers, television facilities in every ward, sports facilities, performance of cultural programs, library, yoga and meditation. Apart from regular health checkups, indoor hospital facilities in every detention centres are also available with medical staff. Medicines are provided by the district Health Services Authorities.”

Reality check

However, these tall claims of the government fall flat when one hears stories from the ground, from the people released from detention camps, who have a completely different story to tell. MajiburRahman who was recently released from a detention camp said, “The food was of a poor quality and my health deteriorated significantly during the course of my incarceration,”

A woman named, Rashminara Begum, who was pregnant and rearing a child at the time of her detention, recounted the horrors of living in a detention camp after having been released. She said that they were kept in the company of murder convicts and she constantly feared for her life and the life of her unborn child. She also recounted how one mentally challenged woman amongst the detainees was beaten up once for demanding food after the time for serving food was over and the prison staff instructed the murder convicts to beat her up!

Subrata Dey was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Goalpara detention camp leaving behind his wife Karuna, teenaged son Biki, young daughter Sucheta and mother Anima Dey.

His family was dependent on the income from his modest tea shop but now they are living hand to mouth with whatever they could earn by making and selling cloth bags. All four of them have been also excluded from the final NRC.

Related:

28 deaths in detention camps, detainees down from 1043 to 988 in 9 days: Assam

Seven Detainees of Bongaigaon District released from Goalpara Detention camp

High level committee visited Kokrajhar Detention camp

“There are detention camps only in Assam, but Centres being set up in States/UT”: MHA

Assam man forced to rot in Detention Camp for over 3 years

Stories from beyond: NRC victims share their plight

Jailed in Detention Camp despite being Pregnant with one child and Breastfeeding another

The post Assam: Detainees in camps down from 988 to 970 in 6 days appeared first on SabrangIndia.