Seeking NHRC to intervent in the Akhil Gogoi case

21st July 2020, Imphal

To,
Mr. Debindra Kundra,
Focal Point - Human Rights Defenders & Assistant Registrar,
National Human Rights Commission,
Manav Adhikar Bhawan,
Block-C, GPO Complex, INA,
New Delhi – 110 023
Email: hrd-nhrc@nic.in

Dear Sir,

Sub: Update in Case No. 36/3/24/2020 – Seeking NHRC to Exercise PHRA S.12 (b) to Intervene in Court Proceedings for Bail to HRDs Akhil Gogoi and Others

Greetings from Human Rights Defenders Alert - India!

We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the continued arrest of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) activists and HRDs Mr. Akhil Gogoi, Mr. Bitu Sonowal and Mr. Dhajya Konwar - since last eight months in Guwahati Central Jail, Assam. All three have recently tested positive for the dreaded COVID19 disease and are being treated.

Mr. Gogoi and others have been in judicial custody since from December 2019 at the Central Jail, Guwahati, following their arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). They were arrested for bring critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and booked for “waging a war against the nation”, conspiracy, rioting and nexus with Maoists.

According to sources, Mr. Gogoi was ill for more than a week in early July, showing COVID-19 symptoms along with pre-existing health complications like diabetes, kidney and other problems. However, it was only when Mr. Gogol’s legal team filed an appeal at the NIA special court, that an interim order was passed by the NIA court- which ordered Guwahati Central Jail authority for COVID test of the KMSS leaders.

Only then the first tests were conducted on 07 July, 2020. While Mr. Akhil Gogoi tested negative in the first test which was sent to Delhi, he tested positive for corona virus in the second test on July 10, 2020, 72 hours later.

The NIA court ordered the jail authorities to submit a report on the health status of the KMSS leaders and Mr. Gogoi was admitted to the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on the July 10, 2020.

Mr. Sonowal and Mr. Konwar, two other KMSS activists who are close associates of Mr. Gogoi and also in jail, were also found to be positive on July 8, 2020, and taken to a COVID-19 facility in the city. The local media reported that both of them were made to wait on the rooftop of one government hospital before finally being admitted to GMCH.

It is pertinent to mention here that media reports say that 55 inmates inside the jail, have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Kamrup district administration on July 10, 2020, declared the Central Jail in Guwahati as a containment zone.

We urge the NHRC to direct the governments of Assam and India to release Mr. Gogoi, Mr. Sonowal and Mr. Konwar on bail from prison due to their COVID positive status. We believe that their lives will be in great danger in a COVID containment zone.

We urge the NHRC to exercise Section 12 (b) of the Protection of Human Rights Act and place its opinion before the concerned court.

We thank you in anticipation.

Sd/-
Henri Tiphagne
Human Rights Defenders Alert - India

Babloo Loitongbam
Human Rights Alert – Manipur
Kwakeithel Thiyam Leikai
Imphal – 795001,
Manipur, India