Amnesty International has condemned the police "crackdown" on and arrests of the University of Hyderabad students, and demanded their immediate release.
Amnesty International India has condemned the police "crackdown" on and arrests of the "peacefully protesting" University of Hyderabad (UoH/HCU) students and faculty, and demanded their immediate release.
25 students and two faculty members among the protesters have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Vice-Chancellor's office, and have been booked for rioting, criminal intimidation and damage to public property. If found guilty, they could be imprisoned for up to seven years.
"Violence against protesting students in a university cannot under any circumstances be justified. Allegations of sexual violence and threats by the police to women students must also be investigated, and those suspected of being responsible must be prosecuted," said Aakar Patel, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.
"Any protesters who can legitimately be charged for acts of violence or vandalism must be prosecuted and tried in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards. Male police officers brutally grabbed, molested, tossed and beat female students and faculty members alike," Patel added.
Several students made similar allegations.
"Female faculty members were grabbed by their hair and dragged into vans. Male students were swept inside the van and were beaten mercilessly," said Vaikhari Aryat, a UoH student, in her Facebook post.
Akshita Chitla, another UoH student, told Amnesty that she was dragged outside from the VC office where she was protesting. "Police told us not to behave like prostitutes, and threatened us with rape. Most of my friends, who were girls, were slapped and kicked by male and female police officers," she added.
Speaking to mediapersons on Friday, the HCU Students JAC, too, demanded an independent investigation into the "excessive use of police force".
It alleged that on March 22, lathi-wielding police beseiged and attacked protesting students on the UoH campus. It claimed that the students were peacefully protesting against the return of Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, whom the students hold responsible for the suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in January.
Udaya Bhanu, a UoH student and president of the Madiga Students Federation, was one of many students admitted to a hospital because of the police assault. He said that there were injuries all across his body, including a blood clot in his ear, and that the doctors suspected internal bleeding.
"Yesterday there were no food and water on the campus. So we decided to help the protesting students by arranging food and water for them. While we were bringing food packets, the police spotted us and said that we were encouraging the protesting students. They started beating us up and threatened us if we supported the protesting students," said Udaya from the hospital.
Patel endorsed that. "On Tuesday evening, the University Of Hyderabad authorities closed the gates to the campus, preventing the protesters from accessing essential supplies. It was only on Thursday morning, in response to some students underlining human rights violations, that the university authorities restored such essential supplies. Students have a right to protest. Denying students electricity, water and food merely because they are protesting is unacceptable," he said.
Caste-based discrimination on campus has been at the centre of the protests in UoH. Students who belong to the dalit, adivasi and other vulnerable communities have consistently spoken out against their marginalization on the campus, and claim that civil liberties are being eroded. An anti-discrimination committee meeting on the UoH campus that was scheduled on March 24 to look into a wider representation for dalit and adivasi students in decision-making bodies was never convened.
"The university must act to ensure that it remains an inclusive place for everyone; there must be no discrimination against those who belong to certain castes or profiling of students because they are politically active on this issue," said Patel.
"The assault on students in the campus and their arrest by the police violates many provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Indian Constitution. Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly. Arrests of peaceful protesters violate India's obligations under international law, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, set out in Article 19 and Article 21 of that treaty. The arrest of the students and holding them for almost 24 hours without giving any information about their status is in breach of numerous international human rights standards including the UN Body Of Principles For The Protection Of All Persons Under Any Form Of Detention Or Imprisonment," Patel added.
Deceased Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika, his brother Raju, Professors Anupama, Bhavani, Grace, Shashi Hegde and Vijay, and others were present in the meeting with the media.