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Police suppressing protests against Enron project, says Amnesty

Amnesty International has expressed concern over reports that the police are suppressing protests against the construction of a power plant in Maharashtra and at the rising number of human rights abuses in Ratnagiri district.

The Dabhol Power Company is a joint venture between three United States multinational companies -- Enron, General Electric Corporation, and Betchel Incorporated -- for the construction of a natural gas based power station.

During recent months, Amnesty said in a statement on Wednesday, villagers and activists have been protesting against the construction of the power plant, its effect on the local population and environment, and the corruption involved. The statement added that these villagers have been subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and preventive detention under, and several hundred peaceful protesters, including many women, have been arrested and temporarily detained by the police since December 1996.

"A battalion of the state reserve police, stationed at the site of the power plant, the local police and company security guards have all been implicated in these violations," said Amnesty. "Such collusion of the police with those supporting the construction of the power plant has increased the vulnerability of the protestors to human rights violations."

After examining the police harassment of villagers protesting against the DPC -- also known as the Enron project -- a fact-finding team headed by a former Bombay high court judge found that "in the name of maintaining law and order (the police) have prevented all forms of peaceful and democratic protest, used force and violence while dealing with all forms of non-violent protest, and resorted to a number of other subtle methods of harassment of the agitators."

On June 3, 1997, the police forcibly entered the homes of several women in Veldur, a fishing village, and dragged them into police vans, beating them with sticks. The raid was conducted early in the morning when most of the village men had left to catch fish. An investigative team found that a number of women subsequently detained suffered injuries including bruises, abrasions and lacerations on their arms and legs. There were three juvenile girls amongst the detainees.

"We consider those subjected to arrest and imprisonment simply for peacefully protesting against the construction of the power plant to be prisoners of conscience," Amnesty said. "We urge the local and national authorities to ensure all human rights defenders are able to protest without fear of ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest, preventive detention or other forms of harassment."

The human rights organisation also calls on the three US-based multinational corporations participating in the joint venture agreement to establish strict guidelines for all security personnel subcontracted by, seconded to, or employed by the DPC to ensure their training reflects international human rights standards, and to ensure they are fully accountable.

Giving a background to the situation, the Amnesty report said several non-governmental organisations consisting of villagers affected by the power plant construction, as well as lawyers and social and environmental activists, have been formed to oppose the Enron project in Maharashtra.

The National Alliance of People's Movements and other organisations outside Maharashtra have joined together in the protests since permission to build a power station was granted by the state government in 1992. This was the first private power project to be agreed upon in India.

Opposition to the policy of economic liberalisation, Amnesty said, has underpinned many of the critiques. Specifically, the protests have focussed on the high cost of the power which is to be purchased by the state government from the station; allegations of corruption; lack of full consultation with those affected by it; inadequate assessment of the environmental impact; and land acquisition leading to the displacement of local people.

The suppression of the protests is similar to other reports in recent years from the sites of industrial and developmental projects in India, such as the development of the Narmada river where protestors have been arbitrarily detained and often subjected to ill-treatment.

In its response to the recent protests, the governments of India and Maharashtra have contravened international standards to which India is a party, as well as the country's own Constitution, Amnesty alleged.