Confederation of Human Rights Organisation
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Based in Kerala, the Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) stand to protect, uphold and strengthen the rights of traditionally exploited and oppressed marginalized social segments of Tribals, Dalits, Minorities, Backward Castes, Women, Children and victims of State Violations.
CHRO (Confederation of Human Rights Organizations) was formed in 1997, as an effort to have a common platform for of individuals and organizations that have been fighting for the cause of human rights in Kerala.
CHRO was formed to serve as a means of maintaining liaison, exchanging information, and coordinating activities among indviduals as well as organizations in order to improve the efficiency of human rights concerns in Kerala.
With uncompromising opposition against the present Hindutva Fascist threats, CHRO work strictly beyond party-vote-power politics. Basically a coordinating body of like-minded groups and individuals, CHRO function independently without depending upon either State or Foreign Funds. All those who agree with this basic concept, and especially Keralites anywhere in the world, are welcome to join CHRO.
[edit] CHRO in the Media
CHRO Watch group to monitor police abuses Wednesday, 01 August 2007
One volunteer in each police station area in three years
Confederation’s initiative to check rights violation
10 volunteers from each district trained
KOCHI: With a view to checking human rights violations by the police, the Confederation of Human Rights Organisations has launched a volunteer-based human rights watch group.
“We plan to have at least one volunteer around to monitor each police station and intervene in case of abuses of individual’s human rights by the police personnel in the next three years,” V.T. Iqramul Haq, secretary general of the CHRO, told The Hindu on Sunday.
Already, 10 volunteers from each district have been trained to take care of two or three police stations in their respective areas. At a function held here on Sunday, former Bombay High Court judge and president of the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO), H. Suresh, handed over the CHRO identification card to the volunteers. The cards would be handy while dealing with police officials.
CHRO functionaries feel that constant vigil by the public is essential for checking abuses of power, framing of innocents and torture by the police. The volunteer in charge of a police station would constantly monitor the way the arrested persons and the remand prisoners are handled by the police, politely inform the police officer in charge of the rights of the arrested and educate the arrested of his/her rights, Mohammed Ashraf, lawyer and national secretary of the NCHRO, said. In cases of the excesses, senior police officers, politicians and human rights activists would be alerted. If necessary, legal aid would be provided.
Mr. Haq said the vigilante group would operate broadly in tune with the guidelines of Amnesty International. A manual and handbook would soon be supplied to the 150 volunteers. He pointed out that the idea of ‘one vigilante group volunteer in each police station limits’ was of the late Mukundan C. Menon, journalist and secretary of the CHRO.
Sensitive handling
S.D. Singh, psychiatrist and convener, Torture Prevention Centre India, said the watch group was an excellent initiative, which could help in reducing human rights abuses by the police. However, it should be handled sensitively. D.B. Binu, lawyer and human rights activist, hopes the group could make a difference to the grim reality of police excesses in the State. He said the group could do a lot by invoking the Right to Information Act.
K.P.M. Basheer, The Hindu, Jul 25, 2007
Human rights becoming a privilege of the rich: Sudheeran Sunday, 18 December 2005 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The need for a movement led by committed leaders to safeguard the human rights of the poor and disadvantaged sections of society was stressed by speakers at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (CHRO) to pay tributes to the late journalist-activist Mukundan C. Menon here on Friday.
The Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran said human rights had become the privilege of the rich and the influential. The old concept of `politics for public good' had given place to the principle of `politics for the sake of politics' and, that too, the politics of power.
He said that contrary to public expectation, many movements and individuals were now siding with vested interests. What was more worrisome was that these forces were now consolidating themselves as a front to protect these interests.
N.K. Premachandran, MP, said that even Parliament was showing tardiness in enacting laws to end the ordeal of under-trials, including the People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasir Maudany, who had been languishing for years in prison without being brought before the courts of justice.
The Marxist ideologue P. Govinda Pillai said the biggest threat to human rights was posed by those who wielded power.
The former Minister G. Karthikeyan also spoke.
(THE HINDU 17-12-05)
Human Rights Watch acknowledges CHRO Saturday, 01 January 2005
Virginia N. Sherry, associate director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, is the author of "Saudi Arabian Bad Dreams, Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia". It is based on her fieldwork in India and the Philippines in November and December 2003 as well as supplementary research. In her report, she acknowledges the contributions of CHRO as: Mukundan C. Menon, secretary-general of the nongovernmental Confederation of Human Rights Organizations of Kerala (CHRO), carried out advance work for this report in Kerala state in India in 2003 as a consultant to Human Rights Watch. He accompanied Ms. Sherry in Kerala in November and December 2003, and served as an indefatigable interpreter and logistician. Human Rights Watch acknowledges his efforts with deep appreciation and those of his CHRO colleagues throughout the state, who helped arrange meetings with returned migrant workers and families of Keralites who were executed or are still imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
Full Text can be read from: http://hrw.org/reports/2004/saudi0704/16.htm HRW report in PDF format https://hrw.org/reports/2004/saudi0704/saudi0704.pdf
Kashmir seminar favours self-determination Sunday, 01 April 2001 Trivandrum : The first ever major seminar of its kind in South India on Kashmir issue held at Kozhicode on 25 February passed a resolution calling upon the democratic rights defenders to generate public opinion for recognizing self-determination as a fundamental right of every nationality.
Asking the Government of India to ‘initiate fresh moves by winning over the hearts and minds of the alienated Kashmiri people and in accordance with their aspirations’ to solve the problem in view of repeated failures of the past 50 years. The resolution also asked the Hurriyet Conference and various human rights groups in Kashmir to visit different states in India in order to clear the prevailing misconceptions and misimpressions about the Kashmir problem.
The seminar, jointly sponsored by Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO, Kerala) and the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS, Kozhicode chapter) termed the struggle in Kashmir as ‘a fight for the recognition of fundamental rights and the right for self-determination’. ‘There is an urgent need to put an end to the ongoing series of violence especially killing, custodial deaths, custodial rapes, illegal detentions, etc. in Kashmir’, the resolution said.
In his inaugural address at the opening session, Naseer Khora, a journalist and human rights activist representing ‘People's Forum for Peace’ in J&K, pointed out that neither the India-Pak governments nor the J&K administration could take decisions in tune with the aspirations of the Kashmiris. ‘Kashmir problem, which could otherwise have been solved easily, has been turned into a complex one by the infiltrators from Pakistan and due to corruption of different governments which occupied power at Delhi. Apart from members of armed groups, large number of innocent public have lost their lives, scores of women were subjected to rape, and numerous children have been orphaned over the years. It is unfortunate that in the name of countering the activities of terrorists and infiltrators, the government forces, responsible to maintain law and order as well as to protect the citizens' life and property, are indulging in atrocities’, Khora said. He pointed out how the police had killed a civilian under custody and opened fire killing several protesting demonstrators soon after the Prime Minister declared cease-fire extension the previous week. ‘Today, the Kashmiris are a heart-broken people whom no cardiologist can treat and cure,’ he added.
One of Kerala's renowned historians, Dr. M. Gangadharan, repeatedly stressed that the only solution for Kashmir problem is holding plebiscite among Kashmiri people. ‘In Kashmir issue, India had adopted anti-people attitude. The then Kashmir king, Hari Singh, was forced to unify Kashmir with India. A democratic solution for Kashmir issue is only possible through plebiscite for which India should seek the help of neutral countries. We cannot feel proud about our democracy by controlling Kashmir through force any longer. The reality in Kashmir is that we do not know even the exact nature and extent of its territory and geography’, the retired history professor from MG University, Kottayam, opined.
Leading Malayalam journalist, K. M. Roy, said that India can save not only human rights but also crores of rupees by solving Kashmir problem. ‘We spend Rs. 16,000 crores annually for protecting the Kashmir borders, while even drinking water is still not within the reach of 32 crore people in India. Kashmir problem was the product of a British man who determined India's borders without knowing anything about India. Instead of rectifying that mistake, the Indian army is killing Kashmiris in the name of countering terrorism. More people are being killed during cease-fire than before’, Roy, Editor of Deepika Malayalam daily, recalled.
Inaugurating the concluding session, Delhi-based human right activist, Gautam Nawlakha, pointed out that plebiscite was the only solution for Kashmir problem. According to him, India was compelled to declare cease-fire due to mounting pressures from terrorist groups. ‘Those who think that Kashmir issue can be settled without considering people's aspirations are living in fools' paradise. Plebiscite need not necessarily be construed as self-determination.’ By pointing out that the problems had mounted up ever since the Central Government rigged the 1987 elections, Nawlakha gave some salient insights into Kashmir's history: ‘For the first time anywhere in the Indian sub-continent, the land-reforms were implemented in Kashmir. It was then opposed by Sardar Vallabhai Patel since majority of landlords were upper caste Hindus. During that period, the Kashmiri Muslim mind was not at all communal. Holding of plebiscite was a promise given to Kashmiris in 1947. Today national mainstream newspapers term those groups fighting for their rights in Kashmir as ‘secessionists’ or ‘separatists’., but for Kashmiris they are freedom fighters’.
MilliGazette, 01 -04-2001 http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01042001/Art15.htm
A. Vasu Chairman,CHRO Kerala
5/3274-A, Bank Road Calicut Kerala India 673 001 +91.495. 2741706
Mr. A. Vasu is one of the most respected trade unionist and leader of Gwalior Rayons Workers’ Organisation (GROW) which became a synonym of environmental friendliness. Mr. A. Vasu has taken bold actions to demand justice for the suffering of Dalits, Tribals and victims of minority communities on various occasions. He has served as the conscience of the new left in Kerala and an inspirational force behind the rise of progressive politics among its people. Mr. Vasu has used his organizational skills as a powerful advocacy mechanism to protect human and economic rights of the victims.
Iqramul Haq
Secretary General,CHRO Keralam
5/3274-A, Bank Road Kozhikode Kerala India 673 001
+91.9447077457
