India: Peaceful protesters arrested and detained

Seven human rights defenders and fifty other participants in a peaceful protest marking World Water Day were violently arrested in New Delhi, on 22 March 2007.

The protestors were arrested at the Planning Commission Office where they had requested an appointment with the Deputy Chair of the Planning Commission. Members of the police and Rapid Action Force reportedly used excessive force to arrest the protestors, which resulted in the tearing of some of the female protestors' clothes. The protestors were then taken to the Parliament Police Station where they were told to sign blank arrest memos. All of the male protestors and only two of the female protestors were presented before the judicial magistrate that evening, and were remanded in custody until 5 April 2007. The women were then taken to Chanakyapuri Police Station before they were all transferred to Tihar jail 23 March.

The seven human rights defenders presently detained include: Medha Patkar, head of Narmada Bachao Andolan, Gautam Bandhopadhyay and Yogini Khanolkar of Nadi Ghati Morcha (NGM), Simpreet Singh and Mukta Srivastava of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), Sister Celia of the Domestic Workers Union, based in Bangalore, Nidhi Agarwal of the Saheli Women's. Collectively, they campaign against the privatization and appropriation of water in India.

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

Front Line believes their arrest and detention represents an attempt to prevent human rights defenders in India from carrying out their peaceful and legitimate activities in defence of human rights, in particular the right to water. Front Line urges the Indian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the seven human rights defenders and guarantee their physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders whilst still in custody