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India: Arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of human rights defender Mr Devi Singh Rawat

Posted on 2010/02/03

Human rights lawyer Devi Singh Rawat was arbitrarily arrested on 31 January 2010 and subsequently ill-treated whilst in detention. Devi Singh Rawat works actively on torture cases in India. He was involved in the National Project on Prevention of Torture (NPPT) in India between 2006 and 2008. In January 2010, on the request of the State Law Officer of the NPPT, Devi Singh Rawat filed a case against officials from the Adarsh Nagar Police Station in the Ajmer District of Rajasthan for the torture of two individuals. Although the police officials tried on 30 January 2010 to persuade him to withdraw the case, Devi Singh Rawat refused to do so.

Further Information

On 31 January 2010, Devi Singh Rawat was arrested for his alleged involvement in an incident that occurred at approximately 11am that day, in which a fight broke out between members of the public and police officials during Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) elections in Palra Village. Several villagers were arrested. Despite the fact that Devi Singh Rawat was not present at the time of the incident, he has been charged with “voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty” and “assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty”. First Information Report (FIR) 19/2010 was filed in Adarsh Nagar Police Station. If he is found guilty of these charges he could face up to three years in prison and a fine. Devi Singh Rawat was released on bail on 2 February 2010.

While in detention, Devi Singh Rawat was forced to take his clothes off and was photographed. The pictures were later made available to, and published in, the press.

Front Line believes that the arrest and ill-treatment of Devi Singh Rawat are directly related to his human rights activities, in particular his involvement in the torture case against police officials.

Action Finished: 

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Front Line issues Urgent Appeals on behalf of human rights defenders at risk on a daily basis. These Appeals normally remain active on our web site for a period of up to six weeks, depending on the situation. After this time they will be archived. Front Line maintains a watching brief on all these cases but no further action is requested after the six weeks, unless there is a significant development in the case.