Case History: Soni Sori
Human rights defender Ms Soni Sori has been the target of an ongoing slander campaign led by the Inspector General of the Police of Bastar region, Mr Kalluri, following a press conference in which she drew attention to an alleged arbitrary killing by the police. She further received direct threats from the Inspector General.
Soni Sori is a human rights defender who advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples in India, with a focus on women's rights. She works in Chhattisgarh, where the long-term conflict between Maoists and government security forces has greatly affected the indigenous people in the area. Together with her nephew, journalist Lingaram Kodopi, she uncovered human rights violations committed by both sides of the conflict. Soni Sori has previously been targeted by the authorities on several occasions. In 2011 she was imprisoned on trumped-up charges relating to eight cases where she was accused of being involved in attacks against the police. In prison, she repeatedly suffered torture and sexual harassment by prison staff. By April 2013, she had been acquitted of six of the eight cases filed against her. She was released in 2014 and has since been repeatedly subjected to harassment and intimidation by the police.
On 12 March 2016, the brother-in-law of human rights defender Ms Soni Sori was released by Jagdalpur police after having been arbitrarily detained at a local police station for over two days. On 11 March 2016, the human rights defenders' sister was picked up by police and detained for questioning, before being released later on the same date. Earlier that day, other family members of the human rights defender were verbally abused and threatened by a high-ranking member of the Bastar police.
The human rights defender's brother-in-law was released from a Jagdalpur police station on the morning of 12 March 2016. He had been detained since being brought to Jagdalpur for questioning on 10 March 2016, after having been picked up by police at his home in Geedam, some 75 km away in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, at approximately 10.30 am. While detained, he was interrogated by members of the Jagdalpur police, including the Chief Superintendent, concerning the attack on Soni Sori which occurred on 20 February 2016. He had previously been brought for questioning by police on 1 and 9 March 2016. During these interrogations, he was repeatedly told that he would be arrested for coordinating the attack on Soni Sori, and was physically abused, threatened and verbally assaulted by police officers.
On the night of 11 March 2016, Soni Sori's sister was released from a police station in Jagdalpur, after having been detained for questioning earlier that day. She had been picked up by police at approximately 4.00 pm, as she travelled to her place of residence in Jagdalpur, and was brought to a local police station, where she was interrogated. She was verbally abused and threatened while detained.
Earlier on the same date, family members of Soni Sori, including her father, went to speak to the Inspector General of the Bastar Police, to express their concerns about the detention of Soni Sori's brother-in-law and to seek information about his whereabouts. In response, the family members were threatened by the Inspector General, who claimed he would ensure that Soni Sori's brother-in-law would remain in police custody, and that the rest of the family would also face consequences for the human rights defender's work.
On 20 February 2016, Soni Sori was attacked by three unidentified men as she travelled from Jagdalpur to her home in Geedam in the state of Chhattisgarh. The perpetrators halted the vehicle in which the human rights defender was travelling and threw a black substance on her face, resulting in intense burning and her hospitalization. During the attack, the perpetrators threatened to carry out a similar assault on the daughter of Soni Sori, lest the human rights defender halt her efforts to bring justice against a high-ranking police official from the Bastar district in relation to the extra-judicial killing in Mardum.
Front Line Defenders expresses concern for the arbitrary detention of Soni Sori's brother-in-law, the temporary detention of her sister, and the threats made against members of her family, which it believes to be directly motivated by her legitimate and peaceful human rights work, and in particular her efforts to seek justice for abuses committed by members of the Bastar police. Concern is expressed that these incidents mark an attempt to use the investigation into the attack on Soni Sori as a means to further persecute her and her family members for her human rights activities, and to dissuade her from continuing in her work.
On 20 February 2016, human rights defender Ms Soni Sori was attacked by three unidentified men as she travelled from Jagdalpur to her home in Geedam in the state of Chhattisgarh. The perpetrators halted the vehicle in which the human rights defender was travelling and threw a black substance on her face, resulting in intense burning and her hospitalization.
The attack on the human rights defender occurred at approximately 10:40pm as she was travelling with a colleague from Jagdalpur to her home in Geedam, Chhattisgarh, in central India. The pair were halted by three unidentified men on a motorcycle who threw the as yet undetermined substance at Soni Sori, causing an intense burning sensation and temporarily blinding the human rights defender. She was taken to a hospital in Jagdalpur, before being transferred to a hospital in Raipur, the state capital, where her condition stabilised. She is now at Delhi hospital and, suffering continuous pain, risks losing her eyesight. Earlier on the same date, the human rights defender had been warned of a potential attack on her, however, attempts by local activists to bring the matter to local police officials met with no response.
During the attack, the perpetrators threatened to carry out a similar assault on the daughter of Soni Sori, lest the human rights defender halt the efforts she had undertaken to bring justice against a high-ranking police official from the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Soni Sori had recently been attempting to file a complaint against the police official in relation to their involvement in an alleged extra-judicial killing in the Mardum area of Bashar. In July 2015, the police official in question allegedly called for the “social exclusion” of the human rights defender and members of her family.
Soni Sori has previously been targeted by the authorities on several occasions. In 2011 she was imprisoned on trumped-up charges relating to eight cases where she was accused of being involved in attacks against the police. In prison, she repeatedly suffered torture and sexual harassment by prison staff. By April 2013, she had been acquitted of six of the eight cases filed against her. She was released in 2014 and has since been repeatedly
subjected to harassment and intimidation by the police.
Human rights defenders in the Bashar region of Chhattisgarh have recently faced intensifying acts of intimidation, assault and persecution in the course of their legitimate and peaceful human rights work. On 8 February 2016, the home of human rights defender Ms Malini Subramaniam in Jagdalpur city was attacked by unknown assailants. The attack followed months of harassment of the human rights defender by the government and police authorities of Chhattisgarh state.
Human rights defender Ms Soni Sori has been the target of an ongoing slander campaign led by the Inspector General of the Police of Bastar region, Mr Kalluri, following a press conference in which she drew attention to an alleged arbitrary killing by the police. She further received direct threats from the Inspector General.
On 1 August 2015, following a press conference which Soni Sori held at the Jagdalpur press club to discuss the unlawful murder of Mr Hemla Podiya, she was threatened by Inspector General Mr Kalluri. Helma Podiya, who lived in Nahadi village in Dantewada, was shot in the back by a police officer on 28 July 2015. While the police maintain that it was an encounter killing, during the press conference Soni Sori publicly stated that the killing was arbitrary. On 30 July 2015 she had visited Nahadi village and talked to witnesses who stated that there was no confrontation between the police and Helma Podiya, and that the killing was therefore unlawful. On the night of 28 July 2015, joint security forces consisting of 500 officers reportedly raided homes and beat villagers in Nahadi village. Hearing the commotion, Helma Podiya left home and, shortly after, was shot dead by one of the officers.
Furthermore, Mr Kalluri is reported to have begun a slander campaign against the human rights defender. Following a recent incident in a market in Geedam that resulted in the stabbing of a trader, police officers, including Mr Kalluri, held a meeting with the trading community, during which they blamed the human rights defender for the attack. Mr Kalluri warned the community that the attacks will continue unless the locals decide to excommunicate Soni Sori and her fellow human rights defenders.
