To June 2, 2023
Mr Volker Türk
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Copy to [ for immediate action ]:
The President
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Maison Olympique
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland
The President
United World Wrestling (UWW)
Rue du Château 6
1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey
Switzerland
Petition to Investigate the Sexual Harassment / Sextortion Allegations by the Protesting Wrestlers of India and to Save Them from Delhi Police Brutality
Petition filed under Article 5, Article 7, Article 8, Article 12, Article 20, Article 28, and other relevant provisions provided under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Petition by: Rakesh Raman [ a journalist and human rights defender in India ]
Reason for Filing the Petition to OHCHR: Since the accused - Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh - in this case belongs to the ruling regime in India, no action is being taken against him despite a constant protest by the victims and their supporters in New Delhi. Moreover, in the authoritarian regime of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi, the courts are complicit in most state crimes and police behave as criminals to terrorize the citizens who raise their voice against the criminal activities of politicians
The situation is worse in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India which is headed by Justice Arun Kumar Mishra as its chairman. Mishra – who was handpicked
OHCHR Petition to Protect the Rights of Indian Women Wrestlers By Rakesh Raman June 2, 2023, Page: 1 of 7arbitrarily in 2021 by the Modi regime - has completely failed in his responsibility to protect human rights in India. The Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) - which is affiliated to the OHCHR - has deferred reaccreditation of NHRC for a year because of the dubious record of NHRC
Although the harassed wrestlers are holding a peaceful protest in New Delhi, such protests do not succeed in authoritarian regimes such as India. Such peaceful protests by the oppressed citizens have repeatedly failed in the autocratic nations such Belarus, China, Israel, Myanmar, Russia, Syria, and so on. Rather, the protesters are being attacked, incarcerated, tortured, or even killed by the police and security forces
Therefore, an independent international judicial forum like the OHCHR is required to protect the rights of women wrestlers of India. And for the wrestlers’ immediate protection from the police brutality, OHCHR should deploy a dedicated team in New Delhi
CASE DETAILS
Dear Mr. Volker Türk,
I am a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation in New Delhi, India I am filing this petition with the appeal for your intervention to protect the human rights of world-renowned Indian wrestlers who have been protesting in New Delhi for the past over a month.
The accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (Brij Bhushan) in this case is a politician and lawmaker of the ruling regime which is not willing to take any action against him. A group of internationally recognized women wrestlers have formally accused Brij Bhushan of serious sextortion / sexual harassment offences.
It is alleged in the first information report (FIR) of Delhi Police filed on April 28, 2023 that Brij Bhushan has been demanding “sexual favours” from the female wrestlers including minors and there are at least 15 incidents of sexual harassment that include 10 episodes of inappropriate touching and molestation The wrestlers including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia are leading the protest.
These Olympic wrestlers - along with thousands of their supporters - have been regularly protesting in New Delhi to get Brij Bhushan arrested and jailed - which is mandatory
OHCHR Petition to Protect the Rights of Indian Women Wrestlers By Rakesh Raman June 2, 2023, Page: 2 of 7under law [ including the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act ] for such heinous crimes. However, the regime of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi - who is an infamous autocrat - is not taking any action. Worse, as usual, the Modi regime has unleashed the brutal Delhi Police to physically attack the protesting wrestlers, including women.
On May 28, 2023, Delhi Police displayed its brutality shamelessly when the merciless police personnel dragged the women wrestlers on roads, detained them arbitrarily, and filed false cases against them in order to terrorize them so that they should not hold any demonstration against PM Modi’s colleague in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Since the Supreme Court of India and other courts are mostly complicit in state crimes, they do not take any action against the criminals in the ruling regime. Most judges are also scared to take action against the government politicians because they fear revengeful assault from the politicians - most of whom have dreaded criminal records
The Supreme Court of India judges – who cannot dare to take any action that may displease their boss Modi – have not intervened to help the harassed protesters, except casually asking the police to register an FIR. The Supreme Court judges are also reluctant to support the aggrieved women wrestlers because one of their colleaguesformer Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi - was also allegedly involved in a sexual harassment case in 2019. Instead of punishing Gogoi, the Modi regime rewarded him with a Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of the bicameral Parliament of India) seat.
Since Modi and BJP prefer to keep people with criminal records in the party, more than 40% politicians in Modi’s 2021 Council of Ministers had serious criminal cases against them Therefore, the protesting wrestlers have no hope of justice from the Modi regime, which promotes criminality. In fact, Modi himself has a dubious record and recently a new BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question, ’ released in January 2023 explored Modi’s role in the Gujarat massacre. The documentary was also shown in the Australian Parliament in May 2023
Since the accused in this case Brij Bhushan is also facing nearly 40 criminal cases filed against him, most judges in India are so terrified that they cannot dare to take any action against him. Also, the police, bureaucrats, and most politicians in Modi’s BJP are working as Modi’s slaves who stay silent when Modi or his associates commit crimes.
OHCHR Petition to Protect the Rights of Indian Women Wrestlers By Rakesh Raman June 2, 2023, Page: 3 of 7Recently, for example, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Ajay Kumar Mishra - who is a minister in the Modi regime - in a murder case Mishra is also accused of a conspiracy to murder a few protesting farmers in 2021 at Lakhimpur Kheri in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state. However, neither any court nor the Modi government took any action against him.
Ironically, the Sports Minister of India Anurag Thakur - who is trying to delay the case and hoodwink the women wrestlers - is also facing cases for his criminal acts, although the police and courts are reluctant to take any action against his felonies.
Overall, the lawlessness in the Modi empire is so rampant that the persecuted and terrorized citizens cannot hope for any justice. Particularly, there is a long list of politicians in Modi’s BJP who have been blatantly committing crimes against women. If the present case of wrestlers is investigated thoroughly, there is a probability that more politicians and bureaucrats are found guilty in similar sexual harassment cases.
Obviously, the protesting women wrestlers cannot expect justice in the criminalized regime being run by PM Modi. Also, surprisingly, the women politicians in the Modi regime are so shameless that they have not uttered even a single word in support of the sexually harassed women wrestlers
While the fundamental rights of these women are being violated, they have no judicial forum in India where they can go and get justice. The situation is worse in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India which is headed by Justice Arun Kumar Mishra as its chairman. Mishra – who was handpicked arbitrarily in 2021 by the Modi regime - has completely failed in his responsibility to protect human rights in India As a result, NHRC has again failed to get accreditation from the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
GANHRI – which is affiliated to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – has deferred reaccreditation of NHRC for a year With its Head Office in Geneva, GANHRI – which represents more than 110 National Human Rights Institutions – is one of the largest human rights networks worldwide. As a result of the GANHRI action, NHRC will not be able to represent India at the UN Human Rights Council.
The international organizations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United World Wrestling (UWW) have issued some perfunctory statements about the
OHCHR Petition to Protect the Rights of Indian Women Wrestlers By Rakesh Raman June 2, 2023, Page: 4 of 7protesting Indian wrestlers, but they have not taken any punitive or formal legal action against the accused in this case.
The protesting wrestlers are demanding the imprisonment of Brij Bhushan But imprisonment is not a sufficient punishment for him. These days, top Indian politicians enjoy all luxuries – including full-body massage - in jails and they keep moving out of jails at their will. And even if Brij Bhushan is jailed, the Modi government will soon release him as it had released last year the Bilkis Bano case convicts who were jailed for the rape and murder of innocent people.
Since the Supreme Court is also complicit in most state crimes, any committee formed by the Supreme Court or other authorities in India cannot be trusted as such committees are formed to exonerate the criminal politicians. Similarly, the Delhi Police is so notorious in its actions against the innocent citizens that its dubious investigations aim to acquit the political criminals - such as Brij Bhushan in this case In other words, Delhi Police also cannot be trusted
Therefore, I urge the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international authorities to hold a fair trial of Brij Bhushan under their direct supervision and eventually incarcerate him in a prison such as the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which is a U.S. military prison known for its harsh treatment of prisoners
With rampant lawlessness and violations of human rights in India, the protesting wrestlers have almost no option to get justice Therefore, as a journalist and human rights defender, I am approaching the UN Human Rights Office to seek justice for them under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
APPEAL FOR ACTION
In April 2023, I had urged the world community to remove Mr. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, from his position because he has failed to provide relief to the persecuted communities Now, I presume that this petition to save the rights of Indian wrestlers will give an opportunity to Mr. Türk to justify his role at the UN office.
Along with other steps of persuading the authoritarian Modi regime, the OHCHR should also file a petition or an intervention application in the Supreme Court of India to get justice for the Indian wrestlers Since it is alleged that Brij Bhushan committed some
OHCHR Petition to Protect the Rights of Indian Women Wrestlers By Rakesh Raman June 2, 2023, Page: 5 of 7crimes against the women wrestlers in foreign countries, Mr. Türk and other international authorities should explore the options to get Brij Bhushan prosecuted in those countries.
Now, as stated above, an independent international judicial forum like the OHCHR is required to protect the rights of women wrestlers of India. And for the wrestlers’ immediate protection from the police brutality, OHCHR should deploy a dedicated team of officials in New Delhi.
ABOUT ME: RAKESH RAMAN
This petition is being filed by Rakesh Raman who is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).
Nowadays, for the past 12 years, he has been running his own global news services on multiple news sites. He runs various environment protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development
At present, Rakesh is associated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project as a Country Expert for India to provide expert research inputs on multiple topics pertaining to democracy and governance. The V-Dem Project is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He has been publishing The Unrest news magazine since 2020 to cover economic and political upheavals in the world
In order to inform the Indian citizens and the global community about the extent of corruption in India, he compiled and released in October 2022 a comprehensive report on corruption in the country. Under the title “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022),” the research report covers diverse aspects of corruption in India.
He has also been publishing The Integrity Bulletin news magazine since 2018 to cover local and international corruption issues to engage with different stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption in the world. He has also announced the new project for
OHCHR Petition to Protect the Rights of Indian Women Wrestlers By Rakesh Raman June 2, 2023, Page: 6 of 72023 to compile the India Corruption Research Report 2023 (ICRR 2023). You can click here to know about the project and support it financially with your donations.
He has launched a nationwide campaign to introduce social democracy in India in order to build an egalitarian society in which all citizens could enjoy equal rights, opportunities, freedoms, and access to justice He is running an editorial section / microsite “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” to cover the election news, events, and political campaigns.
He is also running a nationwide campaign to save school students of India from directionless education so that students could acquire modern skills that can help them in the job market In his anti-corruption activities, he participated in a global petition led by Germany-based international organization Transparency International to call for the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption, UNGASS 2021, to direct all countries to set up central, public registers of beneficial ownership
He runs a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness. He has also formed an environment protection group called Green Group in New Delhi, which is the most polluted national capital in the world
As Rakesh has been facing constant threats including death threats for his editorial and anti-corruption work, the Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that defends freedom of journalists has urged the Indian government to save him from threats and persecution. You can click here to read his full profile.
Rakesh Raman
Editor, RMN News Service [ Website ]
Founder, RMN Foundation [ Website ]
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