Official visit of UN Special Rapporteur on HRDs to India - Ms. Margaret Sekaggya - 10th to 21st January 2011 - Your Participation - Regarding

[Guest guest]

Henri Tiphagne <henri@...>

December 26, 2010

Dear Human Rights Defenders and Colleagues,

Sub: Official visit of UN Special Rapporteur on HRDs to India - Ms. Margaret

Sekagya - 10th to 21st January 2011- Your Participation - Regarding

Greetings from Human Rights Defenders Alert - India!

New Year Greetings to all of you and Special Wishes on Dr. Binayak Sen's

birthday today which he observes in Raipur Central Jail!

As you are aware, Ms. Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the

Situation of Human Rights Defenders (UN SR) is making an official visit to

India. This country visit of hers will be from the 10th to the 21st of January,

2011. She arrives in Delhi on the 10th of this month and is expected to be in

India till the 21st.

The UN SR has sent a communication to the Govt. of India listing the places she

would like to hold meetings but the Govt. of India is yet to approve it. Her

proposed plan is to hold meetings at one place each in the east, north-east,

west and the south after her meetings in Delhi.

We are helping the UN SR in organizing meetings in these places. If she gets

approval for meetings at your place, we might be intimating you at short notice

regarding the same for participation / assistance in organizing the same.

The meetings for North India (covering the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab,

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh)  is to take place in Delhi

on the 12th afternoon at the UN Conference Room at 55, Lodi Estate, New Delhi

from 2.00 to 6.00 PM.

The meetings for West India (covering the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa,

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) may probably take place in a place in Ahmedabad on

a date that they will confirm.

The meetings for East India (covering the states of West Bengal, Orissa,

Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Bihar) may probably take place in a

city in one of those states that they will confirm on a date also that they will

confirm.

The meetings for North East India (covering the states of Assam, Arunachal

Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim) may probably

take place in Imphal or Guwahati on a date also that they will confirm.

The meetings for South India (covering the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala,

Pondicherry, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) may take place in a place in Chennai

only if the south is also selected. If not the activists from the south will

have to travel to the meeting in the east to meet the Un SR on HRDs in person.

The program is being locally facilitated by the Working Group on Human Rights

India and the UN (WGHR) [of which People's Watch is a Member] and the Human

Rights Defenders Alert - India. I will also be most probably travelling to all

the regional and national meetings along with the UN SR on HRDs.

May I kindly do request you all therefore to lets us know as a priority whether

you would be willing to travel and come and personally attend these meetings

with the UN SR on HRDs when she comes to your region for the meeting even if we

are only able to provide you last minute information of the time date and venue.

Since it is a meeting with the Un SR on HRDs it is really important that you

take steps to also ensure that you address a mail to me if there are any other

HRDs in your state or your region who should be specially invited so that their

case of violations suffered as a Human Rights Defender is explained to the UN SR

on HRDs.

 

Please do kindly oblige and reply to me as soon as you get this mail by marking

a copy to Sabitha, the National Program Secretary of HRD Alert-India.

Her email id is sabitha@... and her mobile number is +919994368540. Kindly

do note that an immediately reply is what we expect from you.

 

We are not sure whether we will be able to get some travel assistance to meet

the travel of people and hence if there is someone who cannot travel on their

own do let us know specifically so that we might be able to get someone to

support the travel of any such persons.

 

With kind wishes and best regards,

 

Henri Tiphagne

e-mail: <henri@...>