Pvchr: Tactics And Strategy

PVCHR Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, SA 4/2 A Daulatpur, Varanasi India

Brief about PVCHR 

PVCHR – People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights - was founded in 1996 by Mr. Gyanendrapati, Dr. Mahendra Pratap, Vikash Maharaj (Sarod Maestro), Shruti, Dr. Lenin as a membership based human rights movement in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).



In 1999, PVCHR formed the public charitable trust Jan Mitra Nyas (JMN) to monitor and evaluate activities, to operate the bank account and to enable the organisation to have official clearance for receiving foreign grants

 PVCHR

is working on the grass-root level in 45 villages in Uttar Pradesh. In close cooperation with local human rights activists PVCHR documents cases of severe human rights violations in the villages, for example cases of malnutrition and starvation, police torture or unavailable medical treatment

Our working approach  Accurate

investigation and documentation of human rights violations connected with advocacy, publication and networking on a local, national and international level  Creating models of non violent and democratic communities (People friendly villages, torture-free villages)  Building up local institutions and supporting them with active human rights networks  Creating a democratic structure for the ‘voiceless’ to enable them access to the constitutional guarantees of modern India

 Empowering

marginalized communities by trainings and access to information  Promoting a human rights culture  Linking local and international human rights together  Linking grass roots activities and international human rights networks and institutions together

Our Programs/intervention    

Campaign (From practice to policy) At International Level At National Level At Grass root Level

Organization building: 

At later stages of the campaign, Howe ever, individuals alone are not sufficient. PVCHR itself may be an extension of its leader, providing him/her the necessary organization supports in order to mobilize people into movement around the campaign’s issue which is critical for greater impact at the national & grassroots level. PVCHR is already engaged in its organization building from the village level to the national level by working in 80 districts of U.P., M.P. and Bihar on the issues of human rights, torture victims,

Grassroots intervention in field of Human Rights Development and Democracy (Janmitra Village): (Policy to Practice) 



Campaigns are very important, but alone are not enough: implementation & change at grassroots should never be assumed & require additional activity. A narrow focus can be effective in getting an issue formulated but problems caused by poverty are more complex. If the campaign is not widened out at a later stage it is unlikely to achieve effective change. The challenge comes if there is desire to go beyond informing the grassroots of what is good for them towards ensuring real change as well as engagement & empowerment at grassroots which will develop civil society with potential influence on much other issue. Work at this level- to change attitudes & behaviors & to build capacity & skills need a lot of thrust & require non hierarchical organization with close personal contact.

Collaboration  It

is clear that no individual organization can effectively campaign at all the different levels, which often requires very different attitudes, strategies & skills. To achieve this complex mix of work, different types of organizations are called for collaboration between them and these different organizations can therefore help in moving the campaign forward.

Folk school  The

folk school is a forum for a dalits to meet, where they were treated equally and where they could freely voice their problem and concerns. So, PVCHR together with AHRC started conducting folk school sessions in dalits villages to continue support and solidarity with the ordinary people.  Even senior Government officers attended the folk school sessions.





Once by the District Commissioner While on another, a member of the state commission for schedule caste and scheduled tribes.

Peoples’ Friendly Village (Model Village) 

2. 3. 4. 5.

The people friendly village is a village, where every individual is assured of his or her social, economic, political and cultural rights as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is living together within the society without any discrimination. Right to development Right to survival Right to protection Right to participation





  

In each Peoples’ Friendly village a community centre has been established, forming the basis for the project activities. People are also provided with community-based counselling. Peoples’ Friendly concept has a three pronged functional system Peoples’ Friendly Educational concept Organization development of marginalized group. Peoples’ Friendly village committee

Our campaigns 





 



Fair Play Campaign against the use of child labour in Indian Sporting Goods Global March against Child Labour which in effect liberated bonded child labour in many areas Campaign on the rights of weavers and on cases of starvation among the weavers communities Campaign on Right to food. Continuous hunger strike for 15 days putting their demand for fundamental rights. Campaign on land issue

Our demonstration  Honor

ceremony of TOV in front of District Head Quarter and community.  Three days demonstration by Marginalized community in front of District Head Quarter.  Foot March by the communities of 5 blocks of Varanasi and culminate by putting their demands.

Tribunals  Right

to food  Right to Health  Right to Education  Peoples’ Tribunal on Weavers and Artisan.  Peoples’ Tribunal on torture

Urgent Appeal  Effective

advocacy (Urgent Appeals) for every single case can be accomplished by a close cooperation with our key partner, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).  The urgent appeals documentationalso enabled PVCHR to register cases at the National Human Rights Commission and have reported

Testimonial Therapy  





A testimony is a story or a narrative about an event The story is usually told by a person who suffered an injustice, or something painful or terrible It is a “map of pain”, a trauma story, it tries to “tell the truth”, convey what really happened It can be told in many different ways – in words, music, art

What is Testimony? 







It can be told to many different audiences: to the family, to friends, to the community, to the “world”, to a therapist, to a lawyer, to a priest It can be used for many different objectives: as a record, as evidence, as an expression of emotions, for advocacy Testimony in different variations has been used by mankind for thousands of years Here we are using testimony as a healing or psychotherapeutic method

Has a double meaning both in English and Hindi:  Objective, legal, public, official (evidence, attestation, proof)  Subjective, cathartic, spiritual, emotional, private (expression of disapproval, condemnation, protestation)

History of Testimony Method 1983 Chile: For torture victims - to facilitate integration of traumatic experience and restore self-esteem. Channels anger into socially constructive action – document could be used against offender  1990 Denmark: For political refugees tortured in their homeland – a ritual of healing which is universally understood 

History of Testimony Method 







2008 – 2009 with PVCHR, India: For torture victims – a brief therapy intervention – re-integration of survivors into the community – development of a Manual (in Hindi and English) In the testimony project with PVCHR a new testimonial method was developed: A short-term method for human rights activists or community workers without mental health training This was a “psycho-legal approach”

Our testimony Model 



 

Session one : Opening the story – including the filling in of a questionnaire about wellbeing and participation – and mindfulness exercises Session two: Closing the story – including mindfulness exercises Session three: The delivery ceremony Session four: Follow-up – including a repetition of the questionnaire to assess changes in wellbeing and participation

Achievement  



Bonded labour were released and case registered against their employers. Mr. Rahul Gandhi, National Secretary of Indian National Congress intervened in the case of three years old malnourished boy Mukesh and treated at the All Indian Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), a hospital where even Indians wealthiest cannot get admission without one month notice. 70 crore INR was sanctioned to the Weavers and Artisan of Varanasi.







Ram Prasad Bharti case was published in the page 207 -208 report of representative of Secretary General of UN on Human Rights Defenders for seventh sessions of Human Rights Council. Special Rapporteur Torture Communications, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights took the case of police atrocities done in Dharkar Basti, Hukulganj, asked the survivors to give their consent and correspondence related to the case will be published in a public report. Prime Minister of India office considers the case and forwarded letter to Chief Secretary of U.P for immediate and appropriate action and . Many cases were intervened by the National Human Rights Commission and survivor receives interim relief.

Example 

 

We all struggle to transcend the cruelties and the follies of mankind. That struggle will not be won by standing aloof and pointing a finger; it will be won by action, by men who commit their every resource of mind and body to the education and improvement and help of their fellow man.” Robert F. Kennedy, 1966 South Africa”. This statement pertain in the grass root level as, they belief ‘one for all and all for one’. In Kuwar Nut hamlet the community people were facing the problem of land dispute. The individual cases were highlighted and slowly it implicate other people of the community and now it is a consolidate agenda of the Nut hamlet. The issue was documented by the Aljazeera channel.

http://pvchr.blogspot.com/2009/04/kuwars-testimony-at-aljazeera.

a.

b.

The same process was also used in Belwa village, however here human rights activists faced the reaction action by getting threat and charged anti-state activities” under Section 505(b) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Ghasia ghetto of Sonbhadra district is icon against the police torture and its consequences.18 children died due to hunger and malnutrition situations in 2005. However after fight back and with the intervention of National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi the Ghasiayas immediately receive the relief. http://pvchr.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post.html. It was documented by the B.B.C and IBN7

Mukesh photo before & after one month

Thank You