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People's Watch
A view of People's Watch from outside Although I've long resisted starting a blog (why? I'm not sure), I've decided that the time has come. Disappointed with my resolve in writing down my thoughts, I figure that a blog might be the spark I need.
I'm in my second week of work here in Madurai. The work thus far is slow but promises to pick up after our upcoming trip to Coimbatore (in the Western Ghats, a mountain range that straddles the border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala). The basic concept of the project is this: compile a report that documents instances of police abuse/torture/inaction in nine Indian states, eventually to be handed to the national government with the message "now try to argue that torture isn't a problem in India". My initial feeling is that if we successfully pull it off, it would be tough for them to argue that it's not a problem. My job is to write the report, so most of the research has already been done by others. This has left me with the main task so far of reading page after page of pretty depressing material. The first depressing aspect is the substance of the reports that I've read, which
Bicycles
The bikes and motorcycles at People's Watch. They gave me a free bike to get around. have been compiled from secondary sources such as newspapers and human rights organizations, as well as some interviews and high court judgments. The basic picture that emerges is that torture is seen as a useful and acceptable form of police interrogation. The typical case will involve a suspect being nabbed by the police (sometimes for big things like murder, but often for little things like bicycle theft or being a family member of a suspected criminal), then being illegally detained and tortured for days, and more often than not succumbing to death. These "custodial deaths" perhaps make the news most often because it's impossible for the police to cover up what they've done. But you'd be duly impressed by the creativity they employ in covering their tracks. They often claim that the prisoner committed suicide by hanging him/herself from the ceiling with a blanket, or by drinking themselves to death. It seems odd, though, that a young person in perfectly good health would be detained and then commit suicide within a day or two. The forms of torture are often particularly creative and appalling. Unfortunately, officers of the law often feel it's their distinct privilege to rape at will also.
The Building
They've got a pretty nice building. So there you have the first troubling aspect. The second is in the lack of enforcement/outrage at such occurrences. There seems to be a general mindset among Indians either that nothing can be done about, that suspects deserve such treatment, or that it's at least an acceptable form of getting information. A fellow intern Chas, from Australia, interviewed a prosecutor from Karnataka state who actually advocated torture as an effective form of interrogation. Here's what he had to say: "Without beating or torturing victims, the investigation will not move. Violence can be minimised but never eradicated. If a hardcore criminal is arrested by the police and they treat him in accordance with the Constitutional guarantees and human rights, those people may not help the police and they may not come out with the truth. Even after applying scientific investigation methods, lie detector tests, polygraph, brain mapping narco-analysis, etc., many times the accused suppresses the truth and delays the investigation. In such situations naturally the investigative officer has to detain them either in the police custody or in judical custody to extract the information. In such a situation some sort of custodial violence like mental, physical and emotional torture takes place."
The Office
This is the room in which I work. It's not much, but it has A/C and internet. There's an interesting conflict of interest when a prosecutor, a member of the executive, must prosecute police officers, fellow members of the executive. In India, loyalties and personal alliegances seem to take precedence over official duty. India has established a National Commission on Human Rights, which can review cases, but as they can only make recommendations, their effect is largely symbolic. The other big problem is in access to justice and public records. With a team of interns, People's Watch has been able to uncover only a tiny fraction of the abuses that actually occur. The newspapers don't cover the issues well enough and the relevant commissions and courts hear only a fraction of the complaints that they receive and even then their decisions are tough to come by. Public institutions jealously guard information that is ostensibly "public". For example, People's Watch is running a project called Strengthening Access to Justice in India (SAJI), which simply aims to create a database of contact information for courts, prosecutors, lawyers, and other justice-providing organs. This has proven surprisingly difficult, because public servants are inherently suspicious that NGOs are out to get them, and they only part with information kicking and screaming. It
My Rooftop
I'm living in the Rehabitation Center for Torture Victims. this is the view from the rooftop. You can barely see the Western Ghats, a mountain range that's more impressive than it seems here. makes you feel for the poor Indians who have been tortured and don't stand a chance at achieving justice.
So that brings me to People's Watch. They've become a well-known champion of human rights in south India, and for good reason. They have lawyers in many Indian states bringing cases on behalf of torture victims. They advocate to enhance public awareness through protests and media coverage. They have even started two Rehabitation Centers for Torture Victims (RCTV), in which they house victims of torture or people otherwise affected by torture (such as having family members killed). They provide education to youth who have been affected by torture, sending many of them to college. The director, Henri, often speaks of his "kids", meaning torture victims that they've rehabilitated and put through school. They provide a summer camp for these kids also. They're really an amazingly honest and professional NGO by Indian standards. While many NGOs become basically wastebaskets for foreign aid, this one places the utmost emphasis on accountability, honesty, and integrity. Henri has this sort of legendary air about him. He's a big man who loves public speaking. He's got an incredibly sharp wit in both Tamil and English.
Natural Drying Machine
We wash and dry all of our clothes on the roof. In the unbearably scorching mid-day sun, I suspect the clothes might dry faster than they do in a drying machine. He's a natural born leader, and the only concern is that his personality will become such an integral part of the organization that it can't function without him. His legend includes numerous arrests by the police. In short, he's the real deal. He also takes every effort to integrate foreign interns into the People's Watch family, making sure at every public event to drag us in front of the crowd and make sure that everyone knows who we are.
So that's the rundown on People's Watch and my oh-so-interesting work (which I say half-jokingly since in reality I sit in an air-conditioned office reading reports for 8 hours a day). My general feeling about being in India has been more ambivalent. At first I wondered whether I had made a mistake by not going to a new country. India being the "love/hate" place that it is, I was a little worried that with the magic having rubbed off, I'd notice only the annoying aspects. Of course, this was mostly just the result of those irrational insecurities that can arise after 41 hours of travel to a new place. You have to wonder whether you've made the right decision. But
Torture Victim Summer Camp
People's Watch runs this summer camp every year for kids affected by torture. They engage in all sorts of activities, such as drama and musical performance. The camp closed with a ceremony and performances. now that I've settled into daily life, I've rediscovered all that I love about India. The annoyances are still there, no doubt, but they're mere inconveniences. Among the things that I particularly enjoy:
1. The warmth of the people. The sincerity with which they say hello every morning. The physical comfort with placing a hand on a shoulder and leaving it there (of course, this only goes on between men, never across the gender divide). Also, the people at RCTV are great. They're incredibly nice and respectful. They walk around completely oblivious to the fact there's a white person in their presence, which normally would be no great feat but I generally found people in the North to be much more astounded by whiteness. They treat me as any other guest, which I greatly appreciate.
2. The incredible cheapness of everything, but especially clothing and tropical fruit. As in my previous experience, I'm piling up clothing, which is irrestistible at roughly $3/per shirt, custom fitted. Every few days I restock on mangoes and bananas, which I eat at a torrid pace.
3. Rickshaws. Although the haggling is a pain, you can't beat door-to-door travel for roughly 25 cents/kilometer. Being inside a rickshaw is a perfect way to take in the tropical scenery and marvel at the people, animals, colors, and smells of India while feeling comfortably set back from the whole thing.
I'm sure I'll think of more things. One interesting thing has been rediscovering the little cultural foibles that I had forgotten about. One such incident occurred when I was on the roof of my building washing my clothes and I was reminded about the Indian morning throat-cleaning ritual, which sounds like violent vomitous upheaval. People believe that it really cleans out the throat, but I have my reservations. At any rate, I was happily standing there washing my clothes when I heard it: the deep gutteral moan, followed by a round of hideous gagging and what sounded like chunks being spewed, then a mucousy snot-rocket blasting off. I paused a moment and ponderously said, "Oh yeah". I'll never understand it.
I also had a reminder of Indian spirituality the other day. For those who don't know, India is possibly the most God-obsessed place in the world. Everyone loves talking about God, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or Jewish (there is a Jewish settlement in Varkala, Kerala humorously named "Jew Town"). The upside is that the country is incredibly open religiously. Hinduism is sort of that way by nature, being that it is more a matter of individual sprituality and one's relationship to a particular deity (to be chosen from a mind-bogging array of thousands). It's not "institutionalized", with visits to temple a pretty individual experience. Anyways, the basic point is that it allows for worship of any God. Rickshaw drivers, for example, will often adorn their vehicles with a variety of stickers including images of Krishna, Buddha and Jesus. Oh, how they love God. The downside is that many Indians are wildly superstitious. People often cannot perform the simplest of tasks without consulting their astrologers. Note, this superstitious nature seems to be wearing off, with the younger generations being less cast under its spell. But people will literally refuse to go out on any Friday, for example, for years and years, because their astrologer has deemed it an inauspicious day. Anyways, this tangent on spirituality has taken me way off my original topic, which was that I attended a pooja (prayer meeting). My new friend Jordan took me there. As an aside, he's an NYU law grad who's been immensely helpful in helping me acclimate to Madurai. We went to an ashram for the pooja, and I didn't quite know what to expect. There were a handful of Indians plus one British woman and one (I think) American woman named Muma (which is not her real name but her "spiritual" name). Sometime I'll write about the pseudo-spiritual traveling hippie crowd that sometimes provides a welcome taste of the West, but whose ridiculousness occasionally rankles. The pooja consisted of lighting lots of candles and chanting for about an hour and a half (which required sitting cross-legged the entire time! Those who have taken yoga lessons with me can surely picture my embarrassment). Oh man did we ever chant. It was all right in the end, an experience that I'm glad I had once (but one could say that for most experiences). In the end, although I respect the role of spirituality in others' lives, it just doesn't do much for me.
Another interesting religion-related story occurred a couple of weeks ago. Jordan, Mani (from England), and I went to a public pool to go swimming. A bad idea in many ways. The water was an algae-green color, and the pool was packed with Indians who found us to be quite the spectacle. We tried swimming laps, but it proved impossible without running into thrashing legs and arms. Anyways, I noticed this one guy who was REALLY staring at us, and I thought it could only lead to trouble, which turned out to be true. He eventually got up the courage to ask me where I'm from, and I told him. He said that he really wants to go to America, and when I asked for what, he said that he wants to go to America and be a missionary and spread the message of Jesus Christ. The alarms immediately went off for me that this is NOT a guy I want to get close to. I refrained from trying to explain that America is already for the most part a Christian country. He asked me where I go to Church on Sundays. I tried to explain that I'm not religious, but he wasn't getting it, so I told him I'm Jewish. He kind of backed off at that point. But he expalined to me how three months ago he couldn't swim, but now, through the power of Christ, he could!!! Then he told me how much he wanted to "spend time together" and wanted to know when I'd be available. I kind of waffled about and then eventually hopped out of the pool and made a break for it. But by the time I had dried off, etc., he was waiting for me at the exit and wanted to exchange contact info. I took his phone number. Then, while riding home on my bike, he caught up to me on his motorcycle and wanted to chat some more. So at that point I decided enough is enough and I told him I'd be leaving Madurai in a few days and that there was no time to meet up. I gave him a fake email address and was on my way. I know that at some point, perhaps weeks from now, I'll be riding my bike and there he'll be, wanting to spend time together. One day I'll be glad that I've got the story to tell. Interestingly, a similar thing happened to me in Udaipur, in which a guy made "friends" with me and just persistently contacted me wanting to hang out. It turned out that he was trying to sell Amway products. Funny, no?
So I'll leave it at that for my initial musing. Stay tuned for fun stories, anecdotes, and travel tales. Much love.
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Suzy Raymond
non-member comment
Glad you have a sense of humor!
Hi Aaron! I've enjoyed reading about your new NGO in the Hot part of India! It sounds like important work you are doing. I hope it will make a difference! It sounds like you are developing a good sense of humor in dealing with the ones who want to "hang out" with you! Enjoy your time there, and I will look for your next update. Suzy Raymond