Amnesty calls for end to torture, detention of Muslims in Gujarat

The report -- Abuse of the law in Gujarat: Muslims detained illegally in Ahmedabad -- chronicles the alleged persecution of Muslims in the commercial capital of the state during and after the bloody riots which killed some 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, according to rights groups.

The violence was triggered after 59 Hindus were burnt to death in a train compartment at Godhra, allegedly by a Muslim mob, on February 27, 2002.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

The state government was accused by national and international rights groups of turning a blind-eye to the violence.

"Information contained in this report points to a systematic pattern of human rights violations being carried out in Ahmedabad with the support of the state government and institutions of the criminal justice system with little or no chance of redress for its victims," Amnesty said in the report released last week.

"It also reinforces concerns about discrimination against Muslims within the criminal justice system in the state."

A majority of those arrested for the riots have been Muslims, many of whom have pleaded their cases be heard outside of Gujarat as they felt they were being denied justice.

In one of the bloodiest incidents during the riots, a group of Hindu men allegedly attacked the Best Bakery on March 1, 2002 with petrol bombs and knives, burning to death 12 Muslims.

Twenty-one men charged with the attack were acquitted on June 27 after 35 witnesses retracted statements.

A key Muslim witness, Zaheera Sheikh, 19, approached the National Human Rights Commission about holding a new trial outside Gujarat because she lied in court after death threats by local leaders of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist BJP party, which rules Gujarat.

The commission asked the Supreme Court to look into the matter. The court reprimanded the state government and even asked Chief Minister Narendra Modi to quit if he could not protect Muslims.

In an interview to Financial Times of London on Friday, Vajpayee pledged to punish the perpetrators of riots.

"Our public, media and judiciary are following it closely. Justice will not only seen to be done; it will be done," he said.

But Amnesty said the law in Gujarat was being "blatantly used against the Muslim community".

"...Ahmedabad police from Gayakwad Haveli Police station have routinely resorted to arbitrary and illegal and incommunicado detention," the report said.

It added that those arrested were denied access to lawyers and relatives or medical attention and were tortured or ill-treated to induce confessions.