Thirumurugan Gandhi
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2019-053-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2019
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 20.593684
Longitude: 78.96288
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- India
- From Region
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
environmental human rights defender in Tamil Nadu
- Type of rights defended
- Civil/political rights
- Land rights/environment
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
participated in the 38th session of the Human Rights Council where he delivered statements, was a panelist in various side events, and met two special procedures mandate holders. Mr. Gandhi denounced the killing of 13 people in May 2018 in Tuticorin City (Tamil Nadu) due to excessive use of force by police against peaceful demonstrators protesting Sterlite Industries, a copper smelter plant reportedly causing environmental pollution in the area
An incident of detention pertaining to Mr. Gandhi had previously been addressed by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in November 2017 (A/HRC/WGAD/2017/88). He was reportedly charged under the ‘Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,’ including for sedition.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Human Rights Council - General
- Dates of engagement
- June 2018; November 2017
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- UN raised case of person/organization
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 9 August 2018
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Kempegowda; Chennai; Puzhal; Vellore
- Reprisal information
Upon his return to India, on 9 August 2018, Mr. Gandhi was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport, brought before the Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai the following day and then sent to Puzhal Central Prison, following which he was transferred to Vellore Central Prison. On 2 October 2018, he was released on bail.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0