MADURAI: Violation of human rights in the police firing on Tuesday was total and those who fired the shots at the people were not in police uniform, alleged human tights activist and executive director of People’s Watch, Henry Tiphagne, who was witnessed to what he called police excesses.

Q: Were you present during the protest in Tuticorin on Tuesday?
HT: Yes, we went there to monitor the protest and had informed the superintendent of police of Tuticorin as well as the State Human Rights Commission of our move to do so.

TUTICORIN: Promotional videos and a strong campaign on social media asking people to join the mass protest on Tuesday to put pressure on the government to close down Sterlite helped mobilise several thousand people.

Sterlite violence: Video shows policemen taking aim and shooting at protesters

In a sequence of events caught on video, a policeman in a yellow T shirt is standing on top of
the van and firing.

‘Relatives of those in custody running from pillar to post to rescue them’

Illegal detention and torture of people, including many students who took part in the anti-Sterlite protests, and even the general public, were continuing in Thoothukudi, alleged the Madurai-based non-governmental organisation People’s Watch, which is involved in coordinating a people’s inquest on the recent police firingduring protests against Sterlite.

Government accused of unleashing terror on innocent people; probe by sitting HC judge demanded

Political outfits including the Thamizhaga Vazhvurimai Kootamaippu, the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the May 17 Movement took out a procession and held an agitation in the city on Thursday condemning the killing of 12 protesters in Thoothukudi.

Thoothukudi under siege after another death in Sterlite protest

Police beat a protestor demanding closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper unit in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, May 23. One person was killed during the clash, after police’s open fire killed at least 10 people on May 22, and injured

Thoothukudi continues to be in the grip of fear as a young man was killed in a fresh round of firing by the police on Wednesday, May 23. Visuals of cops dragging his body became viral on social media

People’s Watch, a programme unit of the Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns, wants Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy to issue orders for immediate closure of the Sterlite Copper Smelter Part No 1 and stoppage of construction at the second plant.

The inaction of Chief Minister during the 100-day Tuticorin Sterlite protest resulted in the death of a dozen innocent people and caused heavy damage to properties.

Madurai: The encounter of a prime suspect in the constable killing case in Chennai evoked wile celebrations among many police personnel with many of them posting a series of messages and photos in social media. 

Strongly condemning the celebration by the police, human rights defender Henri Tiphagne of People's Watch said the police are disciplined force and disciplinary action should be taken against those identifying themselves as police and indulging in celebrating encounters.

In an interview with The Hindu on Saturday, its executive director Henri Tiphagne said illegal detentions came to light with the rescue of more than 90 people, including many juveniles, from the Vallanadu Shooting Range following a search by the Judicial Magistrate of Vilathikulam on Wednesday night.