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(New York) -- Amnesty International has written to
American Express regarding its sponsorship of an event
featuring Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of the Indian
state of Gujarat. The Asian-American Hotel Owners
Association (AAHOA) has invited Chief Minister Modi to
address their conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on
March 24.
Amnesty International has cited the Gujarat authorities,
headed by Modi, for failing to protect Muslims during
violence in February 2002 during which more than 2,000
people died. During the violence, which followed state
government officials blaming a train fire on Muslims,
several hundred girls and women were stripped naked,
raped or gang-raped, had their wombs slashed and were
thrown into fires, some while still alive. The state
government took no steps to prevent or stop these
widespread and systematic attacks on members of the
Muslim minority, and during the attacks, police stood by
or even joined in the violence. Amnesty International
has concluded that many of the abuses constitute crimes
against humanity.
In Amnesty International's January 2005 report, "India:
Justice, the victim - Gujarat state fails to protect
women from violence," Bilqis Yakoob Rasool, herself a
victim of gang-rape who lost 14 family members reported:
"They started molesting the girls and tore off their
clothes. Our naked girls were raped in front of the
crowd. They killed Shamin's baby who was two days old.
They killed my maternal uncle and my father's sister and
her husband too. After raping the women they killed all
of them... They killed my baby too. They threw her in
the air and she hit a rock. After raping me, one of the
men kept a foot on my neck and hit me."
"Amnesty International takes no position on whether a
particular speaker ought to be invited for a particular
event, but American Express should not ignore the
consequences of its association with this speech,
delivered by a man who bears responsibility for a
climate of fear endured by Gujarat's minorities," said
Govind Acharya, Amnesty International USA's India
Country Specialist. "We urge American Express to
consider the human rights implications of its
relationship to this event, and whether there are more
constructive opportunities for the company's support
that would contribute to curtailing violence against
women and minorities in India."
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