To: Ministry of Law and Justice, India

Campaign for the HIV/AIDS Bill

This World AIDS Day . . .

Fight for the Bill, Fight for Your Rights!

Re: http://www.petitiononline.com/hivdl08/petition.html

The HIV/AIDS Bill, which was drafted after extensive civil society consultations
since 2003 and submitted to National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) in August
2006, has been truncated by the Law Ministry. Important chapters like
Information, Education and Communication, Strategies for Risk Reduction and
Access to Treatment have been completely deleted.

On the contrary, there is an attempt to introduce draconian measures like
mandatory testing, identification and tracing of HIV positive people. Such
measures violate the rights of people infected and affected by HIV, and
undermine the present National AIDS Control Programme that has been formulated
on a rights based approach.

The Campaign for the HIV/AIDS Bill demands that the government should reject the
Law Ministry’s version of the Bill and the original NACO Bill should be tabled
in the upcoming session of Parliament.

We, a group of civil society organizations spread across India, urge the
citizens of India to support the campaign by providing their signatures for this
petition. Lawyers Collective – HIV/AIDS Unit, which is leading the campaign,
will forward the signatures to the government.

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The following Open Letter will be sent to the Union Law Ministry as part of the
Campaign for the HIV/AIDS Bill:

To
Mr. Hansraj Bhardwaj
Minister of Law and Justice
Ministry of Law and Justice
New Delhi December 1, 2008

Hon’ble Minister

We are a coalition of NGOs and community groups working on HIV/AIDS, including
networks of people living with HIV and groups most at risk. We have recently
come to know that the HIV/AIDS Bill, proposed by the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare has been returned by the Law Ministry with substantive changes.
As individuals and organizations that work closely with National AIDS Control
Organization and contribute to the response to HIV, we express our displeasure
at the Law Ministry’s handling of the HIV/AIDS Bill and the modifications made
therein. Our concerns are as follows:

1. Disregard for community views and aspirations

The original Bill was drafted after extensive research and consultation with
stakeholders like people living with and affected by HIV, vulnerable
communities, women and children’s groups, health care providers, employers and
trade unions, lawyers, civil society organizations, State AIDS Control Societies
and other concerned departments. This consultative process continued from 2003
to 2006 and is well documented. The HIV/AIDS Bill, therefore, is comprehensive
and reflects concerns of all stakeholders. In making changes, the Law Ministry
has ignored people’s views and diluted principles of democratic governance.

2. Ignoring evidence and the national strategy

The HIV epidemic in India is concentrated among marginalized groups that is, sex
workers and their clients, injecting drug users, and men who have sex with men.
Experience from around the world has shown that effective prevention requires
protection of rights of people living with and those at risk of HIV. For
example, it is now epidemiologically proven that promotion of rights of sex
workers increases condom use and lowers new HIV infections among clients’ wives.
Similarly, where HIV positive persons are assured equal access and
non-discrimination, more people come forward to receive prevention, testing and
treatment for HIV. The National AIDS Control Programme is founded on this
“rights based approach” and the HIV/AIDS Bill sought to give it a legal shape.

Unfortunately, changes proposed by the Law Ministry ignore these vital lessons.
Deletion of provisions on access to treatment, risk reduction and information,
education and communication will severely weaken the National AIDS Control
Programme. Dilution of core chapters of prohibition of discrimination,
requirement of informed consent and confidentiality will deny legal protection
to people affected by HIV. Removal of provisions like Health Ombudsman, intended
to provide speedy justice and lessen the burden on Judiciary, will also diminish
benefits of the Bill. Together, these omissions, nullify the aims and objectives
of the HIV/AIDS Bill.

Further, the Law Ministry has proposed new provisions such as mandatory testing,
identification and tracing of HIV positive persons in the name of “Surveillance
and Rehabilitation”. Not only do these measures infringe rights of people living
with HIV but also drive the epidemic underground, making it difficult to prevent
and control the infection. Moreover, these methods go against the grain of the
National AIDS Prevention and Control Policy, which clearly espouses a
rights-based approach.

Ordinarily, the Law Ministry is expected to vet Bills of nodal ministries while
preserving the integrity and philosophy of the proposed law. In this case,
however, the Law Ministry appears to have interfered with the original Bill, in
both letter and spirit. That this has been done without discussion with the
Health Ministry and concerned stakeholders is even more unfortunate.

In the circumstances, we demand that the Law Ministry:

· Drop the changes that it has proposed

· Restore the original HIV/AIDS Bill 2006

· Extend support to the Health Ministry in tabling the HIV/AIDS Bill in
Parliament

Signatories:
Civil Society Organizations participating in the
Campaign for the HIV/AIDS Bill:

1. Lawyers Collective – HIV/AIDS Unit
2. Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII)
3. Orissa AIDS Solidarity Forum, Bhubaneswar
4. MANAS Bangla, Kolkata
5. Sristy for Human Society, Kolkata
6. Prantakatha, Kolkata
7. Naihati Prolife, Naihati
8. Institute of Factual Theatre Arts, Kolkata
9. SPARSHA, Kolkata

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

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Please visit http://www.petitiononline.com/hivdl08/petition.html to sign up and
encourage as many people as possible to sign.

Subhadip Roy
Training and Coalition Coordinator (West Bengal) - Coalition Based Advocacy
Project
Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII), Kolkata
Office
229 Kalitala Main Road, Purbachal (North)
Kolkata 700 078, West Bengal, India
033 2484 5002, 0 98303 15269
saathii@... / subhadip_roy_04@...
subhadiproy.04
www.saathii.org