VZCZCXRO5377
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2801/01 3010901
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 270901Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3926
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002801 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SWE:STAHIR-KHELI; G/IWI; SCA/INS, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KISL PROG IN
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE AWARD: GEETHA 
RAMASESHAN 
 
REF: A. A. SECSTATE 99729 
     ¶B. B. CHENNAI 1214 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: Per reftel A, please find Embassy's 
nomination for the Secretary of State's Award for 
International Women of Courage.  Dozens of worthy candidates 
tirelessly work to further justice and equality in India; 
however, Geetha Ramaseshan's work to combat violence against 
women and trafficking-in-persons (TIP) stands out as she 
works with civil society and the Indian government to change 
how the country views these problems, and to increase arrest 
and prosecution rates of human traffickers in South India. 
Ms. Ramaseshan is a fitting model for women of courage and an 
example of the civil society-government cooperation the USG 
should praise in South Asia.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Ms. Ramaseshan is a distinguished attorney in family, 
criminal, and constitutional law with an emphasis on human 
and women's rights.  She has won several landmark cases on 
behalf of victims of police brutality, custodial rape, and 
violence against women and children.  In 2002, despite 
pressure from local authorities, Ms. Ramaseshan took a case 
involving a woman who was detained by police for alleged 
adultery and later found dead while in police custody.  Her 
efforts motivated the court to direct an investigation into 
the incident, after which the court ordered the state to 
compensate the victim's family.  In the case of a Dalit woman 
raped by police in 1999, Ms. Ramaseshan persuaded the key 
witness to resist threats from the police so that the case 
could be reopened and the perpetrator convicted.  In 1997, 
Ms. Ramaseshan courageously argued a case in which a woman 
was gang-raped by four policemen and won convictions against 
all the accused. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ms. Ramaseshan also has worked to combat one of the 
largest social problems facing India -- 
trafficking-in-persons.  In 2001, the Madras High Court 
recognized Ms. Ramaseshan's service as a defender of women by 
assigning to her the investigation of a human trafficking 
ring in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that transported victims, 
including children, to work in bonded labor in granite 
quarries.  Her report resulted in the emancipation of 75 
persons.  In addition, Ms. Ramaseshan conducts training for 
police officers in Tamil Nadu and the National Police Academy 
in Hyderabad regarding trafficking of women and children and 
sexual harassment in the work place.  Along with 
nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations Office 
on Drugs and Crime, Ms. Ramaseshan's work has contributed to 
a "paradigm shift" within police departments and the 
judiciary in South India, resulting in an increase in arrests 
and prosecutions of traffickers (reftel B). 
 
¶4. (U) In the Supreme Court of India, Ms. Ramaseshan has led 
several successful campaigns to garner equal rights for 
women, including amending the Indian Divorce Act to ensure 
equal compensation and treatment of women.  She also 
successfully challenged the constitutionality of an Indian 
criminal law that made adultery a crime only for women.  Ms. 
Ramaseshan's work on an employment law case resulted in the 
overturning of state electricity board rules that denied 
employment to women on the grounds that their traditional 
clothing posed a work hazard.  Currently, she is drafting a 
paper for United Nations Development Programme on "Gender 
Equity in the Justice Systems in South Asia and Iran." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Contact Details: Full Name: Geetha Ramaseshan.  Job 
Title/Association: Advocate, High Court of Madras; Special 
Prosecutor, Central Bureau of Investigation; Joint Secretary, 
High Court Mediation Center; Faculty, Media Law and Society, 
Asian College of Journalism.  Date of Birth: July 28, 1957. 
Country of Birth: India.  Citizenship: India.  Address: 6, 
4th Cross Street, Cit Colony, Mylapore, Chennai, 600 004. 
Telephone: (0091 44) 24991397,  91 98402 77836.  Email: 
geetaramaseshan@gmail.com.  Passport number: E 44 11 039. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: While Ms. Ramaseshan's selfless work has 
touched many lives, she has never been formally recognized by 
the GOI or any major international organization.  Honoring 
her efforts to work within the Indian government -- through 
cases against cops, training officials, and legal battles -- 
will serve as a symbolic motivation to other women working on 
these important causes throughout South Asia.  Moreover, 
given GOI indignation at remaining on the Tier Two Watchlist 
in the 2008 TIP Report, and consequent refusal to discuss 
trafficking issues with USG officials -- including 
Ambassador-at-Large Mark Lagon -- recognizing Ms. 
Ramaseshan's achievements would send the GOI a subtle message 
 
NEW DELHI 00002801  002 OF 002 
 
 
of U.S. support for those working to eradicate TIP.  End 
comment. 
MULFORD